Iraq | “Neither the US nor the UK had a plan,” says Tim Collins, a war veteran

“All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now come to an end. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. His refusal to do so will lead to a military conflict, beginning at a time of our choosing.” .

With this speech in 2003, former US President George W. Bush launched the Iraq war. A conflict that surprised all the soldiers who came to the battlefield.

“It was supposed to happen around (March) 24. So we thought we had a few days to spare. [Nos pilló desprevenidos. Pero fue una buena manera de empezar porque no había mucho tiempo para pensar en ello. […] We quickly received instructions to prepare to abandon our bases and head for dispersal positions. And in less than 24 hours we were crossing the border,” says Tim Collins, a former British army officer.

According to the former soldier, a few months after the start of the war, problems began to arise regarding strategic plans, such as the dissolution of the Iraqi army.

“At the time we were just doing our jobs and I made the fatal mistake of assuming that if I went ahead, if I did my job as a soldier in the field, someone in government, whether it was in the UK or the US, would have some sort of plan for what would happen once we had secured Iraq,” Collins says. “So we all assumed someone had a plan. We didn’t realize there was no plan.”

Two decades later, what lessons have been learned?

Two decades after the start of the war in Iraq, war nurse David Hornsby believes that treating wounded soldiers helped make important medical advances.

The Iraq conflict led to some amazing medical advances when it comes to traumatic injury care. […] So I think there are possibilities and I’m sure there are already ongoing discussions between health bodies like the NHS and Ukraine to share lessons learned.”

“It is that my full expectation is that the Russian losses and the setbacks they are suffering may well lead to a regime collapse in Moscow. If that is the case, I think we in the West should be willing to collaborate closely with the remnants of the Russian military. TO MAINTAIN peace and stability in that country. At the same time, we must be ready immediately to provide the necessary means and financial support to get normal life underway as soon as possible, something we did not do in Iraq,” adds Collins.

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