Roger Cohen has an op ed this a.m. at the NYT apparently reporting on an interview with Zalmay Khalilzad. The litany of errors made on our path to our distastrous occupation of Iraq is a long and painful one. However, we have never heard a full account of how we ended up occupying rather than just liberating Iraq. Cohen is now reporting on Khalilzad and Powell's account of events.
Khalilzad’s anguish centers on May 6, 2003. That’s the day he expected Bush to announce his return to Iraq to convene a grand assembly — something like an Afghan loya jirga — that would fast-forward a provisional Iraqi government.
Cohen reports:
"We had cleared both announcements, with Bremer to run things and me to convene the loya jirga, both as presidential envoys," Khalilzad told me. "We were just playing with a few final words. Then the game plan suddenly changed: we would run the country ourselves."
When the announcement came, Bremer alone was to take charge of Iraq. Again, Cohen reporting:
Instead, the appointment of L. Paul Bremer III to head a Coalition Provisional Authority was announced. Khalilzad, incredulous, went elsewhere. In the place of an Afghan-American Muslim on a mission to empower Iraqis, we got the former ambassador to the Netherlands for a one-year proconsul gig.
Powell and Rice were caught completely by surprise by the announcement:
Khalilzad continued: "Powell and Condi were incredulous. Powell called me and asked: ‘What happened?’ And I said, ‘You’re secretary of state and you’re asking me what happened!’ "
And, finally, Powell speaks:
Powell confirmed his astonishment. "The plan was for Zal to go back," he said. "He was the one guy who knew this place better than anyone. I thought this was part of the deal with Bremer. But with no discussion, no debate, things changed. I was stunned."
According to Cohen, the decision apparently came on a one-on-one Bush-Bremer lunch, in which Bremer made the case for "unity of command." Bremer argued that there should only be one Presidential envoy (Bremer) and not two (Bremer/Khalilzad).
Cohen's accounting of events runs counter to the longstanding view that the decision to occupy Iraq was Powell's. (See for example, this posting at NRO.)