In March 2003, days before the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq,
American war planners and intelligence officials met at Shaw Air Force
Base in South Carolina to review the Bush administration's plans to
oust Saddam Hussein and implant democracy in Iraq. Near the end of his
presentation, an Army lieutenant colonel who was giving a briefing
showed a slide describing the Pentagon's plans for rebuilding Iraq
after the war, known in the planners' parlance as Phase 4-C. He was
uncomfortable with his material - and for good reason. The slide said:
"To Be Provided." A Knight Ridder review of the administration's Iraq
policy and decisions has found that it invaded Iraq without a
comprehensive plan in place to secure and rebuild the country. The
administration also failed to provide some 100,000 additional U.S.
troops that American military commanders originally wanted to help
restore order and reconstruct a country shattered by war, a brutal
dictatorship and economic sanctions. [more ] and [more ] and [more ]
INSURGENCY COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED: The New York Times reports [here ]
the dangerous insurgency now hindering the election process wasn't
inevitable: the chief intelligence officer for the war states, "We had
momentum going in and had Saddam's forces on the run." That was lost
because "we did not have enough troops," he concludes. "They took
advantage of our limited numbers." [more ]
U.S. policy in Iraq repeatedly faulted in recent studies [more ]
Tallying the Dead: How Many Iraqis Are Dying? By One Count, 208 in a Week [more ]
"Thanks
to our brave troops and a coalition of nations, America is now more
secure, the world is more peaceful and Iraq is free." Bush speaking at an RNC Gala on 10/8/2003 [more ]
Watch this video - 2001: Powell & Rice Declare Iraq Has No WMD and Is Not a Threat [more ] from the Memoryhole.org [here ]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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