american soldiers beat iraqi to death

[smoker]

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9282016%255E2,00.html

did anyone else see that documentary on the channel 4 news on wednesday night? it was pretty shocking, the americans in their high-walled compound, scared to go out and meet the people, whereas british street performers showed no fear.
then they showed these soldiers walking around the streets with no translators having learned none of the language except hello, please etc. they were unable to communicate with the iraqis except by sign language, leading to obvious confusion and fear on the part of the civilians.
then there was the disco the amercian officers were having, all hammered and dancing at uday's old club, while others gathered round the joanna and sang bye bye miss amercian pie.

truly bizarre, it's like good morning baghdad

[Bogey]

The "freedom radio" bint made me cringe terribly.
And the bit where the army man said he'd expected them all to be living in mud huts and riding around on camels.

[zozman]

I'd have to agree the yanks looked like twats (mainly because they ARE twats) but that was the most one sided piece of journalism I've ever seen on channel 4 news.  If it was the other way round, even Murdoch would reject it for Fox.

[smoker]

I'd have to agree the yanks looked like twats (mainly because they ARE twats) but that was the most one sided piece of journalism I've ever seen on channel 4 news.  If it was the other way round, even Murdoch would reject it for Fox.

that's true, there wasn't much effort made to find and show their good side was there? they can't all be like that.

the scary bit of course was that soldier who claimed to be homicidal and suicidal, and yet his superiors weren't interested in hearing about it.

[fanny splendid]

the scary bit of course was that soldier who claimed to be homicidal and suicidal, and yet his superiors weren't interested in hearing about it.

Well of course not.

If the world only consisted of well adjusted, mature, forward thinking individuals, there would be no military.

[smoker]

the scary bit of course was that soldier who claimed to be homicidal and suicidal, and yet his superiors weren't interested in hearing about it.

Well of course not.

If the world only consisted of well adjusted, mature, forward thinking individuals, there would be no military.

i know you're only kidding there but there's loads of soldiers who join the army because they really want to make a difference and help people, rather than blow shit up. hence the amount of awols the us army is getting from people who are starting to realise the real reason they're in iraq. that and they're shit scared. which itself is an indicator of having some sense, non?

[Cheese Arse H Christ]

My mate joined and they've done a pretty good job of turning him from someone you could have a laugh with and say anything to into a psycho who'll rip yer 'ead orf for looking at his pint

[zozman]

I thought people only join the forces cos they're thick-as-fuck council estate twats who're looking escape a dead end life in a factory.

I know that's what I did......

[New World Order]

My mate joined and they've done a pretty good job of turning him from someone you could have a laugh with and say anything to into a psycho who'll rip yer 'ead orf for looking at his pint

Sorry to hear that, I fear it may also be happening to one of my friends too.

I've only seen him twice since he came back to this country, but hes showing major signs of change.

Such as laughing at the thought of Iraqi children risking their life for a bottle of clean water.

He told me that when they were all travelling in a convoy, someone from the first truck would throw a bottle of water onto the floor, into the path of the next truck.  They found it hilarious that children actually risked their lives for water and ran out infront of the trucks.

That was considered as relaxation / comedy over there.

God help us.

[bill hicks]

"ANYONE.....DUMB enough to want to be in the military, should be allowed in".

Because of my username I avoid quoting him, but it's still as true as it was 15 years ago.

[Pinball]

I have a couple of military chums who've seen action in Iraq (hardly unusual given that this part of Hampshire is military-ville). In short they have become partial psychos; not bothered by things that would disturb "us", laughing inappropriately blah blah. It's unfortunate as frankly I don't wanna have too much to do with them now, but I don't blame them. It's the dehumanising effects of war. I mean honestly, don't expect men to fight and kill as part of daily normal activity and expect no psychological consequences. State-sanctioned murder is as wrong as "criminal" murder.

A few days ago one of 'em in the pub had a mate with them who was (so they claimed) SAS. It was like watching chimps salute an alpha male as SAS Man spent the entire drinking session discussing ways to kill someone. Marvellous. As you might imagine I was thinking "WTF am I doing here?". A fascinating insight, but it's sort of nice when the other patrons started talking football again!!

[sproggy]

... It was like watching chimps salute an alpha male as SAS Man spent the entire drinking session discussing ways to kill someone. Marvellous....

Hmmm, I suspect he be Mr BOGUS SAS man then, more likely... 'any Shag's A Shag' man.

Not all 'military' people are brain dead arseholes, there are exceptions (take me for instance)  It's horses for courses, in any case the British forces are the  Magnus Pike of state sponsored murderers when compared to US forces, who REALLY are profoundly stupid.

[Pinball]

I think you're right that they were winding the civvies up! It reminds me of some doctors I knew in Londinium - always shocking to impress with their war (= casualty) stories.

As I've said in threads before, I certainly don't view military folks as stupid - far from it. Take RAF Odiham for instance - some of those chaps are amongst the brightest I know. I have the highest respect for them - putting their lives on the line after all! It's the idiots in charge who send them to unnecessary wars that really piss me off. But I guess that has ever been so..

An interesting point about US armed forces, as I hear nothing but bad things about them! Why is that? I guess they're a lot younger and more poorly trained than our folks. Is that because the US has to dredge to get the numbers up? That seems to be the general view. Overstretched I'd say, and far from the hyperpower illusion that Bush et al like to portray!

[Incredible Monkey Doctor]

Overstretched I'd say, and far from the hyperpower illusion that Bush et al like to portray!

Can someone get us a new Pinball? This one appears to be stuck or broken, it keeps saying the same thing over and over....  ;)

[sproggy]

Overstretched I'd say, and far from the hyperpower illusion that Bush et al like to portray!

Can someone get us a new Pinball? This one appears to be stuck or broken, it keeps saying the same thing over and over....  ;)

No, Pinny has a point.  The standards of training in the US military are far inferior to most other nations, they tend to rely on sheer numbers, ordnance and technology to see them through.  The pure art of good soldiering seems to have become an irrelevance and as usual they bastardise the whole dirtiness of going to war.  Combat to them is literally a hollywood movie or computer game, they do not see the human suffering behind their 'blitzkrieg' approach to conflict.

The same goes for Tony Blair's public address this afternoon in Washington.  Compared to GWB's it was in a different league, the Americans have difficulty in accepting this, but they really do look up to Britain and our values, it's something they know they will never achieve.

[Cheese Arse H Christ]

The above reminds me of the documentary series about the French Foreign Legion, and the episode where they showed the jungle assault course that many country's special forces have goes at.

The SAS were the best ever I think, something like 4 hours to get everyone to the finish, the average seemed to be about 6-8 hours, but the US Special Forces never finished, having taken about a year (err roughly)  to get most to the end, but not all.

Maybe they think of Special Forces as coming from Special Schools

[chand]

I'd have to agree the yanks looked like twats (mainly because they ARE twats) but that was the most one sided piece of journalism I've ever seen on channel 4 news.  If it was the other way round, even Murdoch would reject it for Fox.

I dunno, they included the bit with those two Iraqi kids who'd befriended US soldiers, and it was quite endearing.

But yeah, it was trying to make a point about how the liberating forces were inevitably detached from the plight of average Iraqis.

[Pinball]

The above reminds me of the documentary series about the French Foreign Legion, and the episode where they showed the jungle assault course that many country's special forces have goes at.

The SAS were the best ever I think, something like 4 hours to get everyone to the finish, the average seemed to be about 6-8 hours, but the US Special Forces never finished, having taken about a year (err roughly)  to get most to the end, but not all.

Maybe they think of Special Forces as coming from Special Schools

I see a new reality show coming on.. ;-)

[sproggy]

minibounce


Came across this and I am not totally convinced it is genuine, any of you guys got any comments?


It's not one of yours is it Cheese Arse H Christ?

[Santa's Boyfriend]

minibounce


Came across this and I am not totally convinced it is genuine, any of you guys got any comments?


It's not one of yours is it Cheese Arse H Christ?

I think it's one of the less worrying pranks our hick friends are up to over there.  I considered printing and marketing a t-shirt that said "stupid westerner" in Chinese characters for much the same reason.

[fanny splendid]

Came across this and I am not totally convinced it is genuine, any of you guys got any comments?

Do the Americans use the phrase 'knocked up'?

It seems very English to me.

[El Unicornio, mang]

It's blatantly a mong. I think too many people are taken in by the whole idea that American soldiers are all gung-ho, unfeeling bastards, when in fact the opposite is true. Just because they occasionally go "woohoo" when they blow up a tank doesn't mean they don't also see the human suffering that goes with war. And with the amount of US troops over there, you're obviously going to get a few bad apples, doesn't matter what army it is.

[sproggy]

Do the Americans use the phrase 'knocked up'?

It seems very English to me.

That's what stuck out a mile when I read it, doesn't quite sound right does it.

Maybe we should refer it to Snopes?

[chand]

I think it's a fake, but I think Americans do use the phrase knocked up, I know Homer once said it in an episode of the Simpsons.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

I think it's a fake, but I think Americans do use the phrase knocked up, I know Homer once said it in an episode of the Simpsons.

Ahh, now the benchmark of American culture around the world!!  I like it.

[chand]

Well, it is in my house.

It's funny AND educational!