I am sick of people saying there was no post-war plan for Iraq!!

[KeepItReal]

There was a complete plan put together by Colin Powell and the State Department *BEFORE* hostilities started in Iraq.

The plan for Iraq put together by the State Department was called "The Future of Iraq" project.

What people *should* be asking is: "Why was the post-war plan Powell's State Department created for Iraq not followed?"

Check this out y'all:

"The Future of Iraq Project

This State Department project was the earliest and most comprehensive planning undertaken by the U.S. government for a post-Saddam Iraq. Begun in October 2001, "The Future of Iraq Project," as it became known, assembled more than 200 Iraqi exiles and other experts and produced a 13-volume report with strategies, recommendations, and warnings. The National Security Archive Web site offers the full report with related memos and documents.

"The Future of Iraq Project" looked at the issue of de-Baathification and endorsed de-Baathifying "all facets of Iraqi life." But it warned that this would require reintegrating former Baathists into Iraqi society because those who were not reintegrated "may … present a destabilizing element, especially if they are left without work or ability to get work."

As for the issue of the Iraqi military, the project's Defense Policy and Institutions Working Group recommended gradually halving Iraq's army and giving it tasks, including fighting terrorism and drug smuggling.

Planning for postwar Iraq was ultimately given to the Pentagon, which hired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner (Ret.) to head the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA). Garner requested that members of "The Future of Iraq Project" be part of his team, but Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld denied the request. Journalist Thomas Ricks tells FRONTLINE that Garner suspected Vice President Cheney was behind the decision.

The recommendations and warnings in the project's final report were, in most cases, largely ignored by the administration. "

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/documents/

Full Details on the Project Here:

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB198/index.htm

[The Count]

1. True that. But how does it change things? responsibility still lies with

those who didn't implement them. And Powell went to the UN with the test tube, so I have no intention to rehabilitate HIM.

[KeepItReal]

3. Powell sold us out for sure. Rummy/Cheney need to be held accountable for this current mess

Bush & Co. can't act like they didn't know stuff would be screwed up in Iraq, when Powell's folks had it spelled out in black and white.

[welshTerrier2]

2. you may have overlooked this little plan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1991074,00.html

[KeepItReal]

4. Yeah, the plan has always been to get that oil.

The only way they could do it was under cover of Civil War in Iraq?

[welshTerrier2]

5. that is the quintessential point

you've been hearing all this talk about "pulling back" American troops. even Democrats are talking about not engaging the battle in Baghdad. in Afghanistan, troops were left in place not to chase Al Qaeda around or ferret out the warlords and their camps. troops were left in place to guard the oil piplelines.

and so it will be in Iraq if we let them get away with it.

they'll be all kinds of support for substantial reductions of our troops presence there. bush will grudgingly give in to the Congress but all will agree to leave some troops in place in the "more remote areas" ... can you say "oil fields"? it's all crap and it's all spin. we'll be told that a minimal number of troops must be left in Iraq to "work with the Iraqis" or to ensure that Al Qaeda can't "slip into the country and destabilize the 'democratic' government" or some such nonsense ...

you said it exactly right: "under cover of civil war" ... it's all about the theft of Iraqi oil ... i have been hoping Democrats would finally stand up and tell bush his little oily friends cannot be rewarded for this hideous war ... sadly, it appears they will get away with it and no opposition will be made in the Congress ...