During the fall of Bagdad Doug Feith was watching the famous scene of the toppling statue of Saddam, live on television.

He noticed the US soldier draping an American flag on the head of the fallen statue. He recoiled seeing this as sending the wrong message of the purpose of the American forces. He called General Myers to see if he could reach the soldier and remove it before it permeated the media. Within seconds Feith saw on TV the soldier remove the American flag and replace it with an Iraqi flag.

The General did not reach the soldier that quickly; a fellow soldier realized the gaffe and corrected it before they were ever reached. The soldiers understood why we were there.

The symbolism of such small gestures can have large impacts.

from “War and Decision” by Douglas Feith

print