CIAO DATE: 08/03

Iraq: The Day After - Chairs' Update

Executive Summary

This memorandum focuses on key challenges in the postwar period in Iraq. It supplements the March 12, 2003, report, Iraq: The Day After, prepared by the Independent Task Force on Post-Conflict Iraq and sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. That report contained some 30 recommendations for U.S. postwar policy in Iraq. While some of the Task Force’s recommendations addressed contingencies that did not occur (such as the use of weapons of mass destruction by Iraqi forces or large-scale refugee flight), the bulk of the recommendations remain applicable some three months after the release of the initial report. This supplement highlights a few key areas of continuing concern that we believe require attention by the administration.

This supplement is the product of a Task Force meeting held on May 27, 2003, and reflects the efforts of the co-chairs, Thomas R. Pickering and James R. Schlesinger, to describe and present the major recommendations made in that session. A summary of those recommendations appears directly below.

Full Text (PDF, 23 pages, 184 KB)