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A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion

September 18, 2003

Bush Administration Miscalculation in Iraq Leads to Calls for Accountability

President Bush's administration has consistently miscalculated the post-war commitment required and Iraqi resistance to the point where a growing number of members of Congress who voted for the Iraq war resolution are now calling for accountability at high levels.

Both Vice President Cheney and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz argued publicly before the war that American forces would be greeted as liberators,¹ including Wolfowitz's assertion less than two weeks before the war began that, "Like the people of France in the 1940s, [the Iraqi people] view us as their hoped-for liberators."²

The consistently rosy scenarios articulated by Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz and the administration about much of the war in Iraq, from the required troop strength³ to the length of stay⁴ ignored potential results manifesting themselves today in the form of additional funding requests beyond original estimates, extended troop deployments, and skeptical allies from whom the U.S. is now seeking assistance to stabilize and rebuild the country.⁵

The intelligence community, including that of the Pentagon, concluded last fall that "there would be resistance . . . They [Defense Intelligence Agency analysts] said it would be hard to keep the lid on and to keep the various areas of the country from falling apart."⁶

While the administration insists that acts of violence and terrorism against American forces in Iraq are at the hands of a select few of "dead-enders, foreign terrorists and criminal gangs," some defense officials are also now claiming "it was a mistake for the administration to discount the role of ordinary Iraqis".⁷

With the recent announcement that called-up reserves will be required to serve an extra tour of duty, senior Army officials are publicly saying that "the Army is strained and stressed."⁸ Rep. John Murtha, a member who voted for the war resolution, said, "Poor planning by Administration put American lives at risk . . .The architect of this post-war plan has to go."⁹

Sources:
1. Meet the Press, 3/16/03.
2. "Pre-War Predictions Coming Back to Bite", USA Today, p. 8A.
3. "Cost of War Remains Unanswered Question," Washington Post, p. A13.
4. "A grand plan to bomb Baghdad and impose stability on Kirkuk", Financial Times, 3/1/03, p. 11.
5. "Powell in Baghdad: Too soon for self-rule", Chicago Tribune, 9/15/03, p. 1.
6. "Spy Agencies Warned of Iraq Resistance," Washington Post, 9/9/03, p. A1.
7. "Iraqis' Bitterness Is Called Bigger Threat Than Terror," New York Times, 9/17/03, http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/17/international/middleeast/17MILI.html
8. "Iraq Takes A Toll on Rumsfeld," Washington Post, 9/14/03, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6695-2003Sep13.html
9. News Conference with Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), U.S. Capitol, 9/16/03.

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