Sonali: And what did you do with the intelligence? Like, what did you do when somebody told you that there was a suspected Al-Qaeda or Taliban person living in this house?
Rick: We'd patrol the area first just to get an idea of what the terrain, just to get an idea of the general area. Once we felt comfortable enough with the area we'd plan raids or attacks on these suspected points of interest.
Sonali: What was a raid like?
Rick: There were usually night raids. We'd go in there mostly when the people were probably asleep. We'd just raid the home from all directions and arrest and detain whoever was in there.
Sonali: And, what was the effect of such a raid and did you often get the wrong person?
Rick: It, it didn't work. Every time we detained someone, at the end of it all, we just let them go.
Sonali: So, they were mostly innocent?
Rick: They were mostly innocent. And whatever we did destroy along the way we tried to compensate the destruction with offering food or money or replacing doors or windows or whatever it was. So, just the entire operation was just counterproductive from beginning to end.
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