Iraqi Perspectives Project


The Iraqi Perspectives Project is a research effort conducted by United States Joint Forces Command, focusing on Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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Its first major product was A View of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Saddam's Senior Leadership, a comprehensive study of the inner workings of the government of Saddam Hussein based on certain documents seized in Iraq in 2003 known as the Operation Iraqi Freedom Documents and on interviews with various Iraqi personnel.
Its second product, entitled Saddam and Terrorism, was completed November 2007 and scheduled for release in March, 2008. In 2008, news outlets reported that contrary to usual practice, this report would not be released on the internet or by email, but only as a CD that would have to be requested. Later, however, a redacted version of the report was made available online through the Defense Technical Information Center.

A View of Operation Iraqi Freedom

A View of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Saddam's Senior Leadership is a comprehensive study of the inner workings of the government of Saddam Hussein based on certain documents seized in Iraq in 2003 known as the Operation Iraqi Freedom Documents and on interviews with various Iraqi personnel.

An incomplete analysis

In the foreword to the book, General Anthony Cucolo writes:
Though this project is an important initial step, we acknowledge the history of OIF is far from complete. Researchers continue to locate, translate, and analyze information that will shed new light on our former adversary's perspective of the conflict. It is in the interest of getting as much accurate information as possible into the hands of those already studying Operation Iraqi Freedom that we release this book.

Saddam's Delusions

A shorter analysis of these documents by the study's principal authors entitled "Saddam's Delusions" argues that the documents above confirm that Saddam's overall strategic calculus was based on misinformation and faulty judgment about the country's confrontation with the United States. For example, the authors wrote: "As far as can be determined from the interviews and records reviewed so far, there was no national plan to embark on a guerrilla war in the event of a military defeat. Nor did the regime appear to cobble together such a plan as its world crumbled around it. Buoyed by his earlier conviction that the Americans would never dare enter Baghdad, Saddam hoped to the very last minute that he could stay in power. And his military and civilian bureaucrats went through their daily routines until the very end."

Conclusions

The report contains the following conclusions:
The Saddam and Terrorism report was completed November 2007 and scheduled for release in March, 2008. Although this report was originally planned to be released as a PDF available on the JSF website and by email, it was announced that it would be available only as a CD that would have to be requested. However, the report is available through the Defense Technical Information Center website.
The CD has five documents; volume 1 is the report itself; the other four are appendices, mostly of the original documents translated into English. Each is marked as redacted. Various web sites have posted the documents, such as National Public Radio.