Editing Dan Senor (section)

===Iraq===

In the lead-up to the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] and during the fighting, Senor was a [[the Pentagon|Pentagon]] and [[White House]] adviser based in [[Doha]], [[Qatar]], at [[U.S. Central Command]] Forward; he was subsequently based in [[Kuwait]], working with General [[Jay Garner]] during the final days of the invasion and was in southern Iraq when the [[Saddam Hussein]] regime fell.

According to [[Rajiv Chandrasekaran]], the author of ''[[Imperial Life in the Emerald City]]'', Senor was known for the zealous spin that put a good face on the disaster unfolding in Baghdad (the [[Iraq War]] did not end until December 2011). Some statements he made to the press did not reflect the actual situation in the city.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rajiv|first=Chandrasekaranl|title=Imperial Life in the Emerald City|publisher= New York Vintage Books|pages=144–147, 151–153, 229–230}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Barrett |first=Wayne |title=Why Is Failed Iraq Neocon Dan Senor Dictating Romney's Foreign Policy? |url=http://washingtonspectator.org/index.php/Spoils-of-War/wayne-barrett.html#.Ul9w6hZsRlI |work=The Washington Spectator |access-date=October 17, 2013 |date=October 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017112848/http://washingtonspectator.org/index.php/Spoils-of-War/wayne-barrett.html |archive-date=October 17, 2013 }}</ref> Wrote [[Maureen Dowd]], "As the spokesman for [[Paul Bremer]] during the Iraq occupation, Mr. Senor helped perpetrate one of the biggest foreign policy bungles in U.S. history. The clueless desert viceroys summarily disbanded the Iraqi Army, forced de-Baathification, stood frozen in denial as thugs looted ministries and museums, deluded themselves about the growing insurgency and misled reporters with their [[Candide|Panglossian]] scenarios of progress. 'Off the record, Paris is burning,' Mr. Senor told a group of reporters a year into the war. 'On the record, security and stability are returning to Iraq.'"<ref>Dowd, Maureen (September 16, 2012) [http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/perspectives/maureen-dowd-neocons-slither-back-romney-and-ryan-are-taking-their-cues-from-hawks-who-got-it-wrong-the-last-time-653672/#ixzz26l12P0H7 "Neocons slither back: Romney and Ryan are taking their cues from hawks who got it wrong the last time."] Washington Post. (Retrieved 9-17-12).</ref>

Senor formally re-located to [[Baghdad]] on April 20, 2003. He traveled with General Garner's team in the first American post-war civilian protection unit, becoming one of the first American civilians to enter Baghdad after the fall of the regime. In [[Iraq]], Senor served as Chief Spokesperson for the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] (CPA), as Senior Advisor to Ambassador [[L. Paul Bremer]], and as adviser to the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. In the U.S., he was "a regular television fixture in the immediate aftermath of the 2003 Iraq invasion", thus becoming "the face of the [[George W. Bush administration|Bush Administration]]'s efforts in Iraq".<ref name=Hoffman />

Senor remained in Iraq until the summer of 2004. His 15 months working for the CPA from Baghdad made him one of the longest-serving American civilians in Iraq at the time. For his service, he was awarded the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, one of the Pentagon's highest civilian honors.