Here (briefly) is how news of the extension came out. Any corrections would be welcome.
On Monday, a "defense official speaking on condition of anonymity" told an AP reporter (Pauline Jelinek?) that the Pentagon is considering a plan to extend the tours of duty for up to 15,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq. The initial leak suggested that the decision had not yet been made, that it would not apply to all troops, and that the extensions would be up to 120 days. The news itself seems to have broken Tuesday morning, closely following Monday's announcement that 13k NG troops would be deployed/redeployed to Iraq. Not surprisingly, it quickly created a stir among military families.
On Wednesday (whoa! that didn't take very long!), SecDef Robert "What Iran-Contra Scandal?" Gates confirmed that "active army units now in the Central Command area (Iraq and Afghanistan) and those headed there will deploy for not more than 15 months and will return home to home station for not less than 12 months."
As it turns out, the original "defense official speaking on condition of anonymity" was mistaken. The decision had already been made. And it would apply for 90 days, to all CentCom Army personnel.
We know this because Gates confirmed it -- not just that the ToD extension would happen, but that the decision had already been made when the leak took place. What initially sounded like a "trial balloon" was in fact a C5 Galaxy already in the air. In fact, Gates made a curious -- and curiously angry -- comment at the news conference about "some very thoughtless person" leaking the extension plans. Particularly curious since he was busy emphasizing the need to provide "a more predictable and dependable deployment schedule."
The whole bidness was curious enough, even, to make the Wily Atriosseus go "hm." Fortunately, the blogosphere is good at connecting dots. The probability that someone will notice some crucial detail or subtle pattern goes up as a function of the number of people paying attention, and lo and behold, here's Salon reader Terry Anastassiou wondering whether the extension will be blamed on the Democrats, in the event that Bush vetoes the supplemental. Tim Grieve takes note, somebody posts a link to that at Swampland, and the lightbulb lights up over Atrios's head. Where I see it during my morning tour of the A-listers.
Suppose this news had not been leaked, and the unit commanders could have been notified first. When would the announcement have been made? Would it have been perfectly timed to distract attention from the fact that the naked boy prince had just turned down the money congress appropriated? Would there have been a carefully constructed series of talking points blaming Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for forcing the codpiece-in-chief to extend tours of duty?
Ya. I think so. What do you think?
Perhaps some DC cub will be inspired by real reporters and ask exactly when the decision was actually made, and by whom. Perhaps they will follow up by asking who in the WH was aware of the decision, when the unit commanders were to be told, and when they were expected to pass that info along to their units.
Maybe this will get the coverage it deserves, since Atrios has mentioned it. I haven't seen it diaried here, and I think it's important enough to make me late for work.
cross-posted at ePluribus Media.