U.S. Follows Iraqi Customs to Avoid New Enemies

HUSSENIYAH TOWN - U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph Baker, left, and Spc. Christopher Cumbie provide security in Husseniyah, Iraq, Jan. 22, 2009. Baker and Cumbie are assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's Company A, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class J.B. Jaso III

From The New York Times:

BAGHDAD — In Iraq, war deaths don’t always come via gunfire or exploding bombs. Sometimes, people get run over.

Near Samarra, last November, two Iraqi brothers were struck and killed by a vehicle that was part of a passing American military convoy.

The deaths were an accident. And against the backdrop of tens of thousands of deaths in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion, the incident received little attention.

But the small, halting gestures made by both the U.S. military and Iraqis in the weeks after the accident show how the U.S. has moved in a more serious way toward following certain Iraqi customs in order to avoid making new enemies.

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My Comment: Understanding the cultural uniqueness of a region or country makes a very difficult situation into one that can be (minimally) manageable.

Let us hope that the same understanding is going to be applied to Afghanistan.