Via Philosawyer on Plastic, a significant story about Iraq that is easy to overlook.
I've been one of many people criticizing, and even condemning, the United States' failure to have a plan for the reconstruction of Iraq. It turns out, now, that the United States did have a plan. The Department of State had started work on the plan, appropriately called the Future of Iraq Project, back in April 2002. This report predicted much of the trouble the U.S. got into and offered plans to avoid such trouble and get Iraq back on its feet quickly and cheaply (relative terms, of course). Naturally, just like the Clarke plan to fight al-Qaeda, the CIA/NSA/DIA/BIR/Mossad reports that there was nothing to Iraq's supposed nuclear program, and the 400 economists' petition against Bush's tax cuts, the Bush administration ignored educated advice in favour of their predetermined faith-based policies. Naturally, a disaster happened. Now Bush gets to act Presidential and watch his support strengthen as he struggles to rectify a disaster that most people won't realize should not have happened in the first place... but I digress. Back to the story.
Before Paul Bremer was the CLIT Commander, General Jay Garner was put in charge of Iraq. A Pentagon press release masquerading as a news article in the local paper praised him as a moderate, competent man. Garner was also sacked and tossed out on his ear, allegedly for incompetence, before I'd noticed that he was in. The recent reports suggest that the true reasons for his firing may be his bearing the same qualities espoused in the paper: moderation and competence. Garner supported State's plan for Iraq. The Department of Defense preferred the alternative, having no plan but keeping up a dross rivalry with State. When Garner asked Defense to bring him the report's primary author for his reconstruction team, Defense ignored him.
This story did not become an issue until the Grey Lady (the NYT, not Sharon Davis) picked it up; see readable repaste in the Murky News. However, it was first broken in July by none other than Garner himself, in an interview with the Public Broadcast System's Frontline radio program. The interview's worth a read. Pity I didn't read it. In skimming, though, I saw that the PBS interviewer seemed to know the story already. It was the interviewer who first mentioned the Future of Iraq Project, and it was also the interviewer who mentioned the National Security Council's opposition to it. Garner just agreed, although he was quite informative on many other points.
Wherever PBS gets its information from, they have good sources. I'll have to keep a closer eye on their reporting.
Posted by Warrior Tang at October 20, 2003 08:27 PM