EVEN IF THE INSURgency in Iraq abates, how well prepared is the U.S. military to get on with the task of nation building? Not well at all, according to Defense Department documents TIME has obtained. Much of the work would be the responsibility of the Army's civil-affairs and psychological-operations units, both of which are undermanned and underequipped. "It's horrible," says a Pentagon official. "They're kind of a broken force."
Civil-affairs soldiers rebuild public utilities and other civilian services in war-torn areas, and psyops specialists are in charge of propaganda, such as leaflets and pro-U.S. broadcasts aimed at winning the "hearts and...