"The Future of Iraq Project"
National Security Archive Update, September 1, 2006
New State Department Releases on the "Future of Iraq" Project
New Documents Provide Details on Budgets, Interagency Coordination and Working Group Progress
Posting Includes State's 13-Volume Study Previously Released Under FOIA
Washington, DC, 1 September 2006 - The National Security Archive is today
posting State Department documents from 2002 tracing the inception of the
"Future of Iraq Project," alongside the final, mammoth 13-volume study,
previously obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. "The Future of
Iraq Project" was one of the most comprehensive U.S. government planning
efforts for raising that country out of the ashes of combat and
establishing a functioning democracy. The "Future of Iraq" study, released
earlier this year to the National Security Archive and other requesters
under the FOIA, remains the single most important documentary record for
understanding U.S. reconstruction planning.
The new materials complement previous postings on the Archive's site
relating to the United States' complex relationship with Iraq during the
years leading up to the 2003 invasion. The documents posted today were
culled from 124 documents released in full and 77 with excisions from
State's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. These materials provide a
behind-the-scenes look at the formation of 17 working groups consisting of
"free" Iraqis and experts, 14 of which met throughout 2002 and early 2003
to plan for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
Follow the link below to read the documents and analysis from the
National Security Archive.
http://www.nsarchive.org
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THE NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE is an independent non-governmental research
institute and library located at The George Washington University in
Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and publishes declassified
documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A
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funding; its budget is supported by publication royalties and donations
from foundations and individuals.
For more information contact:
Farrah Hassen or Malcolm Byrne
626/347-8214, 202/994-7000