Well, it's a problem in general with the American military. If you are the biggest and the strongest military power in the world, you have this natural reluctance to learn the quirky ways of the natives in faraway lands. — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share Image
If you are an eighteen or nineteen-year-old with little education, as is often the case, and you're put in charge of many, many people… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
The American official was trying to talk about aid and development projects and finally a local tribal chief got up and said, "Even if… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
Even if you look at Iran, those campaigners for human rights there, they don't want to have anything to do with America, because they… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
But in Afghanistan, the general rule was that since you were fighting the Taliban, which was not a lawful government force, the Geneva Conventions… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
Now as to the behavior of the soldiers: occupations always corrupt the occupiers. — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
I think the behavior of the troops has been a huge factor in the rise of the insurgency and in the rise of the… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
In a country like Iraq with its culture of blood feuds - is that the more locals are killed, the more motivation there is… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
In the occupation in Afghanistan, there are tragedies as well. It's not as bad as in Iraq because there are fewer American troops. But,… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
Because no matter how much money we spend there [in Iraq], as long as the people there see this money as... as assistance that… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
The other problem is that the priority of many soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan is operational security: not getting killed. Now that is a… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
I did some embedded stuff. And if you are embedded, the only things you see are what the soldiers see, and if the people… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
So our own actions sometimes have undermined our safety, in our efforts to fight terrorism. The only way this can work is if we… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
Even if you are a liberal in the Muslim world, when you see Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, and you see all the other reports… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
What I found most ironic is that the safest part for us as journalists was during the actual war. Back then, during that stage… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
I think in Baghdad, any westerner, journalist or not, has a big dollar sign on his or her forehead. So, first and foremost, you… — Yaroslav Trofimov Copy Share
