我所见证的美国在伊拉克的溃败：2003年美国入侵时，他们并不了解这个国家。
What I Saw as the U.S. Debacle in Iraq Unfurled The Americans did not understand the country when they invaded in 2003. Over a correspondent’s many trips there, it was not clear that this ever changed much.
在一位通讯员多次前往该地的经历中，这一点似乎从未有过太大改变。
In March 2003, a statue of Saddam Hussein was still standing near a communications center in Baghdad that had been bombed two days earlier. A month later, the statue would be downed as well. Credit...Tyler Supported by I got to Iraq a few weeks after the U.S. Army did. It was just a couple of days after the statue of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was pulled down in Baghdad by a crowd that included U.S. Marines.
2003年3月，萨达姆·侯赛因的雕像仍矗立在巴格达一处两天前被轰炸的通讯中心附近。一个月后，这座雕像也被推倒了。我是在美军进入伊拉克几周后抵达的。
That was April 2003.
当时距离巴格达民众在海军陆战队协助下推倒萨达姆雕像仅过去几天。那是2003年4月。我曾向家人保证只待一周左右。
I had assured my family that I would stay for maybe a week. At the time a correspondent for The Los Angeles Times, I recall telling relatives that I just wanted to “get the lay of the land and take a look around.”That ended up taking longer than I thought.
作为《洛杉矶时报》的通讯员，我当时告诉亲戚，我只是想“了解一下情况，四处看看”。结果这比我想象的要久得多。从一开始，美国就不了解它所闯入的国家。23年后，当美军撤出最后一批部队时，他们可能依然不了解。我知道我至今仍在努力完全理解它。
From the beginning, the United States did not understand the country it was storming into. Twenty-three years later, as it pulls the last of its forces out, it probably still does not. I know I am still working to fully grasp it.
在最后时刻，留在伊拉克的美军人数已寥寥无几，以至于周三最后一批部队正式撤离时，对伊拉克人的日常生活几乎没有产生任何影响。但这与2003年3月20日第一批美军抵达时的情况截然不同。
There were so few U.S. service members left in Iraq at the end that when the last ones officially withdrew on Wednesday it made little difference in the daily lives of Iraqis. But that was hardly the case when the first American forces arrived on March 20, 2003.
入侵初期的日子里，推翻了一个令人憎恨的独裁者，那种可能性带来的兴奋感让人很容易忽视警示信号。
The early days of the invasion, which toppled a hated despot, were so heady with possibility that it was easy to dismiss the warning signs.