Wednesday, September 03, 2003

I saw Paul Bremer on ABC News last night saying,

We have met every single request for security that has been made of us.

A little background: That was in response to a question from the New York Times reporter who'd just published this in the paper:

Even in the aftermath of the deadly car bombings, some council members said, they are being left to protect themselves....

Dr. Raja Habib Khuzai, a Governing Council member, said today that she had been pleading for days with American officials to provide her with cars and bodyguards, but that so far, they had failed to respond. In an interview, Dr. Khuzai said her brother had volunteered to become her bodyguard, along with three other men who have no training. She said she was paying them out of her own pocket.

Dr. Khuzai said the Americans had provided her with bodyguards several weeks ago, but had later taken them away. Lately, she said, she has been asking the Americans to train her guards if they cannot provide her with any of their own.

"They keep telling me they will train my men, but I have given them their names on 10 occasions, and they told me they lost the list," Dr. Khuzai said. "We are targets, you know. We could be next. I told the Americans I am very scared."...

Dr. Khuzai said she had been given security for her home by Iraqi security officials, four Iraqi men who had received one day each of training. Her requests for additional security, she said, have gone ignored.

"The guards sleep most of the time," she said.


Is Dr. Khuzai telling the truth, or is Paul Bremer? I know which one I believe.


(There's a transcript of Bremer's briefing here.)

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