Not a David Broder fan per se, but his 4 August 2005 Op-Ed "
Share the Facts on The War" is worth more analysis of this "cut and paste job" from Defense is necessary.
Broder and others are calling DoD Report (Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq), "disappointing", with content "partial or vague" when Donald Rumsfeld is known to have better information. They call on Rumsfeld to "serve the public" and "take the obligation (to report every 90 days) seriously".
"...the report includes page after page of blank forms that the coalition command in Iraq has developed to assess the quality of personnel, command and control, training, and logistics in Iraqi military and police forces. But the important question of how many of those units are capable of fighting the insurgency, independently or with help from U.S. and British troops, simply is not answered."
Continued...
An earlier blog at
Shaken, but not stirred on Herb's Beach and Beyond.
The Report, required by H.R. 1268's $80B for Iraq, was late, it was due July 11 and delivered on July 18 (21st), 2005.
More of Broder's comments:
As I wrote earlier, Congress, in a little-noted section of the defense spending bill passed this spring, had ordered Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to deliver a detailed report by
July 11 on a long list of measures gauging Iraq's economic and political stability, the extent of the insurgency, and the capacity of Iraqi forces to provide security for their own country.
July 11 came and went with no report, and a number of readers asked whether I was going to follow up on the matter. I had been told informally by the Pentagon that work was proceeding, so I decided to wait. The Senate was less patient and passed a resolution reminding Rumsfeld of the unfulfilled obligation. And on July 21 the report was delivered.
Conflicting statements, Iraqi forces improving, but...
At another point, it simply says, "The extent of insurgent infiltration [into Iraqi forces] is unknown. A vetting process is used to attempt to screen out criminals, foreign and anti-Iraq forces."
Quality and quanity of data poor.
Neo Prose writes:
The quality of this hastily prepared paste-job is seriously lacking in the standards that would be expected for the $80 billion and other resources (lives and additional treasure) the American people spent. If you can't measure it, it can't be controlled or carried out. There is now more money unaccounted for in the Iraq operations, some $6-7 billion, more than was spent on the first Gulf War "officially", which cost taxpayers some $5 billion." (NOTE: more like $7 with $54 in 'contributions' -- HS)
Broder writes:
Partial or vague answers such as these are understandably frustrating to lawmakers trying to calculate where things really stand in Iraq. Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said the Pentagon's failure to do everything that Congress had asked "means that the American people continue to lack essential information about operations in Iraq, and Congress is prevented from having an informed debate on the matter without violating classification security protocols."
Michael O'Hanlon, a defense policy expert at the Brookings Institution, said he was struck by the fact that the Pentagon report not only is silent on the question of the degree of training and preparedness of the Iraqi battalions but also "doesn't capture the quality of the officer corps or the loyalty of the troops. . . . Rumsfeld has a lot more specific information," he said, "and he ought to share it."
Back to the Neo Prose team's piece:
'Sadly, all the will in the world will do us no good, against these terrorists without real leadership and vision to define the mission that we must accomplish.
The Bush Administration has been shaken, but still is not stirred into finally creating the necessary plans, processes, and strategies, including international cooperation, that are required to prevent waves of terror crashing on our shores for decades to come."
Bush &Co. show no talent their MBA's should have given them. This report and its metrics reads like the work of a C- freshman.
This is an important item to watch... see what happens, 64 days and counting.