Here We Go Again!: Avoiding The Quagmire: Rebuilding After Major Conflicts

Planning for massive reconstruction efforts in Ukraine and Gaza is already underway. Before committing billions and deploying thousands of workers, decision-makers need to understand why America's reconstruction of Iraq failed strategically, despite completing thousands of individual projects.

Kerry Kachejian served as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operations officer during the reconstruction of Iraq in 2004, when workers faced IEDs, suicide bombers, snipers, and RPG ambushes while trying to rebuild the national infrastructure. Tribal rivalries, insurgents, and terrorists turned construction sites into war zones. Costs skyrocketed more than 30% as security ate up budgets. Completed facilities were handed to local authorities who often lacked the capacity to maintain them, and progress quickly unraveled.

Hundreds died: military personnel, government employees, and civilians from many nations. During protracted combat operations, Kachejian lost friends and teammates, including an interpreter whose vehicle plunged into the Tigris River and multiple security personnel supporting the mission. This daily war of reconstruction was largely ignored by mainstream media, but this book offers stark evidence of what can go wrong.

Here We Go Again isn't a memoir. It's a practical resource for the next generation. Using Iraq as an in-depth case study, the book examines what went wrong across oil, electricity, security, water, schools, and hospitals. It addresses the hard questions: Who's in charge? Who controls the money? How are workers protected? How will projects be maintained?

Through detailed analysis and ten operational imperatives, Kachejian lays out what future planners need to avoid past failures. While Ukraine and Gaza each require different strategies, the fundamental challenges of rebuilding amid chaos remain constant.