“I did some embedded stuff. And if you are embedded, the only things you see are what the soldiers see, and if the people talk to you, they talk to you as if you are a soldier, because with your flak jacket and your helmet, they can't tell the difference between you and the soldier next to you, and they obviously won't tell you what they really think because they are afraid of you.” PeopleIfsThinkingNextStuffDifferencesSoldierJacketsEmbeddedHelmet Author:Yaroslav Trofimov
“Now as to the behavior of the soldiers: occupations always corrupt the occupiers.” BehaviorSoldierOccupation Author:Yaroslav Trofimov
“The other problem is that the priority of many soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan is operational security: not getting killed. Now that is a very valid priority, but it has to be balanced against many other priorities, especially not killing too many locals in the process.” ProblemProcessSecurityKillingSoldierIraqPrioritiesLocalsAfghanistanBalanced Author:Yaroslav Trofimov
“The rules of engagement are so lax that soldiers are shooting and killing Iraqis under mere suspicion, and tragedies are everyday. There are road killings, killings on the road when someone is trying to pass a convoy and they get shot. Or if a roadside bomb goes off, the soldiers just start shooting in all directions.” IfsTryingShotsTragedyMereKillingEverydaySoldierShootingBombsEngagementSuspicionRoadsideLaxRules Of Engagement Author:Yaroslav Trofimov
“In a country like Iraq with its culture of blood feuds - is that the more locals are killed, the more motivation there is for the insurgency, for the insurgents the more feelings of revenge there are, and in the end the more the operational security of the soldiers suffers, because any soldier who kills an infant today is grooming the killer of his mate tomorrow.” EndsCountryFeelingsTodayMotivationSufferingCultureBloodSecurityTomorrowSoldierIraqRevengeLocalsMatesKillersInfantInsurgentGroomingInsurgencyFeuds Author:Yaroslav Trofimov
“In the occupation in Afghanistan, there are tragedies as well. It's not as bad as in Iraq because there are fewer American troops. But, as I describe in the book, going out on patrol and coming into a village, the soldiers found a stash of documents and decided this was Taliban propaganda.” WellsBookFoundDecidedTragedySoldierIraqPropagandaVillageOccupationAfghanistanFewerTroopsGoing OutDocumentsTalibanAmerican Troops Author:Yaroslav Trofimov
