Washington Post Inaccurate on Iraq, Rejects Response

The Washington Post has refused a complete factual response to correct flagrant inaccuracies it reported about James K. Haveman, Jr.’s service as the Coalition Provisional Authority’s Senior Advisor to the Iraq Ministry of Health.

“The Post printed about 1300 words criticizing my work but refused to print fewer than 1200 words I submitted to correct their errors of fact,” said Haveman. “They said they would accept only a 150-word letter to the editor. They haven’t seen fit to print even that. This is blatantly inequitable. They’re attempting to rewrite history, and I won’t accept it.”

Haveman’s response addressed specific factual errors contained in a report by Post reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran. The article excerpted Chandrasekaran’s recent book, which asserts that appointments to key roles in the CPA were based on Republican Party loyalty rather than experience and ability.

• Chandrasekaran and the Post claimed Haveman spent more time on secondary issues than on real threats such as childhood disease. The fact is that one of the Haveman team’s achievements was acquiring, distributing and administering 30 million doses of vaccines for a monthly immunization program that reached three million children under the age of five.

• Chandrasekaran alleged that Haveman blew a reform of the Iraqi pharmaceutical supply system by limiting the number of drugs available. The fact is that Kimadia, Saddam’s medical supply bureaucracy created under the UN’s failed oil-for-food program, was so riddled with corruption and bribery that little medication was available. Suppliers received kickbacks and sent expired drugs that were exorbitantly overpriced. Half of the medications on hand were unusable, and some were 30 years old.

• Chandrasekaran reported that Haveman focused on selling Kimadia to a private firm. That is a complete error of fact.

• Chandrasekaran indicts the CPA-Ministry of Health team for imposing U.S. solutions without regard for Iraqi input. In truth, all initiatives were developed in a collaborative, consensus-based manner with the involvement and agreement of Iraqi counterparts.

• Chandrasekaran reported that the CPA team had a $793 million budget provided by the US. In fact, the budget was $1 billion, all funded by an Iraqi government that was no longer being parasitized of cash by a malevolent dictator.

• Chandrasekaran maintained that the Haveman team spent most of the budget on maternity hospitals and community clinics, leaving nothing for emergency rooms. In fact, $130 million was used for new medical equipment in a variety of health programs, including general hospitals. Another $50 million funded a new pediatric hospital in Basra. The team budgeted $25 million for new capacity to manage programs to reduce maternal and infant mortality, and $17 million for critical training programs in nursing, primary care and other technical assistance.

• Chandrasekaran questioned Haveman’s qualifications, asserting he was appointed based on party loyalty and had limited international experience. As Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health, Haveman managed a budget of $9.5 billion and participated in national health policy strategy. As CEO of the largest international adoption agency, he directed 55 offices in the U.S. and 12 other nations. “I am proud of an exemplary record during a 40-year career as a leader in health and human services,” Haveman said.

“If Chandrasekaran had been interested in reporting the truth, he would have balanced his stories with at least a few of the facts I provided in a three-hour interview,” Haveman said. “Only two partial sentence fragments were quoted.”

For a complete and accurate account Haveman recommends the 99-page report about the CPA-Ministry of Health team, Iraq Healthcare – The Road to Recovery from Decades of Neglect. “I gave a copy to Chandrasekaran,” Haveman said. “Obviously, he didn’t bother to read it.” The full report is available online at www.ha.osd.mil/healthcareiniraq_final.pdf .

Haveman continues to work with Iraqi counterparts, providing medical staff with training and consultation.

“I accepted an appointment to the CPA not to capitalize on my Republican connections or to act as a political officer enforcing a party line,” Haveman said. “I believed in the mission and in contributing my expertise to a poignantly compelling humanitarian cause. I still hold those convictions, even more strongly today. Chandrasekaran’s reporting and his deceitful book contribute nothing constructive.”

More information about Haveman’s role in the CPA is available at www.havemangroup.com/wp.html . Included are his full response and letter to the Post, the paper’s rejection email, the article about Chandrasekaran’s journalistic faults, and a summary of CPA-Ministry of Health accomplishments in Iraq.