NY Times Reveals Another Classified Plan

Once again someone working in the upper reaches of our government has leaked a classified plan to the NY Times who all too greedily printed it. This time it involves our planned stay in Iraq:

BAGHDAD, July 23 — While Washington is mired in political debate over the future of Iraq, the American command here has prepared a detailed plan that foresees a significant American role for the next two years.

The classified plan, which represents the coordinated strategy of the top American commander and the American ambassador, calls for restoring security in local areas, including Baghdad, by the summer of 2008. “Sustainable security” is to be established on a nationwide basis by the summer of 2009, according to American officials familiar with the document.

The detailed document, known as the Joint Campaign Plan, is an elaboration of the new strategy President Bush signaled in January when he decided to send five additional American combat brigades and other units to Iraq. That signaled a shift from the previous strategy, which emphasized transferring to Iraqis the responsibility for safeguarding their security.

My guess is it that some malcontent in the Pentagon, unhappy with the results of last week's Harry Reid slumber party, leaked this document to the Times to kick-start the debate again, get the lefties all riled up, and maybe provoke some wobbly Republicans to sign on to Reid's surrender plans. The idea that we'll continue to have troops in Iraq past the '08 election is a big problem for the Dems (as I previously explained here).

Look for various outraged statements to come from the usual suspects in the House and Senate.