Iraq: Five Years In
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Derek Bennett A disillusioned soldier | Peggy Buryj A mother's loss | Ryan Crocker U.S. Ambassador to Iraq | Robby Diesu Protesting the war |
"This isn't like World War II. There's no VJ Day, no sailor kissing a girl when he comes home." (Full interview) | "People think I have to justify this war just because my son died in it. That's not the case." (Full interview) | "Our absence can be as substantial as our presence." (Full interview) | "If I believe in something, I want to make sure I know what I'm talking about." (Full interview) |
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Lee Hamilton Iraq Study Group | Adel Abdul Mahdi Shiite politician | Meghan O'Sullivan White House adviser | Kenneth Pollack An advocate of invasion |
"The White House has gone one way, and the Congress has gone another—and the president prevails. But the country is weakened." (Full interview) | "One year ago people were fighting. Now, well, they are fighting in words. This is much better than fighting." (Full interview) | "The experience has been very sobering for all of us involved. ... I've learned there are no easy choices with Iraq." (Full interview) | "If at the end of the day, the U.S. screwed things up for four years and then in the end left Iraq a better place than they found it under Saddam, it may have still been worth it." (Full interview) |
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William Quinn An interrogator | Paul Rieckhoff Infantry officer | Peter Rodman Pentagon adviser | Qasim Sebti A culture warrior |
"It's very difficult for me not to see them as human beings, and human beings who are caught up in incredibly difficult circumstances." (Full interview) | "The lack of involvement on the part of the American people is unprecedented." (Full interview) | "Even without the WMD, Hussein was a destabilizing power in the Middle East who brutalized his own people." (Full interview) | "I'm fighting by my own special way. I'm fighting by culture and art." (Full interview) |
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 | Dexter Thompson 15-year veteran | "We can see it every day in the eyes of the Iraqis. It's a better place for them to live now. It's a better country." (Full interview) | |
The Washington Post
