 In March 2003, Carney joined the staff of Lt. Gen. Jay Garner in Iraq and served for several months as a senior staff member in the Ministry of Industry and Minerals as part of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) that governed Iraq in the aftermath of U.S. forces overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein.Upon arrival in Baghdad, he became critical of the plan set out by CPA, making clear that Iraq czar Paul Bremer's ideological vision was impeding progress that could have been made to stabilize Iraq.He left Baghdad two months after arriving in April 2003, disillusioned by an inability to execute a more pragmatic plan for Iraq's reconstruction.