`` I said , ` Jesus Christ , John , this is a recipe for disaster . We invested in that headquarters . We have the experience and judgment in that headquarters . '' Keane said it took the U.S. command between six and eight months to get the new headquarters up and running . During that time , troops in the field saw the mood of ordinary Iraqis turn against Americans and watched the insurgency take root . `` By the time we got a plan together to resource everything , the insurgents had closed that window of opportunity quickly , '' Col. David Perkins , a brigade commander in the Army 's 3rd Infantry Division , told the historians . `` What we started doing in September was probably a good idea to have done in April 2003 . '' Franks , who would soon retire and be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom , said he ordered the transition to force the Pentagon to get leaders into the field to work with civilian occupation officials . `` That is a task that John Abizaid and I very simply laid on Washington and said , ` Figure it
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The U.S. Army 's official history of the Iraq war shows military chiefs made mistake after mistake in the early months of the conflict . Iraqis watch as a statue of Saddam Hussein is toppled in Baghdad in 2003 . Failures to recognize the chaos engulfing the country and to send in enough troops to restore order after the 2003 invasion have long been highlighted by critics , but a new report shows the Army assessing itself . Frank opinions from officers serving in the 18 months from the start of war to Iraqi elections in January 2005 reveal there were concerns at the time , not just about assumptions made by planners but at decisions taken once U.S.-led coalition forces had control of Iraq . `` I flipped , '' Gen. Jack Keane , then the Army 's deputy chief of staff , told the historians of his reaction to a June 2003 decision to transfer control of all coalition troops away from the land forces command that had been preparing for the mission . He recounted a conversation with Gen. John Abizaid , who succeeded the invasion 's architect , Gen. Tommy Franks .