“In April [2002], the Near East Bureau launched a project it called the ‘Future of Iraq,’ enlisting two hundred Iraqi academics, business leaders and experts in everything from education and oil policy to governance and national security to draw up a blueprint for reconstructing and running their country after Saddam was gone. The idea had originated months earlier with Edward Walker, the former assistant secretary [of State] who had left government in mid-2001 to take over a Washington think tank on Mideast issues, as a vehicle for drawing together Iraqi military and political exiles, particularly among Hussein’s minority Sunni sect.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell, Pages 397-398