I think this gets down to zero leadership from the top. I've read a couple articles including one in the New Yorker. The author described how military decisions are being further down the line then is typical.

The author spent some time with division leaders in one geographic area who were making an effort to get to know the locals and their customs. He then went to visit another division where the military commanders didn't know answers to basic questions about Iraq.

My guess is that daily routines are established at the division level also.

>I am skeptical about this, even though only based on anecdotal evidence. Last September when I went to Houston to help with Katrina relief efforts I rode there and back with a guy who had been an Army platoon leader in Iraq. He said part of his platoon's mission was to find and disarm IEDs, as well as those who had placed them or sought to place them. He said if you were not an American or Iraqi soldier and were even found with IED equipment such as wires -- not putting them in place, just having them -- you had a lot of explaining to do. Many American soldiers have lost their lives to those things, so it doesn't make sense that our soldiers would turn a blind eye to them.
>
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>>I posted last week about an interview I heard on the radio with a soldier experiencing the frustration. He discussed patrolling areas where you knew that no matter how well you found ieds before they exploded, someone would place more at night. And there was no effort to catch those placing the devices.
>>
>>But that's okay. We are doing such a bang up job in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's time to move on to Iran.
>>
>>>>>Golf clap. VFP-style. IOW good on yer.
>>>>
>>>>What do the soldiers think?
>>>>http://airforcepundit.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-do-milbloggers-view-home-front.html
>>>>
>>>>This also includes a nice set of links to other milbloggers.
>>>
>>>Some more of what the soldiers think.
>>>
>>>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/26/AR2006072601666.html
>>>
>>>By Joshua Partlow
>>>Washington Post Staff Writer
>>>Thursday, July 27, 2006; Page A01
>>>
>>>"No one wants to be here, you know, no one is truly enthused about what we do," said Sgt. Christopher Dugger, the squad leader. "We were excited, but then it just wears on you -- there's only so much you can take. Like me, personally, I want to fight in a war like World War II. I want to fight an enemy."
>>>
>>>"We're trained as an Army to fight and destroy the enemy and then take over," added Dugger, 26, of Reno, Nev. "But I don't think we're trained enough to push along a country, and that's what we're actually doing out here."
>>>
>>>Steffey said he wished "somebody would explain to us, 'Hey, this is what we're working for.' " With a stream of expletives, he said he could not care less "if Iraq's free" or "if they're a democracy."
>>>
>>>"The first time somebody you know dies, the first thing you ask yourself is, 'Well, what did he die for?' "
>>>
>>>"We're definitely making progress," he added. "It's going to take some time to get there."
>>>
>>>"Sometimes it's not obvious, the fruit of their labor," said Grable. But the patrols have "a deterrent effect on sectarian violence. Unfortunately, we just cannot be everywhere all the time."