I realize that I haven’t mentioned the sordid story how the US came to not have a policy on Iran. I mean that literally—no policy. None, zero, zip.
Steven Aftergood at the Federation of American Sceintists has compiled a list of all the PDD’s issued by the Bush Administration.
Note, this list has been updated several times after this post. Go read the original!
| Number | NSPD Title | Date |
| NSPD 1 | Organization of the National Security Council System | 13 FEB 2001 |
| NSPD 2 | ||
| NSPD 3 | ||
| NSPD 4 | [Review of U.S. nuclear offensive and defensive postures] | |
| NSPD 5 | [Review of U.S. intelligence] | 9 MAY 2001 |
| NSPD 6 | ||
| NSPD 7 | ||
| NSPD 8 | National Director … for Combating Terrorism | |
| NSPD 9 | Combating Terrorism | 25 OCT 2001 |
| NSPD 15 | National Space Policy Review | 28 JUN 2002 |
| NSPD 16 | [To Develop Guidelines for Offensive Cyber-Warfare] | XX JUL 2002 |
| NSPD 17 | [National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction] | 11 DEC 2002 |
| NSPD XX | [Authorizing Training for Iraqi Opposition Forces] | 03 OCT 2002 |
| NSPD 18 | [Military Assistance to Colombia] | XX NOV 2002 |
| NSPD 19 | [Review of Defense Trade Export Policy] | |
| NSPD XX | Trafficking in Persons | 25 FEB 2003 |
| NSPD 23 | National Policy on Ballistic Missile Defense | 16 DEC 2002 |
| NSPD 24 | [Post-War Iraq Reconstruction] | 20 JAN 2003 |
| NSPD 26 | Intelligence Priorities | |
| NSPD 32 | [Latin America Policy] | |
| NSPD 33 | Biodefense for the 21st Century | 28 APR 2004 |
| NSPD XX | United States Government Operations in Iraq | 11 MAY 2004 |
Notice that there is no NSPD for Iran. The Washington Post reported in June 2003 that the Administration officials had not been able to agree on a policy even though drafting began shortly after Bush took office in January 2001. Apparently, it was a draft of this document that OSD wonk Larry Franklin was accused of attempting to pass. Reporting on the Franklin story in September 2004, the New York Times revealed that the draft remained unfinished. “We don’t have a presidential directive on Iran,” an official told the Times. “We have an ad hoc policy that we’re making up as we go along. ”
The above links to the Post and Times stories are on other websites; the originals are archived and require a fee to view:
Michael Dobbs, “Pressure Builds for President to Declare Strategy on Iran,” The Washington Post (June 15, 2003): A20.
Eric Schmitt, “Pentagon Office in Spying Case Was Focus of Iran Debate,” The New York Times (September 2, 2004) A17.
