Today’s Must Read

Get beyond the surge. Go further than the talk about population protection being the new basis for U.S. efforts in Iraq. The Joint Campaign Plan is the comprehensive strategy for Iraq employed by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. It’s a fairly important document. And Congress can’t see it, reports Rachel Van Dongen for Roll Call. (sub. req.)

In television interviews and press conferences, Gen. David Petraeus has described the Joint Campaign Plan as the key military and diplomatic strategy to stabilize Iraq.

Developed by the “big brains” on the ground, Petraeus points to a “unified” effort with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker to achieve political and military security in Iraq by 2009.

Yet despite repeat efforts at the highest levels and Pentagon promises, Congress has been unable to get a current copy of the plan.

After persistent requests from House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the issue has moved up the Congressional chain of command to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). According to an aide, Pelosi asked President Bush for the document several months ago in a White House meeting. Since then, Pelosi’s staff has “repeatedly” requested a copy, her aide said, but has not yet received one.

A spokeswoman for the House Armed Services Committee generously declined to attribute the stonewalling to partisan politics. Yet the committee’s request for the plan has been outstanding since the Pentagon missed a March 30 deadline for it. What’s more, even though Congress hasn’t seen the document, the head of a Government Accountability Office unit mentioned in October 30 testimony that his team saw the plan on a recent trip to Iraq.

Nor is Congress the only one left in the dark about why it can’t see the plan. Van Dongen called the White House for an explanation, and it sent her to the Iraq command, known as Multinational Force-Iraq. An MNFI spokesperson told her, “I do not know why the White House would refer you to us regarding these questions.” The Pentagon didn’t reply, either. Three cheers for openness in government!

The Pentagon, however, did give something of an answer to the House Armed Services Committee. According to Robert Wilkie, the Pentagon’s legislative-affairs chief, Congress is just asking for too darn many documents:

In an April 11 letter to Erin Conaton, the Armed Services Committee’s staff director, Wilkie wrote that the department was receiving an “unprecedented number of requests” for documents from Congress.

“Even with the use of a full-time staff dedicated to this process, the work is time- consuming since we must determine what documents can be properly shared with the legislative branch,” Wilkie said.

At the end of May, the oversight subcommittee finally received a copy of the 2006 plan and an April “interim” plan for 2007.

But that was a day after The Washington Post first reported on the plan’s details. Lawmakers still don’t have a copy of the current plan for 2007 and beyond.