WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Bush administration officials have acknowledged their plan for rebuilding Iraq has been seriously flawed on the security front.
Some defense officials said privately in interviews that the plan in place for security after Baghdad's fall has been an utter failure, the Washington Post said Thursday.
They said it failed to predict any significant resistance from Saddam loyalists, much less the deadly combination of Ba'athist holdouts and foreign terrorists preying daily on U.S. troops.
Since President Bush declared an end to major hostilities May 1, guerrillas have killed 65 U.S. troops.
This week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who vigorously defended every aspect of his post-Saddam plan, acknowledged some shortfalls but chalked them up to unforeseeable circumstances.
Asked whether conditions in Iraq were deteriorating, the defense secretary said, "Like any planning, once you hit reality, the plan needs to be adjusted and modified."
