The Army Monograph that Predicted Just About Everything that’s Happened in Iraq
"In October 2002, the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, in coordination with the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff/G-3, initiated a study to analyze how American and coalition forces can best address the requirements that will necessarily follow operational victory in a war with Iraq." Thus says the foreward of the monograph that is available from the Strategic Studies Institute of the the U.S. Army War College.
- Reconstructing Iraq: Insights, Challenges, and Missions for Military Forces in a Post-Conflict Scenario, February 2003, by Dr. Conrad C. Crane and Dr. W. Andrew Terrill.
There is an excerpt and a bit more about the authors at:
- The Army Monograph that Predicted Just About Everything that's Happened in Iraq, History News Network, March 10, 2008.
From the foreward of the monograph:
In October 2002, the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, in coordination with the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff/G-3, initiated a study to analyze how American and coalition forces can best address the requirements that will necessarily follow operational victory in a war with Iraq. The objectives of the project were to determine and analyze probable missions for military forces in a post-Saddam Iraq; examine associated challenges; and formulate strategic recommendations for transferring responsibilities to coalition partners or civilian organizations, mitigating local animosity, and facilitating overall mission accomplishment in the war against terrorism. The Strategic Studies Institute organized an interdisciplinary team under the leadership of Dr. Conrad C. Crane and Dr. W. Andrew Terrill. The team’s initial findings were vetted at a joint and interagency workshop conducted in December. The final report of the project consists of three parts: a discussion of historical insights from 20th century postwar occupations and post-conflict operations; an analysis of the unique challenges Iraq will present for an occupying power; and a mission matrix that lists 135 specific tasks that must be performed to build and sustain a state. The matrix arrays those tasks across four phases of occupation and designates whether coalition military forces or civilian agencies should perform them.Continue reading
Army Reopens Digital Library to Public
I wasn't even aware they had closed it, but the Army reopened their Reimer Digital Library to the public a month after it decided to close it behind a firewall. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) filed a FOIA request for all of the library's contents and then posted these documents to the FAS website! The FAS Secrecy News blog documented the experience on the following blog posts: Army Blocks Public Access to Digital Library Army Says It Will Restore Public Access to Online Library Army Will Restore Access to Online Library Within 2 Weeks The Reimer Digital Library is Back Thank goodness for organizations like the FAS who are keeping tabs on and taking a stand on disturbing occurrences like this. Be sure to check out the FAS Project on Government Secrecy website and blog. It gives me the chills to think how many other resources are "closed" or simply vanish without our knowledge. I've been working as a Government Documents Librarian for a little over a year and I've only read about restricted access...but I dread the day I have to actually experience it. At least I feel more prepared after reading about the FOIA request filing procedures and I know where to get support if I have questions (yes, I'm talking about you, my fellow FGI readers!). Continue reading
How should spectrum be managed?
A veritable who's-who of the legal world -- or at least where legal meets the internet! -- was on hand last saturday (3/8) for the Legal Futures Conference at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society. Actually, Saturday's sessions were free and open to the public, while Friday's sessions were invitation-only. FCC chair Kevin Martin spoke on Friday about networks and their management. Why we should care about the spectrum debate Saturday's sessions Conference Speakers: * Jamie Boyle / Professor of Law, Duke Law School; Co-Founder, Center for the Study of the Public Domain * Tim Bresnahan / Landau Professor in Technology & the Economy, Stanford University * Michael Callahan / Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Yahoo! * Tom Campbell / Dean, U.C. Berkeley Business School * Paul Cappuccio / General Counsel, Time Warner * Dan Cooperman / General Counsel, Apple; former General Counsel, Oracle * David Drummond / Senior Vice President, Google * Lauren Gelman / Executive Director, Center for Internet and Society and Lecturer in Law, Stanford Law School * Jamie Gorelick / Partner, WilmerHale; former U.S. Deputy Attorney General * Jennifer Granick / Civil Liberties Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation * Joi Ito / Chair, Creative Commons; Founder & CEO, Neoteny * Michael Jacobson / General Counsel, eBay * Jeff Jonas / Distinguished Engineer and Chief Scientist, IBM Entity Analytics Continue reading
LOC budget request for FY 2009
The Open House Project has a report on the March 5 testimony of Dr. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress. His prepared statement (see attached) presented information on on current LoC initiatives, and described funding priorities. The testimony repeatedly mentions 2008's "deep and painful cuts to the Library’s budget", and the Librarian adds "I feel obligated to say that if we are stretched much farther, we may soon reach a breaking point." Furthermore, the statement adds,
"Demand for online services, increased pressure on web services operations to enhance THOMAS, the World Digital Library (WDL), and the Legal Information Services (LIS) databases, and the need to develop new configurations and applications have severely strained technical assistance and infrastructure support provided by the Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) and Information Technology Services (ITS). Since 1995, THOMAS has provided free legislative information on the web. Our congressional and public constituencies have for several years been requesting upgrades to both THOMAS and LIS to enhance content and searchability. ... However, the IT and digital demands on the Library will need support from the Congress in fiscal 2010 to sustain the Library’s ability to provide services to the Congress and its constituents. " Continue reading
Sunshine Week March 16-22
Sunshine Week has been mentioned in previous posts but it certainly deserves its own blog post too. This national initiative is set to take place March 16th through the 22nd. Its purpose is to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Anyone can take part, as long as you do something to engage discussion about open government. For example, you could write a letter to your local newspaper, host a panel discussion at your library, hold a debate on the FOIA in your political science class, etc. Visit the Sunshine Week website for more information on events and resources and ideas to help spread the word. Updates will be posted on the Sunshine Week blog. So...what will you be planning to do that week or maybe for next years Sunshine Week? Care to share your ideas? (Because I'm looking for some!) I think this year I will create a daily post on my depository's blog about open government and freedom of information resources, but next year I'd like to do something more interactive and on a larger scale with the community. Continue reading