BBC NEWS | Middle East | US must learn from Calipari

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US must learn from Calipari: "There was a time when the British army behaved like that in Northern Ireland: jittery, resentful, too quick to fire, an easy target.
Thirty-five years ago, in Belfast and Derry, I saw British soldiers behaving just as aggressively towards local people as the Americans do in Iraq.

Checkpoints have been targeted by suicide bombers
That was before it dawned on the British army that if they treated every passer-by as an enemy, it wouldn't be long before every passer-by was an enemy.

The army's eventual success against the IRA in Northern Ireland owed a great deal to this basic change of attitude.

Approaching an American roadblock is one of the more nerve-racking things you have to do in Iraq.

Once you have spoken to the US soldiers on duty and managed to establish your good faith, things are easier, even for Iraqis.

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