Mike--

You raise a fascinating point when you question the need for a civilian to have headed the CPA. Should it have been a civilian? Is a retired General (Jay Garner, for example) not a civilian? Would an active soldier (like Macarthur or Lucius Clay) have been a better choice? Should ownership of the occupation have remained in DOD or moved to State?

My answers (humble opinion or not) are: 1. Not only should it have remained in DOD but the responsibility fell on the Combattant Commander (COMCENT) or a sub-unified commander as has been created (de facto) in Iraq first under George Casey and now Dave Petraeus. The individual specifically responsible for PRC should have been in command of all military and civilian elements assigned to that mission and reported directly to the #1 soldier in Iraq. Whether he was military, civilian, or some combination (retired, reservist, etc) is, I think, immaterial. 2. To my mind, a retired officer and a reservist, NOT on active status, is a civilian - but one with a very useful military background. 3. The critical organizational issue, IMO, was one of not dividing command of the occupation as was, in fact, done. Finally, although not one of my semi-rhetorical questions, a friend who served on Bremer's staff pointed out to me that Bremer was ill supported by OSD - only a little of which comes out in Bremer's book.

I do like your idea that a good civilian choice would have been one of those guys who cut their teeth on CORDS. It waould have been useful background.

Cheers

JohnT