Iraq: Strategic Planning

Military Success In Iraq Masks Failures On Other Goals
(USA Today)…Editorial, July 1, 2008, Pg. 10

…Those are striking measures of military success, and they form the storyline of most importance to both Americans and to Iraqis. For good reason. Without reasonable security, little other success can be attained. But there is another storyline — one about the fragility of the recent successes — and it tells a deeper, more complex tale.

It was outlined most effectively last week by Congress’ investigative arm, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, in a finely detailed report that got less attention than it deserved. Its central conclusion was more than a little bit worrisome: The U.S. lacks a convincing strategic plan for capitalizing on recent success, an echo of the lack of planning that turned victory into chaos after the invasion of Iraq five years ago.

The Pentagon and the State Department quickly disputed the GAO’s conclusion, but the report nevertheless points to challenging problems for which the GAO investigators, at least, did not see a cohesive, convincing response:  Continued violence… Iraqi competence … . Refugees ..  Al-Qaeda in Iraq. …  Iraqi government failings … .  Overlap among U.S. agencies … Worries about Sunnis.