Events Detail

The Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) is pleased to invite you to a Roundtable on Interagency Reform discussing a case study on "Choosing War: An Analysis of theDecision to Invade Iraq and its Aftermath," by Joseph Collins.  The author, a retired Army colonel, is currently a Professor at the National War College.  From 2001 to 2004, he served as the first Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations.  He was active in the initial planning for the humanitarian aspects of Operation Iraqi Freedom and in all phases of the war in Afghanistan. 

Monday, April 7, 2008; 9:00-11:00 AM

Please RSVP (affirmative replies only) by sending your name and current institutional affiliation to Richard Weitz at Weitz@hudson.org.

Location: Hudson Institute, Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Center, 1015 15th Street, N.W., 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005

This case study for the PNSR outlines how the United States chose to go to war in Iraq and how its decision making process functioned.  The central finding of this study is that U.S. efforts in Iraq were hobbled by a set of faulty assumptions, a flawed planning effort, and a continuing inability to create security conditions in Iraq that could have fostered meaningful advances in stabilization, reconstruction, and governance.  With the best of intentions, the United States toppled a vile, dangerous regime but has been unable to replace it with a stable entity.  Even allowing for progress under the Surge, the study insists that mistakes in the Iraq operation cry out in the mid- to long-term for improvements in the U.S. decision making and policy execution systems.

The Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) is a non-partisan initiative sponsored by the non-profit Center for the Study of the Presidency (CSP). PNSR seeks to improve the U.S. Government's ability to integrate all elements of national power and more effectively respond to the strategic challenges of the 21st century.  Modeled on the historic effort that led to the Goldwater-Nichols legislation, PNSR has established nine working groups that are undertaking a rigorous study of the national security system.  Historical case studies constitute the first element of the study methodology.  These case studies will inform the analytic work of PNSR's other working groups by highlighting recurring trends in the way the U.S. national security system addresses complex national security problems.  Ultimately, PNSR will recommend changes to the National Security Act of 1947, presidential directives to implement other reforms, and new Congressional committee structures and practices.

Attendees at PNSR workshops may use the information as background, but may not identify the speaker, the other attendees, or PNSR itself or quote anything said at the event.

We hope that you can attend,

Richard Weitz, Ph.D., Leader

 Case Studies Working Group

Project on National Security Reform