In which the administration refuses to defend itself

Stephen Hayes tells the story of his efforts to secure the release from the administration of unclassified documents discovered in postwar Iraq: “Where are the Pentagon Papers?” Hayes writes:

For two years, I have been working to obtain copies of unclassified documents discovered in postwar Iraq. My reasoning is simple: If we understand what the Iraqi regime was doing in the months and years before the war, we will be better able to assess the nature of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and, perhaps, to better understand the insurgency. It’s not a light subject, to be sure.

But the quest for the documents, while frustrating, has also been highly amusing. It is a story of bureaucratic incompetence and strategic incoherence. It is also a story–this one not funny at all–about the failure to explain the Iraq war. Two years after I started my pursuit, I’m not much closer to my goal.

Why?

This article is Steve’s most detailed, maddening and eye-opening exposition of a subject he has touched on previously. Please don’t miss it.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses