who is jay garner? one of the shorter answers is that he's the person chosen by the bush administration to head an interim government in iraq. more specifically, according to the new york times,

"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld chose General Garner for his position. The two men know each other well from the late 1990's when the general served on a missile defense commission headed by Mr. Rumsfeld. They now talk every other night by video teleconference, and sometimes Mr. Rumsfeld calls directly, the general said.

The general retired from the military in 1997 after serving from 1994 to 1996 as commander of the Army Space and Strategic Defense Command. He joined SYColeman, a missile systems contractor that gives technical advice on a variety of systems, including the Patriot, which was deployed in Iraq. It was bought by L-3 Communications last year. He enjoyed his business career, he said, because "most of the guys are former military, and you make a lot of money.""

in an attempt to be fair, i should note that the general participated in an effort to bring relief to kurds after the 1991 war; it was "generally considered a success in Washington," said the times article. oh, and fortune magazine thinks he'd be perfect for the job.

but still. the prospect of an iraq run by a rumsfeld ally makes my skin crawl. i wonder if general garner speaks arabic.