2004.04.30 - PEGC Extra
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This just in:

FAS SECRECY NEWS --

April 30, 2004
THE MYSTERY OF THE COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY
by Steven Aftergood

The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is the entity led by Amb. Paul Bremer
that is responsible for managing and overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq.

But what species of organization is the CPA? And how exactly was it established?
These are mysteries.

"It is unclear whether CPA is a federal agency," according to a new report from
the Congressional Research Service that is the bureaucratic equivalent of a
"thriller."

"No explicit, unambiguous, and authoritative statement has been provided that
declares how the authority was established, under what authority, and by whom."

Clarification of the CPA's nature and status "will remain relevant even after
CPA's scheduled dissolution on June 30, 2004, for questions may remain about
what it did, how it spent money, and what it accomplished."

The new CRS report probes the matter in wonkish depth over 38 pages later but
without a clear resolution. A copy of the report was obtained by Secrecy News.

See "The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA): Origin, Characteristics, and
Institutional Authorities" by L. Elaine Halchin, Congressional Research Service,
April 29, 2004:

http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL32370.pdf

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Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of
American Scientists.

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Charles Gittings
Oakland, California

cbgittings@sbcglobal.net

510-923-1688

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