Rajiv Chandrasekaran(Imperial Life) Replies to Dan Senor.. very interestin

Rajiv Chandrasekaran Replies to Dan Senor

Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Author of Imperial Life in the Emerald City Assistant Managing Editor,
The Washington Post
www.rajivc.com



Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post writes:


' Several people have asked me to respond to Dan Senor’s op-ed in yesterday's Washington Post about an excerpt from my book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, that was published in The Post on September 17.

While I don’t want to be drawn into a back-and-forth debate on the pages of The Post or in cyberspace, there are some significant misrepresentations and inaccuracies in his piece that need to be corrected for the record.

Yes, there were nonpolitical experts who worked for the CPA, and some of them even held senior-level titles, but it most cases, they were kept at an arm's length from Ambassador Bremer and, as such, were not involved in making the most important decisions of the occupation. In addition, many of them did not serve for the full duration of the occupation. Ambassador Jones, for instance, arrived in Baghdad after the November 15, 2003, agreement. By the time he arrived, the roadmap for the political transition had already been set. And, according to several senior CPA people I talked to, his influence was eclipsed by Bremer's younger, more political advisers.

Ryan Crocker was there only for the first few months. Yes, he played an important role in helping to select the Governing Council in the early weeks of the occupation, but then he left Iraq. His role was filled by Scott Carpenter, a former International Republican Institute staffer. He was sent to work for Jay Garner by Liz Cheney, the vice president’s daughter. (In my book, I write that Carpenter “had not been involved in the Future of Iraq Project or the department's other initiatives with Iraqi exiles but, unlike some of his State colleagues, was a firm believer in Bush's effort to promote democracy in Iraq and the broader Arab world. Carpenter ‘really wasn't what I wanted,’ Garner said later.”)

much more...........in particular the part dealing with Dan Senor

http://www.juancole.com/2006/10/rajiv-chandrasekaran-replies-to-dan.html

Herr Senor, Unterfuhrer for Propaganda (hattip Paul Hackett :) )