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Filed Under Politics
Iraq Study Group Caught Cheating
Posted December 4, 2006
A recent leak of the much anticipated report by the Iraq Study Group reveals that certain members of the group have been caught cheating. Journalists and history professors have condemned the report, in which entire sections have been copied and pasted from Wikipedia. There were direct references to strategies from prior wars.
The biggest offense of the group was to submit one report, rather than individual reports from each member. "I thought this was supposed to be a group effort," said former Congressman Lee Hamilton in his defense. "I guess I didn't really understand the assignment."
Some found the report's title, "Iraq Strategy: Glad I'm Not President", a bit too glib. The early draft, featuring a plastic spiral bounding from Kinkos, undermines the credibility of the report.
The Iraq Study Group was formed months ago to create new solutions for the Iraq War. They have met every Sunday afternoon at the D.C. public library. Regular patrons of the library complained that the group was loud, listened to iPods while they worked, and secretly snuck food into the library. There have also been accusations that certain members of the group have hooked up and started dating, although this rumor hasn't yet been verified.
"I'd like to point out that I did all the work, and really should get more credit," said former Secretary of State James Baker. "Lee wrote maybe the opening paragraph and the conclusion, which really is just a way of rephrasing the opening, and I did the rest."
In one excerpt of the report, the group suggests that we begin a phased withdrawal and create conditions for 'Vietnamization' of the war. Although it is understood that the group meant for Iraqis to take over the bulk of security, the fact that they did not even change the word 'Vietnamization' demonstrates their blatant copying of previous strategies. The footer in certain segments of the report reveals the name 'CollegeTermPapers.com', which was used as a partial paid source.
The White House is understandably upset by the allegations. "We believed that the work by the Iraq Study Group would be original," stated White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. "In the leaked version that we haven't actually read, we've learned that much of the work was plagiarized by others. We expected a top notch report from this group, not the repackaging of others' ideas. The White House can't use anything from this report. It's also filled with misspellings, historical inaccuracies, and poor grammar."
 
copyright 2004-2024 G. Xavier Robillard
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