11/10/2003

“On November 10 [2003], [Director of the Coalition Provisional Authority L. Paul] Bremer wrote a letter to [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld, copied to [National Security Advisor] Condi Rice and [Secretary of State] Colin Powell: ‘Based on my conversations with the Governing Council last week, I have concluded the time has come to readjust our planned program for Iraq’s political transition.’ He wrote, ‘It would be a mistake’ to force Shiite members of the council to cross [Ayatollah Ali] al-Sistani. Instead, the United States should support the creation of an interim constitution, something he had long opposed, which ‘would ensure an honorable end to the occupation.’ ”

 – Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Page 198