In retrospect, some foreshadowing

In chasing down some information, I came across this article, dated April 3, 2003.

U.S. ends program to groom dissidents
Touted effort drew 82 Iraqis instead of 3,000

A U.S. project that was supposed to train 3,000 Iraqi dissidents to be liaisons between American troops and Iraqi civilians has been shut down indefinitely.

After months of preparation and publicity, the $90 million program at an air base in southwest Hungary managed to draw just 82 recruits.

U.S. military officials at the base near Taszar nevertheless said the effort was successful…. When it announced the program in December, the Pentagon envisioned something much larger and bolder. Not only would recruits be trained as translators and liaisons between U.S. troops and Iraqis, but they also would be groomed in civil and military administration to help smooth the transition in a postwar Iraq….

Hungarian officials told local media that Budapest regarded the program's shutdown as the end of Hungary's contribution to the war effort.

Here's to the brave, the few, the 82.