We didn't ask you to peek into that closet, so we won't listen to what you say was in there

The New York Times reports that the Army commissioned the RAND Corporation to do a study of the planning process for the aftermath of the Iraq war in order to learn how to do things right the next time. The study was completed in 2005 at about the time Bush was launching his much touted but dead on arrival "Plan for Victory in Iraq." Although the entire study was classified, a redacted, non-classified version was prepared for public distribution. It turns out, however, that the study was deeply embarrassing for the government -- having demonstrated that Bush and his cronies were bumbling idiots. So, the Army deep sixed the non-classified version of the study. All that is simply par for the course with the Bush administration. What I love about the story, however, is the reason the Army gave for deep sixing it:

The report on rebuilding Iraq was part of a seven-volume series by RAND on the lessons learned from the war. Asked why the report has not been published, Timothy Muchmore, a civilian Army official, said it had ventured too far from issues that directly involve the Army.

“After carefully reviewing the findings and recommendations of the thorough RAND assessment, the Army determined that the analysts had in some cases taken a broader perspective on the early planning and operational phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom than desired or chartered by the Army,” Mr. Muchmore said in a statement. “Some of the RAND findings and recommendations were determined to be outside the purview of the Army and therefore of limited value in informing Army policies, programs and priorities.”