Then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wrote: “Before the war I had agreed it would be wise to keep the Iraqi army as a reconstruction corps–something loosely resembling FDR’s [President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s] Civilian Conservation Corps. In January 2003, [Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas] Feith and his staff, working with the Joint Staff, drafted a briefing called ‘Rebuilding the Iraqi Military’ that recommended retaining the regular army. One month later, at a February 26 [2003] meeting, Pentagon representatives briefed the NSC [National Security Council] principals on the DoD plans for what they called ‘the reintegration of the regular army.’ Under the plan, those structures of the military that were tainted with the crimes of the Baath regime–the Republican Guard and secret police among them–would be dissolved, but the regular army would be retained to assist in keeping security. The proposal would use the army ‘as a national reconstruction force during the transition phase.’ ”
– Donald Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, Page 516