Office Of Reconstruction And Humanitarian Assistance U S

In the tightknit Kemp al Arman section of central Baghdad, there are often just two hours of electricity a day. Many families have been forgoing meat for more than a month, water only trickles from the taps, and garbage is piling up knee-deep on the street corners. Gunfire rattles through the night, tormenting residents who cannot sleep because of the heat that builds up inside their mud and concrete homes during Baghdad's notorious heat waves.

After U.S.-led forces crushed Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in the spring of 2003, the job of restoring civil life in the shattered country fell first to mid-level military officers who were eager, but ill-equipped, for the task. The resulting chaos underscored more than a lack of Pentagon planning for managing postwar Iraq.

After U.S.-led forces crushed Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in the spring of 2003, the job of restoring civil life in the shattered country fell first to mid-level military officers who were eager, but ill-equipped, for the task. The resulting chaos underscored more than a lack of Pentagon planning for managing postwar Iraq.

In the tightknit Kemp al Arman section of central Baghdad, there are often just two hours of electricity a day. Many families have been forgoing meat for more than a month, water only trickles from the taps, and garbage is piling up knee-deep on the street corners. Gunfire rattles through the night, tormenting residents who cannot sleep because of the heat that builds up inside their mud and concrete homes during Baghdad's notorious heat waves.

As they eyed L. Paul Bremer III munching bread and patting children's heads along a busy sidewalk Sunday in this northern city, several Iraqis asked with amazement, "Is this our new American president?" Their surprise was understandable. In a nation where the face of Saddam Hussein was long ubiquitous, few citizens ever saw their president in person. A crowd of about 100 drew near to Bremer, and a middle-aged man kissed him on both cheeks. Another said in English, "We love you."

Conditions here in the capital of Iraq inched a step toward normalcy Wednesday as U.S. occupation authorities announced the resumption of salary payments to the country's 1.3 million civil servants for the first time since the war began two months ago. The developments came on a day the American civil administrator for Iraq, L.

The Bush administration is deeply riven by disputes over postwar Iraq, particularly on three key issues -- the role of the United Nations, who will lead the country and which elements of the U.S. government will oversee its reconstruction, administration officials say. The fight, those involved say, is about whether Iraq is transformed through an international effort under U.N.

As they eyed L. Paul Bremer III munching bread and patting children's heads along a busy sidewalk Sunday in this northern city, several Iraqis asked with amazement, "Is this our new American president?" Their surprise was understandable. In a nation where the face of Saddam Hussein was long ubiquitous, few citizens ever saw their president in person. A crowd of about 100 drew near to Bremer, and a middle-aged man kissed him on both cheeks. Another said in English, "We love you."