U.S. President George W. Bush's old strategy for Iraq, which he announced a year ago was framed around "eight pillars," and still lives on in a weekly progress report while the administration has been working on a new plan for the Middle East country, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The State Department continues to issue a 30-page public report every Wednesday that details exactly how the U.S. government is meeting the goals set forth in the now-abandoned plan, which has been declared by the president and his national security team as a failure, the newspaper said.

The report frames the data around Bush's eight pillars, which include such goals as "Defeat the Terrorists and Neutralize the Insurgents" (Pillar 1) and "Increase International Support for Iraq" (Pillar 7).

In many ways, the report is a microcosm of the administration's lost year in Iraq. The reams of details aimed at touting success belie the fact that few of the goals are being met.

The report is often upbeat as it presents some of the most minuscule factoids of the situation in Iraq. The Dec. 13 report noted that on Dec. 7, 40 sheikhs from across Diyala province met "to discuss ways to maintain peace and stability" and that on Dec. 9, U.S. soldiers discovered a factory for making improvised explosive devices in a house in Baqubah.

But the bottom-line graphs tell a story of failure. Under Pillar 5 "Help Iraq Strengthen Its Economy," the reports show that week after week, the Iraqis cannot meet their goals for crude oil production. Another chart shows that efforts to build a 15-day supply of all refined products, such as diesel and gasoline, are woefully behind schedule, reaching a peak of a four-day supply.

The report is prepared not by State Department officials but by a team of about 10 people hired by a management consulting firm, which has a 2 million-U.S. dollar contract to produce the report and to manage the process of running Iraq policy in the administration, a State Department official was quoted as saying.

Source: Xinhua