"What one needs to understand is that these decisions were ideologically based," the diplomat argued. "They were not based on an analytical, historical understanding. They were based on ideology. You dont counter ideology with logic or experience or analysis very effectively."
She said political pressure on professional foreign service officers was "huge" and "pervasive."
"The ideology was what has come to be called neoconservatism and the whole belief that this would be an easy war, that we would be welcomed with open arms," Raphel pointed out.
She insisted this view was cultivated by expatriate Iraqis, who had their own agenda, which they tried to impose on US officials.
Raphel said it became quickly obvious to her that the United States could not run a country that Americans did not understand.
"We were a bunch of amateurs largely except for the engineers, and even they didnt have a professional means to interface with the Iraqis, so they were missing," she said. "There was very much the sense that we were getting in way over our heads within weeks."
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