With a different area and ideology... a comparison between America's "invasion" of Iraq and Russia o

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[size=52]With a different area and ideology... a comparison between America's "invasion" of Iraq and Russia of Ukraine[/size]

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[size=45]After the Russian-Ukrainian war has become more like a reality for the whole world, comparisons are made with other wars that the world has witnessed, bearing multiple faces and pretexts, but there is a comparison and a military approach between the American invasion of Baghdad, during the era of George Bush in 2003, and the Russian invasion of Kiev in 2022, headed by Vladimir Putin.[/size]
[size=45]The former commander of the US Central Command, General David Petraeus, who led a key phase of the US war in Iraq, considered during an interview with the American magazine “The Atlantic” that “Putin lacks the longevity and ability to control Ukraine, and that despite the difficulty of the war on Baghdad for the Americans, However, the Kiev war, may be more severe impact on Moscow.[/size]
[size=45]The American magazine conducted an interview with Petraeus, based on his Iraqi experience, to talk about the Ukraine war, and when asked what he would do if he was the commander of the Ukrainian army now, he replied: “I will work on the intelligence side to determine the locations of the presence of Russian forces, their options and the most likely and dangerous among them.[/size]
[size=45]Petraeus previously also took over the administration of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), prepared his doctoral thesis on the Vietnam War, and contributed to the preparation of the field guidance manual for US forces on counter-insurgency methods, and he was the commander of US forces in Iraq during the troop increase plan that It stepped up the military presence in Iraq, in preparation for its exit more than 10 years ago, and also took command of the American forces in Afghanistan.[/size]
[size=45]Petraeus said, according to the American magazine, that "few Americans know more than him about occupying a country and then confronting armed resistance," referring to his military experience in combating the armed (insurgency) in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Whatever Putin's intention to invade Ukraine, according to Petraeus, "he does not have the forces and popular support to succeed in controlling this country for any length of time."[/size]
[size=45]Petraeus added, "The challenge now for senior policy makers in Ukraine is that they are trying to achieve two goals, although one cancels out the other to some degree, which is to try to avoid causing too much panic to their Ukrainian citizens, and to avoid unnecessarily provoking the Russians, and the other thing is to prepare the Ukrainian forces." to defend the country.”[/size]
[size=45]It is noteworthy that the size of the massed Russian forces, estimated at 190,000 soldiers, is comparable to the size of the American forces that were mobilized during the surge plan in Iraq, despite the fact that Ukraine is much larger in area and population than Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Petraeus, in response to a question about whether Russia can actually control the entire area of ​​Ukraine, pointed out that "Ukraine is not only larger than Iraq, but is also more populous by 50% than the country, in addition to the millions of the Iraqi population are from The Kurds, Christians, Yazidis, Shabak, and Shiites were the ones who greatly supported the coalition forces throughout the US military presence in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]He considered that "a small minority of Iraqis were supporting Sunni extremists, insurgents and Iranian-backed Shiite militias, but despite that, they proved to be enemies that are difficult to deal with."[/size]
[size=45]And the American general continued, asking, "Can Russia control the entire area of ​​Ukraine?", adding that "this question should be one of the most troubling questions in the minds of President Putin and in the heads of his senior leaders."[/size]
[size=45]Petraeus spoke of his experience leading the 101st Airborne Division during the first months of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, noting that "the fighting was difficult."[/size]
[size=45]And he added: “Once the regime collapsed, we didn’t have enough soldiers to prevent massive looting early on, and in the later period, the United States didn’t have enough to deal with the rebels and extremist elements when they escalated violence dramatically in 2006, until troops were sent in. additional during the 18-month surge, along with changes in strategy and the development of increased numbers of reasonably competent Iraqi forces.”[/size]
[size=45]The American general noted the importance of not forgetting that "the majority of Iraqis initially welcomed (the liberation of the country from Saddam Hussein's brutal and corrupt regime), but the Russians cannot expect to be welcomed while invading Ukraine."[/size]
[size=45]In response to a question about his experience in “counter-insurgency” and whether Russia would face something similar in Ukraine, Petraeus expected that estimating the size and stability of this is difficult, noting that “one of the important factors relates to whether the Ukrainian government and forces will be able to retain a large part From their country in the face of any major invasion, the Ukrainians say they will make life very difficult for the Russian occupying forces.”[/size]
[size=45]According to Petraeus, the Russians should fear this possibility to a large extent, especially if the Ukrainians resort to the method of fighting as insurgents, and they are provided with the necessary support from abroad.[/size]
[size=45]"Putin and his senior commanders are old enough to remember the pain of the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, and so they should at least feel that occupying Ukraine would be very difficult, even if they relied on 190,000 Russian soldiers against small rebel groups," he said. “.[/size]
[size=45]On the reaction of Western countries to the Ukrainian rebellion and whether they will support it or abandon it, Petraeus stressed that “the answer to this matter is difficult, because there are many factors influencing this, including whether the rebellion takes place from within a large part of the territory of Ukraine which It is still under the control of the government, or is it done from outside these lands.”[/size]
[size=45]He concluded by saying that "insurgents in general, as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan, need fighters, money, leaders, communications, systems, weapons, ammunition, explosives, safe havens and explosives experts, as well as ideologies or a cause to fight for", suggesting that the Ukrainian insurgents will demand "whatever I need." Iraqi and Afghan insurgents and extremists, except for the suicide bombers.”[/size]
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