Six Months in Iraq The story of early planning explains how it
came about that the first American effort was in Iraq and why
that effort was short-lived. For six months from November 1941
the Iraqi chapter was longer on planning than on performance.
The ordnance plan is an extreme instance: almost all planning,
almost no performance in the field. The case of the Iranian
Mission's first job in Iraq was less extreme, though more than a
million dollars and the best working months of the year had been
expended on projects when change of plan transferred them to the
British before they were fairly started.1 In the early stages of
new ventures, trial and error take their toll of the best-laid
plans. The first plans were very large indeed. Broached by the
British before Pearl Harbor put a global strain upon American
resources, these plans indicated both a belief that the
Americans could do anything and the hope that they would.
British needs were great, and the President had directed that
their needs should govern.