NYT: Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning

[kpete]

Army Buried Study Faulting Iraq Planning
By MICHAEL R. GORDON
Published: February 11, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Army is accustomed to protecting classified information. But when it comes to the planning for the Iraq war, even an unclassified assessment can acquire the status of a state secret.

That is what happened to a detailed study of the planning for postwar Iraq prepared for the Army by the RAND Corporation, a federally financed center that conducts research for the military.

After 18 months of research, RAND submitted a report in the summer of 2005 called “Rebuilding Iraq.” RAND researchers provided an unclassified version of the report along with a secret one, hoping that its publication would contribute to the public debate on how to prepare for future conflicts.

But the study’s wide-ranging critique of the White House, the Defense Department and other government agencies was a concern for Army generals, and the Army has sought to keep the report under lock and key.

more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/washington/11army.html?_r=5&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=login

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. the timing of this is suspicious.

why would this news leak out now? Who does it help? McCain? Hucksterbee? Obama? Hillary?

Or is Rand simply trying to save its own butt?

[atreides1]

2. I think Rand is saving its own butt

This report won't help McCain, because he's all for keeping things the way they are, Huckabee won't get much help from this either. As for Obama and Clinton, being Democrats they were probably not provided with any information on this report.

[atreides1]

3. I think Rand is saving its own butt

This report won't help McCain, because he's all for keeping things the way they are, Huckabee won't get much help from this either. As for Obama and Clinton, being Democrats they were probably not provided with any information on this report.