A senior UN diplomat on 6 November said that he did not see the organisation having a key role in Iraq because many Iraqis perceive UN staff and US soldiers as equally unwelcome. '19 August in Baghdad for the United Nations was, in a way, what 11 September [terrorist attacks in New York and Washington] was for the United States; a shattering end of many illusions that we had and a brutal awakening to the very harsh new reality,' said inspector general of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Dennis McNamara. 'For the first time in my experience we did not speak with those who opposed us. We have no dialogue and we still do not know who they are.'