By Mike Allen and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 26, 2003; Page A01

President Bush is contemplating major changes in the U.S. reconstruction of Iraq for the second time in three months, with the possible addition of one or more prominent figures to work alongside the U.S. administrator in a stepped-up effort to solicit international assistance, administration officials said yesterday.

The plan is being debated as the White House grapples with the enormousness of rebuilding the chaotic country. The administration is under pressure to demonstrate progress in order to maintain domestic support for the effort, which is costing the Pentagon about $4 billion a month.

"We're confident of long-term success," a Bush aide said. "We need to show short-term success."

As part of the effort, the White House is considering asking several major figures, including former secretary of state James A. Baker III, to take charge of specific tasks such as seeking funds from other countries or restructuring Iraq's debt. "A lot of different things are being discussed," a senior administration official said. "Nothing has happened yet."

Bush aides put Baker's name forward yesterday as a prime candidate to work alongside L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq. Later in the day, a senior White House official said Baker was one of several prominent figures who might be asked to play a role and said that no decision had been made.

The official stressed that Bush continues to be pleased with Bremer and that changes in the postwar administration, known as the Coalition Provisional Authority, would be made only with his support. "This is a totally Bremer-driven process," the official said.

The disclosure about another possible restructuring underscores the administration's concern about the rate of progress, despite assertions by Bush, Bremer and other senior officials this week that the effort is on track.

In another augmentation of the postwar structure, the administration plans to name Reuben Jeffery III, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker who is now coordinating the federal aid aimed to help reconstruct Lower Manhattan, as Washington-based coordinator for the Iraq reconstruction effort.

Polls have shown U.S. voters are becoming increasingly impatient at the prospect of a large number of troops remaining in Iraq indefinitely, as the cost of the occupation rises and guerrilla attacks continue inflicting casualties long past the fall of Saddam Hussein's government. During a visit to Washington this week, Bremer lobbied the Pentagon and Congress for more funds and personnel.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz told reporters this week after a visit to Iraq that some important administration assumptions "turned out to underestimate the problem," and that some conditions "were worse than we anticipated." Some officials involved in the occupation planning have complained that the administration underestimated the armed resistance and overestimated the eagerness of Iraqi soldiers and police to embrace the invaders.

The fact that the White House was contemplating recruiting Baker to the postwar effort suggested that some administration officials feel a dramatic gesture is needed to give the postwar effort a boost. The administration also is anxious to retain control of the reconstruction despite pressure from allies such as Germany and France to yield more authority to the United Nations.

A Baker aide said the former secretary of state was on vacation and unavailable for comment. Several administration officials predicted that Baker would not become involved but said the White House might still seek "a Baker-like figure" to work with Bremer.

Bremer, who was saluted by Bush in the Rose Garden on Wednesday as "showing great skill and resourcefulness," said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that the postwar effort could last for years, despite progress in restoring services and building a government.

Bremer said at the National Press Club Wednesday that he had presented Bush with "a plan with clear benchmarks for the next 60 and 120 days." He said the three stages he envisions are providing security, including reestablishing courts and law enforcement; putting the country on the right economic path; and promoting political development with the goal of a sovereign democratic government.

Bremer said privately during his meetings in Washington that the administration might need to appoint a high-level official to focus solely on restructuring Iraq's debt of more than $21 billion, a senior official said.

One administration official said a division of duties for the administration of Iraq had been contemplated as far back as the planning phases of the war. "We knew it would be difficult," the official said, adding that the reality "has given us a lot more to think about."

If Bush called on Baker, 73, the assignment would be the latest of a series of high-profile missions he has undertaken for the family. Baker headed the Republican team during the Florida recount litigation after the disputed election of 2000, and managed President George H.W. Bush's reelection campaign in 1992.

Baker was secretary of state in the first Bush administration, assembling the international coalition for the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He served as treasury secretary and White House chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan.

Although Bremer was a career diplomat before becoming a private business consultant, he lacks experience in the Arab world. Some administration officials said a better-known figure might be more suited to selling neighboring countries on the U.S. approach to rebuilding Iraq.

Bremer took charge in an abrupt change in May that dismayed some Iraqi leaders. Just a month after U.S. troops ended three decades of Baath Party rule, Bremer was sent to Baghdad to replace Jay M. Garner, a retired Army lieutenant general who had been in charge of reconstruction.

Jeffery, the Goldman Sachs veteran, will become the administration's Washington face for the operation in Baghdad. His jobs will include lobbying lawmakers and dealing with other parts of the government. Officials said the White House concluded that, given the distance between Baghdad and Washington, Bremer needed a senior aide in Washington who could navigate the bureaucracy and work with Capitol Hill.

Bush named Jeffery special adviser for Lower Manhattan development in March 2002. Jeffery had worked at Goldman for 18 years, living and working in Paris, London and New York, and specializing in the financial services sector. He previously practiced corporate law at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York.

Staff writers Vernon Loeb in Washington and Rajiv Chandrasekaran in Baghdad contributed to this report.