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Home Front: Politix
'Independent Panel' sez US wasn't preapred for post-war Iraq
2005-07-27
EFL: WASHINGTON - An "independent panel" headed by two "former" U.S. national security advisers said Wednesday that chaos in Iraq was due in part to inadequate postwar planning. Planning for reconstruction should match the serious planning that goes into making war, said the panel headed by Samuel Berger and Brent Scowcroft.
Berger was national security adviser to Democratic President Clinton.
Samuel Berger; AKA: Sandy Berger, Sandy Burgler, Sandy "Documents in My Pants" Berger, Samuel "Security-Clearance-Suspended" Berger.
Scowcroft held the same post under Republican Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush but has been critical of the current president's Iraq and Mideast policies.
Brent "Stability at All Costs" Scowcroft never met a dictator he didn't want to leave in power.
"A dramatic military victory has been overshadowed by chaos and bloodshed in the streets of Baghdad, difficulty in establishing security or providing essential services, and a deadly insurgency," the report said. "The costs, human, military and economic, are high and continue to mount," said the report, which was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent foreign policy group.
Posted by:Steve

#10  What's that saying that Plans are no longer in effect after first contact with the enemy?

The left loves plans. Health plans, "sustainable" economic plans, plans to feed Clinton fat fellating interns. It's all the about plans with them.

They sound like the old Soviet Politburo with their five year plans.

Like the Russians, the left doesn't take a dump without some sort of plan.
Posted by: badanov   2005-07-27 22:50  

#9  There was plenty of preparation for post-war Iraq. THe problem is that the situation turned out to be different from the ones most of the plannign was done for. To say we were "unprepared" is to basically tell a lie. To say we were inadequately prepared due to a change in the post-war scenario is the truth.

Pre-war contingency was done with the assumption that the 4th ID would be coming in from Turkey into the "Triangle" area, there would be a much heavier and quicker occupation of the Baathist/Sunni areas, and the 4th woudl be bale to seal central Iraq off from the Syrian border area.

I would bet that the change of the 4th ID entry point and time caused a lot of planning work for the initial assault and that the vat amount of planning resources were focused on winning the war quickly with what was on hand, next getting the 4th ID quickly disembarked, and after that, the changed occupation.

But Sandy Bergler and that has-been Scowcroft had political axes to grind - because the current adminstration is rapidly revealing the mistakes they made in failing to diagnose and act against terrorism of the sort that faces us now. THey were the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" set of NS-Adv in the 90's that got us into this mess.

The article I read was ass-covering by the two of them - pointing a finger at obvious things that can occur in the chaos of a war, in hopes that nobody will trace back the causes to the two of them failing in their jobs. In this case, the old adage "when you point a finger, there are 3 other fingers you point back at yourself" rings very true.

Of course, dont expect the MSM to question things - or look any deeper, because this article by these losers fits with the MSM "Bash Bush" mindset.
Posted by: OldSpook   2005-07-27 15:52  

#8  So, I'm supposed to take Sandy Berger's word for someting? He's a criminal for crying out loud!

He's a criminal with a (D) after his name. That makes him a respected figure in national politics.

Back in April I made a (rare) post to my own blog predicting Begala's rebirth six months later. The press pulled it off three months earlier than I thought.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-07-27 13:27  

#7  Paul Begala woulda chipped in but he was too busy filling his Thorazine prescriptions...
Posted by: tu3031   2005-07-27 13:22  

#6  nicer headerline
Posted by: Shipman   2005-07-27 12:57  

#5  Yes, it really is incredible that the Bush Administration didn't have perfect 20/20 foresight to know exactly how things would turn out. No other administration ever made any mistakes or was caught unprepared!
Posted by: Dar   2005-07-27 12:19  

#4  I didn't see it in the bio in WikiPedia on Scowcroft, BUT, if my memory serves me right, He is/was a REGISTERED FOREIGN AGENT for the Saudis.

Anybody know if my memory is fooling me?

Posted by: 3dc   2005-07-27 12:07  

#3  So, I'm supposed to take Sandy Berger's word for someting? He's a criminal for crying out loud!
Posted by: Secret Master   2005-07-27 12:06  

#2  Independent.

Heh. Only a YAYHOO would report it thus.
Posted by: .com   2005-07-27 11:43  

#1  Newz flash: Bushy is stoopid.

/LLL
Posted by: Chris W.   2005-07-27 11:40  

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