“You guys want to be men? Why don’t you go down there and beat some people’s asses. You’re supposed to be Iraqi police but you’re too scared to do your jobs” . . . . . ”Get into a gunfight, and I guarantee you’ll fuck some people up . . . . .
Having returned from a trip to to region, I can confirm that the overwhelming view of Iraq’s neighbours is that the country has been pointlessly laid waste, destabilised, its people terrorised and factionalised by a brutal and mindless occupying force. The much-lauded ‘Petraeus Doctrine‘ was more in the hearts and minds of the Bush PR machine than in evidence among the US troops in Iraq.
The footage here shows a heavily-armed and armoured US soldier brutally and callously harranguing and taunting Iraqi police. Having accused them of belonging to the Madhi Army (if they weren’t before, they most likely will have joined shortly thereafter) he personally threatens them, insults their country and finally urges them to prove themselves ‘as police’ by indulging in random acts of violence. It defies description, so I won’t try. If you want to see how not to win hearts and minds, watch this advertisement for insurgency and terrorist recruitment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1GrdTakvl8
One Comment
Gosh, that really puts the Oxymoron back into “Charm Offensive”…