A Plague on the Nation

Pre-War Assumptions Led to Flawed Iraq Plan, U.S. Report Says
2007-03-22 05:30 (New York)


By Tony Capaccio
     March 22 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration's rosy pre-
war assumptions about the speed at which Iraq would stabilize
led to poorly coordinated, haphazard planning for post-war
reconstruction that's brought waste and inefficiency, according
to a new report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq.
     Pre-war planning that assumed a small reconstruction effort
was so poor that Congress should consider passing legislation
similar to a 1986 law that reorganized the military to better
perform joint military operations, Inspector General Stuart
Bowen said in the report.
     ``There was an assumption that the Iraqi infrastructure was
in reasonably good shape. It wasn't,'' Bowen said in an
interview yesterday. ``There was an assumption that the Iraqi
government would be able to pick up and sustain itself. That
didn't happen. There was an assumption that the Iraqi oil and
gas production would provide revenue sufficient to fund
recovery. That also did not pan out.''
     Most significant, Iraq ``did not stabilize; it's evident
for all to see,'' Bowen told reporters in his Arlington,
Virginia office.
     Bowen's assessment corroborates from an independent
government inspector criticism that to date has come mostly from
journalists, retired military or diplomatic officers or
academics who worked in the reconstruction effort.
     The post-conflict effort, run largely in 2003 by Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his undersecretary for policy,
Douglas Feith, was characterized by unclear and shifting
leadership and strategies, lack of oversight over billions of
dollars and poor cooperation between the Pentagon and State
Department, the report said.

                        Senate Hearing

     ``The system should be adjusted'' to improve coordination
between the Pentagon, State Department and other agencies that
will be tapped to craft post-conflict reconstruction plans,
Bowen said.
     ``The United States government was not well poised to
execute the kind of relief and reconstruction agreement that was
presented in Iraq,'' Bowen said. ``That needs to be developed
before we go to war,'' he said.
     Bowen's report is scheduled for release this morning during
a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee, chaired by Senator Joseph Lieberman, an
independent from Connecticut.
     Lieberman said he agreed with the inspector general that
``the State and Defense Departments and U.S. Agency for
International Development must work together much more
effectively on post-conflict reconstruction. I will examine
possible legislative fixes to achieve that goal.''

--Editor: Arthur (mgf).

Story illustration: For more news about the conflict in Iraq,
see {TNI IRAQ WAR <GO>}. To view a copy of the report type:
http://www.sigir.mil

To contact the reporter on this story:
Tony Capaccio in Washington at +1 202 624-1911 or
acapaccio@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Forsythe at +1-202-624-1940 or
mforsythe@bloomberg.net

[TAGINFO]

2213Z US <Equity>

NI US
NI IRAQ
NI DEF
NI GOV
NI POL
NI WAR
NI GEN
NI MIDEAST
NI GOVORDER
NI OIL
NI NRG
NI TERROR
NI CNG
NI ME




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-0- Mar/22/2007 09:30 GMT