Bremer Says U.S. Was Surprised by Insurgency

Reuters
Saturday, January 7, 2006; Page A04

L. Paul Bremer, who led the civilian occupation authority in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, told NBC-TV that the United States did not anticipate the insurgency in the country, the network said yesterday.

Bremer, interviewed about his book on Iraq, recounted the decision to disband the Iraqi army quickly after the U.S. arrival in Baghdad, a move many experts consider a major miscalculation. When asked who was to blame for the deaths of thousands of Iraqis and Americans after the official end of combat, he said, "We really didn't see the insurgency coming," NBC said in a news release.