European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 182007 s tar s an d stripes Page 3 four years in Iraq Joseph and stripes i above capt Scott Brannon provides cover fire while medics Rush to Aid pc Shawn Williams who was shot through the Abdomen during an assault on a Southern Iraq Airfield in March 2003 right prisoners listen to iraqi officials before their release from Abu Gharib prison in september 2005 entering year 5 of an Erik and stripes unpredictable War by Joseph Giordono stars and stripes a pm Eastern time on March 192003 a grim president Bush addressed the world from the Oval of fice earlier that Day he announced american forces had launched an invasion to disarm Iraq to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger now that conflict has come the Only Way to limit its duration is to apply decisive Force Bush said that night and i assure you this will not be a Campaign of half Mea sures and we will accept no outcome but Vic tory on monday four years later More than 140000 american service members in Iraq face the latest twist in a conflict that has mor phed from an Overland Rush to a deepening sectarian conflict while Many Pentagon planners and administration officials initially projected the War would be won in weeks some of Bush words that night have taken on an eerie Reso Nance a Campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation As Large As California could be longer and More difficult than some predict Bush said then and helping iraqis achieve a United stable and free country will require our sustained commitment the american military sustained commitment now focuses on tamping Down a sectarian Battle for Baghdad a continuing struggle to support Iraq fledgling govern ment and keeping the War from widening to a regional conflict Many of the wars critical junctures can be invoked simply by name fal Lujah Tal afar ramada Abu Gharib Mahmud Yah others take a bit More explaining the growth of the insurgency the Hunt capture trial and execution of Saddam Hussein the stars and stripes it col Chuck Williams greets a Young admirer at a Baghdad school opening in october 2003 Rise of Abu Musab Alz Aqrawi and the Man Hunt that ultimately killed him the reconstruction efforts hampered by both insurgent attacks and mismanagement the Sec tarian conflict that changed the nature of the War by the end of 2005 three elections and the adoption of a new iraqi Constitution had buoyed american Hopes that Progress was being made for 2006 the plan was to put the focus on training iraqi forces and pos Sibly to begin reducing the number of american troops on the ground but in february of that year the bombing of a holy shiite shrine in Samarra brought the problems Between sunnis and shiites to the fore by the end of 2006 the us military and president Bush were discussing a new direction Secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld one of the architects of the War was replaced and on Jan 11 saying the situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the Ameri can people and it is unacceptable to me Bush announced that new course the strategy to increase the number of american and iraqi troops in Baghdad and to base them in the heart of the City focuses on the biggest test of the Clear hold build strategy that had begun in 2005 most notably in Tal afar and in March 2007 according to the pentagons jus released measuring stability and Security in Iraq report the term civil War does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict in Iraq which includes extensive shiite shiite violence Al Aida and sunni insurgent attacks on coalition forces and widespread criminally motivated Vio Lence but it acknowledges some elements of the situation in Iraq Are properly descriptive of a civil War including the hardening of Ethan sectarian identities and mobilization the changing character of the violence and population displacements in today stars and stripes we look at How a few individual lives have been affected by the past four years in Iraq email Joseph Giordono at looking Back for a new approach Baghdad Iraq War enters its fifth year with us troops working to secure towns and neighbourhoods build up Iraq own police and army and cultivate iraqi Community leaders to Shore up grassroots support for a posts add am Hussein government that sounds a lot like what the Ameri cans say they have been trying to do Al most since troops crossed the Border in the Spring of 2003 repeated efforts have come up Short this time however us officials in Sist there going to do it right Many officers and senior noncommissioned officers Are now in their third Tours and say Treyve Learned from experience that includes the Overall com Mander Gen David Petraeus he has revamped the counterinsurgency strategy designed to win Back not Only the turf but Public support although never acknowledged publicly the strategy switch also includes a Clear sign that the old us plan to hand Over Security to iraqi forces quickly a Mission Petraeus spearheaded two years ago has failed us troops Are no longer taking a Back seat there Back behind the wheel for As Long As Congress and the us Public will let them what remains unclear is How Long it will take under the new strategy to achieve results and whether the 21500 additional combat troops being sent to Iraq will be enough to get the Job done the associated press