When the so-called military experts state that the fighting men and women in Iraq were not trained for occupation or police duty, I find it laughable. In September of ‘45 there was no leaner meaner fighting machine than the 4th Marines which was sent in to take over Yokosuka Naval Base.
We were heavily armed and ready for the worst but found the Imperial Navy ready to surrender. As a result we quickly became an occupation force ready to defend against rumored counter attacks. Of course, it didn’t happen because the Japanese honored their formal, almost unconditional surrender.
The problem in Iraq is that there was no formal surrender because the US did not “invade” the nation bur rather raided it. Either way to suggest that the US forces aren’t capable of occupying a nation flies in the face of military logic. The US armed services are trained in defense as well as offense.
The problem lies in the patch work war that had been conducted that left open three fourths of the country as potentially hostile with US forces maneuvered into covered wagon circles. In contrast, post WWII had well defined lines of defense.