Pentagon "to do" list gives little hint of US goals for Iraq

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Pentagon's number two has issued a "to do" list for the administration's waning days in office, but it gives little hint of its goals for Iraq.

"Conduct September 2007 Iraq surge assessment and revise and execute plans accordingly," said Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England in an August 9 memo obtained by AFP.

That was the only one of 25 priorities that even alluded to what the United States hopes to achieve in Iraq by the end of President George W. Bush's term.

England briefed his list to Bush and sent it out by memo to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and military services.

"It's basically saying, 'Let's move forward," a Pentagon official said.

Many of the priorities focus on the loose ends from conflicts in Iraq and...