War and occupation in Iraq: What went right? What could go wrong?

The US occupation of Iraq is not the first such occupation of that country. Although little remembered in the US, the British occupation of Iraq at the end of the First World War, and the uprising and Mandate period that followed, are still vividly recalled in Iraq. Although historical parallels are never exact, the British experience does contain some striking parallels with the initial US experience. This article examines lessons to be drawn from the British experience, as well as the question of how to avoid repeating some of the failures of that earlier effort.