Scenes from the occupation

From a NYT piece highlighting Dutch soldiers' softer approach in Iraq:

American soldiers are not based here, but they regularly make short, though lasting, appearances. American convoys traveling the main highway between Baghdad and Kuwait force their way through Samawa's crowded main street at full speed and, fearful of becoming targets, do not stop even after causing fatal accidents, Dutch and Iraqi officials here say. Worried about car-bombers, American soldiers in armored vehicles point guns at drivers to keep cars away.

[...]

The Dutch and Iraqis say the convoys indiscriminately hit private cars and pedestrians, treating Iraqis only as obstacles to be removed. A few weeks ago, one such convoy struck a car, killing two Iraqi passengers and injuring three, the Dutch said. The convoy never stopped.

I don't think this is simple. The GIs are in a much more difficult situation than the Dutch soldiers, who are one of the calms parts of Iraq. (Just, or still, two of them have been killed.) But two things come to mind:

1) Heavy-handed "force protection" approaches like this are a trait of the U.S. military, and have been since well before the Bush administration. When I was East Timor in 1999, the few U.S. soldiers there moved around in full-on combat gear. It was imposing-looking. The Aussies, by contrast, wore floppy hats and made an effort to meet and greet.

2) In order to "win" in Iraq, the U.S. has to move away from these kind of tactics. Given the threat GIs face in Iraq now--we're now at 90 attacks per day. What are the chances GIs are going to play nice and put themselves even a bit more at risk in doing so?

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[Jessie]

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