Mum on FUBAR

With the throw-yourself-on-the grenade mentality of today’s U.S. Army, none should be surprised when fatigued pawns step up for their commander-in-chief, even if the grenade the President needs shelter from comes in the form of a study on the Iraq invasion.

Delivered to the Army in 2005 by defence analysts at the RAND Corporation, “Rebuilding Iraq” reads like a who’s who of bungling incompetents, from the grunts on the ground to the dunce in the White House. Alongside the names of every player are critiques of flawed thinking on virtually every aspect of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Rather than release the report publicly as regulation calls for, the Army chose to keep it tucked away.

Though completed at the time the White House was working to calm a war-weary public and build support for Bush’s troop surge, the Army insists politics had nothing to do with their failure to follow protocol. Instead, a spokesman says, they felt the report took “a broader perspective” than had been asked for, resulting in a document of little military benefit. The Army has asked RAND Corp to resubmit the study, at which point its status will be reviewed.

by SCOTT SAXON