Bush Knew About Iraq Army Disbanding

"Yeah, I can’t remember, I’m sure I said, ‘This is the policy, what happened?’ ” But, he added, “Again, Hadley’s got notes on all of this stuff."

George W. Bush, on not rememembering if he gavce the authorizion to disband the Iraqi army.

L. Paul Bremer gave his letters to the New York Times to make clear he had President Bush signed off on the idea.

After recounting American efforts to remove members of the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein from civilian agencies, Mr. Bremer told Mr. Bush that he would “parallel this step with an even more robust measure” to dismantle the Iraq military.

One day later, Mr. Bush wrote back a short thank you letter. “Your leadership is apparent,” the president wrote. “You have quickly made a positive and significant impact. You have my full support and confidence.”

What ensued was thousands of unemployed Iraqis with military training. What is unsurprising is the White House made this decision without the input of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"We were not asked for a recommendation or for advice," Gen. Peter Pace said.