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U.S. troops in Iraq adopt oil strategy

Feb- 1-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By NICK WADHAMS, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

MOSUL, Iraq -- The Iraqi police colonel listens as his American counterpart, Maj. Richard Greene, explains American strategy in this northern Iraqi city. U.S. soldiers will start by making one neighborhood secure. Then, security will spread, like an oil stain.

"It's like we start with a base and then we spread out," Greene tells the colonel. "The main problem is not the terrorists, it's the people who give them information. But if we're there with a presence, they'll see us there and will be less likely to cooperate with the terrorists."

Anyone looking to understand the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq in the last few months need look no farther than Andrew Krepinevich, a prominent analyst who came up with the "oil stain" theory. [...]

Krepinevich said he is friends with Khalilzad but did not know that U.S. soldiers were using his teachings on the ground. He had no idea that some, like Col. Michael Shields, the commander of the 172nd Stryker Brigade in Mosul, were passing out copies of his writings.

"I'm certainly flattered that he thinks well of my work," Krepinevich said, adding: "It doesn't make any difference who gets the credit as long as we win." [...]


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