Perspective: Iraq Study Group -- The Forgotten Plan

Jan. 29, 2007 issue - For Leon Panetta, the gesture of respect failed to disguise the rebuff. Two hours before George W. Bush announced plans to send more troops to Iraq earlier this month, the president had his national-security adviser, Stephen Hadley, brief members of the Iraq Study Group by phone on the "surge" plan. Nine of the bipartisan panel's 10 members were on the line, including co-chairs James Baker and Lee Hamilton.

Panetta, one of the Democrats on the commission and President Bill Clinton's former chief of staff, says Hadley began by listing those recommendations Bush had chosen to incorporate into his plan. Most were minor, according to Panetta.

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