CPA Administrator, Iraq
"We got him."
L. Paul 'Jerry' Bremer III was the US viceroy in Iraq from May 2003 to June 2004. His two most consequential decisions defined the occupation's failure. Order 1 — de-Baathification — removed from government employment roughly 85,000 people, including teachers, engineers, and civil servants who had joined the party for career reasons, not ideology. Order 2 — dissolving the Iraqi Army — put 400,000 trained soldiers, with weapons and grievances, out of work overnight. Both orders created tens of thousands of people with military skills and nothing to lose who joined the insurgency. Bremer later claimed both decisions were approved by Washington; Rumsfeld claimed they were Bremer's alone. The dispute was never resolved. He left 14 months later, handing the Interim Government to Iyad Allawi on June 28, 2004 — two days early to confound insurgent attacks.
Did you know?
Bremer issued two orders in May 2003 that are widely considered among the most catastrophic decisions in US occupation history: de-Baathification (Order 1) and dissolving the Iraqi Army (Order 2). He later claimed he had approval from Rumsfeld for both.
March 20 – April 9, 2003 · 4,000 total casualties
The speed of Baghdad's fall seemed to validate Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's 'transformation' theory — that a smaller, faster military could defeat conventional armies cheaply. The iconic statue pull-down provided a powerful visual of liberation — though the watching crowd was small and the toppling partly staged. What the cameras didn't show was the looting of Baghdad's museums, hospitals, and ministries that began immediately, while US forces watched under orders not to intervene — Rumsfeld's dismissal: 'Stuff happens.'
April 4–May 1, 2004 · 900 total casualties
The first battle of Fallujah was a political disaster that made the military situation worse. Halting the assault under political pressure emboldened insurgents throughout Iraq and validated the belief that killing Americans had political consequences in Washington. Fallujah became a symbol of insurgent resistance and a sanctuary for Al-Qaeda in Iraq — requiring a second, far more costly assault eight months later.
September 30, 1941
🌅 Birth
Born in Hartford, Connecticut
1963
📚 Education
Graduated Yale University
May 2003
⚔️ Battle
Arrived in Baghdad as CPA Administrator; issued de-Baathification and Army dissolution orders
June 28, 2004
milestone
Handed power to Interim Government and left Iraq