Politics

U.S. Ambassador Welcomes New Consul General in Erbil

As his State Department biography suggests, Bitner is familiar with developments in Iraq over the past two decades—since 2003, when he served with the Coalition Provisional Authority.

2 months ago

US Ambassador Alina Romanowski (L) and the newly appointed US Consul General in Erbil Steve Bitner (R). (Photo: Kurdistan24)

World Alina Romanowski US Ambassador to Iraq Steve Bitner US Consul General in Erbil US-KRG Relations

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – The U.S. ambassador in Baghdad, Alina Romanowski, tweeted a welcome on Friday to the new U.S. Consul General in Erbil, Steve Bitner, as she also laid out the most important issues involving Washington and Erbil.

“With CG Bitner’s leadership, we look forward to deepening our strong security relationship with the KRG,” Romanowski said, “expanding educational ties between the US. and the IKR [Iraqi Kurdistan Region], and observing free and fair elections on October 20.”

Welcome to Steve Bitner, new U.S. Consul General for @USCGERBIL! With CG Bitner's leadership, we look forward to deepening our strong security relationship with the KRG, expanding educational ties between the U.S. & IKR, and observing free and fair elections on October 20.…
— Ambassador Alina L. Romanowski (@USAmbIraq) August 16, 2024

Bitner’s Long Experience with Iraq

As his State Department biography suggests, Bitner is familiar with developments in Iraq over the past two decades—since 2003, when President George W. Bush launched Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the war that overthrew Saddam Hussein and his regime.

Bitner was posted to Anbar and Babil provinces as a Foreign Policy Advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA.)

That structure—the CPA—was in place during the first year of the war, even as it underscored the lack of U.S. preparation for what would come after Saddam’s overthrow.

The CPA was the arrangement for the U.S. management of Iraq following Saddam’s overthrow. It was headed by Amb. Paul Bremer, who was unfamiliar with Iraq! He had never been to the country, and, generally speaking, Bremer was not particularly knowledgeable about the Middle East. Rather, his expertise was terrorism.

Yet Bremer was chosen as the compromise candidate between the Defense Department, headed by Donald Rumsfeld, and the State Department, headed by Colin Powell. The two agencies were at bitter odds.

As the senior U.S. military officer in 1991, during the first U.S. war with Iraq, Powell played a key role in the decision to end that war with Saddam in power, so concerned was he about the so-called “highway of death,” as U.S. forces routed the Iraqi conscript army in Kuwait.

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Powell (and others in the first Bush administration) bristled at the suggestion that they may have made a very serious mistake in ending the 1991 war in that fashion. They were heedless of the perspective articulated by the very insightful Israeli scholar of Iraq, Prof. Uriel Dann, who wrote then, “Saddam Hussein from now on lives for revenge.”

Bremer did not work out well as head of the CPA. He was a micromanager and failed to follow directions from Washington. Indeed, he was assigned an aide, Amb. Hume Horan, who was very knowledgeable about Iraq and the Middle East. However, six months into his assignment, Horan was diagnosed with cancer and Bremer had to carry on without him.

The CPA was abolished a year after it was established. Bremer returned to the U.S., and authority was passed to an interim Iraqi government.

Before arriving in Erbil, Bitner served, from 2022 t0 2024, as Director of the Office of Iraqi Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

Bitner has already held introductory meetings with the senior Kurdish leadership, including the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani; KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani; and the President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Masoud Barzani.

Generally, diplomats who have served as Consul General in Erbil have enjoyed their time in the Kurdistan Region.

Bitner is replacing Mark Stroh, who, in his last public appearance, at a ceremony transferring U.S. weapons to the Peshmerga, said, “As my time as Consul General in Erbil comes to a close, unfortunately, I would like to recognize the achievements that the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs and its leadership have made.”

As his term came to an end, an earlier Consul General, Robert Palladino, posted a farewell message on the Facebook page of the Consulate General, affirming, “Kurdistan has changed me,” while he expressed his "deep affection" for Kurdish culture, cuisine, and hospitality.

Laurie Mylroie ,