NEW YORK, May 8: The New York Times on Thursday attacked the US administration’s management of post-war Iraq.

In an editorial headlined “Free fall in Iraq”, the major daily said “it is too soon for definitive judgments. But it is not too early to say that the first few weeks of American occupation under the leadership of Jay Garner, a retired army lieutenant general, have left a great deal to be desired.”

“Lines at the gasoline pump in Iraq now last up to three days. Electricity, needed for water and refrigeration units, flickers on and off. Uncollected garbage rots in the hot streets.

“An outbreak of cholera was reported yesterday in Basra,” the daily’s editorial board wrote.

It added: “The current chaos is less a result of fresh war damage, which was relatively limited, than of the Bush administration’s failure to plan for replacing a regime that had long ordered every detail of Iraqi life.”

In one of its most damning statements, the daily wrote that “few Iraqis are feeling nostalgic for the sadistic terror of Saddam Hussein. But in the bad old days, basic services were more dependable.” It noted that diarrhea in young children was on the rise and hospitals were scraping by after having their drugs and equipment stolen by looters.

“Like it or not, the United States is now the legally responsible occupying power in Iraq,” the Times said. “As such, it is required to protect the security, health and basic well-being of the Iraqi people.”

President George W. Bush’s envoy, Paul Bremer, who was appointed this week to be the top US civilian official in Iraq, “must move swiftly to honor that obligation,” the daily declared. —AFP