Whistleblower Franz Gayl, a Marine Corps civilian ground combat advocate, went public in 2007 with a now-disputed claim that the military had ignored or slow-walked requests for life-saving equipment, such as mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles and nonlethal offensive gear, that would have saved Iraqi civilians.
Gayl was assisted by Andrew Bakaj, a former CIA officer who specializes in supporting whistleblowers. Bakaj is now the principal attorney for the career CIA officer who worked on the National Security Council under Presidents Barack Obama and Trump before departing and filing a whistleblower complaint with the Intelligence Community inspector general.
The claim from Gayl helped build opposition to the war and President George W. Bush, who was portrayed as incompetent, and fueled Obama's 2008 victory, which propelled Biden into the vice presidency. But it has come under renewed scrutiny in recent years.