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SWJED
05-09-2006, 08:39 AM
9 May Los Angeles Times - Aiming for a More Subtle Fighting Force (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-general9may09,1,1795096.story?coll=la-headlines-world).


Some American troops in Iraq have been their "own worst enemy," unintentionally creating new insurgents by treating the Iraqi people in a heavy-handed or insensitive manner, according to the U.S. commander in charge of day-to-day military operations.

Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, in a weekend training session with troops and in an interview afterward, said he found a need to reemphasize to soldiers that they must use reasonable force and treat the Iraqi culture with respect, in part because the insurgency has persisted and grown.

"We have to understand that the way we treat Iraqis has a direct effect on the number of insurgents that we are fighting," Chiarelli said in the interview with The Times after the seminar with about three dozen soldiers and Marines at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad. "For every one that I kill, I create almost 10 more." ...