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SWJED
04-17-2006, 01:32 AM
17 April Christian Science Monitor - New Voices Weigh in on Iraq (http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0417/p01s04-usfp.html).


... Created by Congress, the ISG aims to make a forward-looking, independent assessment of the situation on the ground in Iraq. Like the 9/11 commission, also co-chaired by Mr. Hamilton, it ruled out any interest in assigning blame.

Indeed, some prominent experts wouldn't be part of the group, because they had already taken a position on the war.

"We are looking for insights and advice that might be helpful to the president," said former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, the other cochair, on Tuesday.

While Mr. Bush has said he "welcomes" the initiative, he has yet to fully endorse it. Sources close to the Iraq Study Group say the White House is waiting to see if it is going to be independent or fall into a pattern of partisan, campaign-season attacks...

Stu-6
04-21-2006, 08:46 PM
Normally I am leery of all of these commissions we create but I think it would be worth while to have an organized effort to figure out exactly what happened. It this polarized political atmosphere it is going to be difficult to find qualified people who can truly take a deep unbiased look at the facts.

SSG Rock
05-04-2006, 09:38 PM
If a truely neutral panel can be assembled, I for one would welcome a third party look at Iraq. Considering the feud that has broken out between Mr. Rumsfeld and several retired generals, I'd like to know what was going on behind the scenes. According to Bob Woodward in his book "Plan of Attack" in which he spent considerable face time interviewing the key players, he states that General Franks initial campaign plan called for a sustained air campaign prior to launching ground forces, and that he called for the deployment of over 300,000 troops. I would like to know how that troop deployment level was whittled so thin. In the book, Woodward states that Rumsfeld sent Franks back to rewrite the campaign plan many times, stating that we don't have the time to deploy that many troops, the president is going to move on Iraq too soon. And I became suspicious that Mr. Rumsfeld used Iraq as a way to validate his vision of how a smaller Army should fight, and to show the Army brass it could be done, and at least in phase one, he was correct. What happend from there is where I loose track of things, so I'd welcome a report.