Posted on Mar 22, 2023
Before the U.S. rolled into Baghdad 20 years ago, Iraqis warned us what would happen
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Posted 1 y ago
Responses: 1
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."And where U.S. troops had started with heavy-handed tactics — I visited a town one U.S. unit had encircled in barbed wire to control residents — many grew in empathy toward Iraqis and as they served repeated tours. One told me he'd built phone relationships with both an insurgent leader who was attacking his troops and the residents informing on the insurgent activities.
But that didn't prevent the country's descent into civil war between Sunni and Shia factions.
Baghdad's a huge, complex city, and even as I watched U.S. forces fan out on their arrival, their presence in such numbers seemed hard to imagine. Now it seems unimaginable that any number of foreign troops could really keep the peace — or nation-build — in a country that doesn't want to be occupied."
..."And where U.S. troops had started with heavy-handed tactics — I visited a town one U.S. unit had encircled in barbed wire to control residents — many grew in empathy toward Iraqis and as they served repeated tours. One told me he'd built phone relationships with both an insurgent leader who was attacking his troops and the residents informing on the insurgent activities.
But that didn't prevent the country's descent into civil war between Sunni and Shia factions.
Baghdad's a huge, complex city, and even as I watched U.S. forces fan out on their arrival, their presence in such numbers seemed hard to imagine. Now it seems unimaginable that any number of foreign troops could really keep the peace — or nation-build — in a country that doesn't want to be occupied."
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