Monday, April 12, 2004
British officer alleges US Racism
A British officer says that many Americans soldiers look on the Iraqis as Untermenschen (A German term used by Hitler to describe inferior human beings). There is probably a grain of truth to this.
The average GI is less educated, younger, and less worldly than the average American. Add to this the fact that their job is to kill people and the likelihood that they have been trained for basically nothing else you do not have the makings of a bunch of great cultural ambassadors.
Juan Cole notes that what the British officer says jives with what he knows of the US military. “This attitude tracks with what I know of racial attitudes that are all too common (not universal) in US military ranks. Press reports speak of US troops and some officers routinely denigrating Arabs. Even calling them "hajjis" and "Ali Babas" betrays the attitude. (Hajji is a strange thing to call Iraqis, who have lived under a militantly secular socialist regime for 35 years and most of whom couldn't have gone on the pilgrimage to Mecca even if they wanted to). The contempt for Iraqis and Arabs and Muslims that is widespread in the ranks, the British maintain, spills over into operational plans, creating a contempt for human life and a willingness to endanger and kill civilians in a ruthless effort to get at insurgents. This approach produces, of course, further insurgents.” However, Cole as usual over states his case. The problem is not their back ground per say, or for that matter the ingrained military ethos that they have foisted upon them. Rather it is they are ill-equipped to be put in an environment where many of the people they are there to “liberate” loath them. (It is a mistake to believe, as many on the left do that Iraqis mistrust and hatred of the US stems only from US misdeeds. Many Sunnis hate the Americans because they, rightly, feel that their privileged place is being taken away and that, rightly or wrongly, their lives will be worse off because of it. Another thing is that as a group the Iraqis are even less prepared to deal with the Americans then the American GIs are them. American misdeeds have magnified the shortcomings of a society that is much more xenophobic, racist, anti-Semitic, and sexist than a far from perfect US society.) It is only natural to despise those that wish you harm and who openly celebrate, as the Iraqis do, every time one of your fellows is killed or maimed. It takes training counteract this tendency. It also helps to have trusted cultural ambassadors from the other side to help them navigate the pitfalls of racism and xenophobia. The problem in this regard is that many of their interpreters are likely to hate for many of the same reasons they do and many of them are not exactly sympathetic to all sectors of Iraqi society.
Now without accusing the author of the following piece as being a racist or anything like that, I truly have no idea, it seems to me that the situation he describes and the general frustrations he reveals gives an insight into what I am talking about.
“The convoy was made up of 2 Bradleys, one at each end of the small column and a few Hmmwv's. It came under attack from RPGs and the attackers quicker ran into the side streets and got away. …. It was … very frustrating to see all the Iraqis just walking around like nothing had happened at all. Guys were still selling goods in their carts right by the roads, they totally seemed oblivious. One of the hit Hmmwvs didn't look anything like a vehicle, just a hunk of burning and smoking rubble. I can never forget the pieces of brain matter that was on the ground and people were unintentionally stepping on. It was very frustrating for me and my friends. We wanted to go after those responsible. They didn't even kill any military personal, they were Civil Affairs. Luckily only 1 died, the loses are always small. We fight a group that claims to be brave and fighting for Iraqis, and yet, in alot of their own ambushes they set up against military convoys they kill more of their own and seem to think of it as acceptable. However, if we get into a fire fight and some Iraqi bystander dumb enough to watch gets wounded, we are murders. Their logic just doesn't seem right most of the time. Alot of people you talk to who are not Iraqi and have been to Iraq talk about how frustrating their people's logic is.” http://bootsonground.blogspot.com/
A British officer says that many Americans soldiers look on the Iraqis as Untermenschen (A German term used by Hitler to describe inferior human beings). There is probably a grain of truth to this.
The average GI is less educated, younger, and less worldly than the average American. Add to this the fact that their job is to kill people and the likelihood that they have been trained for basically nothing else you do not have the makings of a bunch of great cultural ambassadors.
Juan Cole notes that what the British officer says jives with what he knows of the US military. “This attitude tracks with what I know of racial attitudes that are all too common (not universal) in US military ranks. Press reports speak of US troops and some officers routinely denigrating Arabs. Even calling them "hajjis" and "Ali Babas" betrays the attitude. (Hajji is a strange thing to call Iraqis, who have lived under a militantly secular socialist regime for 35 years and most of whom couldn't have gone on the pilgrimage to Mecca even if they wanted to). The contempt for Iraqis and Arabs and Muslims that is widespread in the ranks, the British maintain, spills over into operational plans, creating a contempt for human life and a willingness to endanger and kill civilians in a ruthless effort to get at insurgents. This approach produces, of course, further insurgents.” However, Cole as usual over states his case. The problem is not their back ground per say, or for that matter the ingrained military ethos that they have foisted upon them. Rather it is they are ill-equipped to be put in an environment where many of the people they are there to “liberate” loath them. (It is a mistake to believe, as many on the left do that Iraqis mistrust and hatred of the US stems only from US misdeeds. Many Sunnis hate the Americans because they, rightly, feel that their privileged place is being taken away and that, rightly or wrongly, their lives will be worse off because of it. Another thing is that as a group the Iraqis are even less prepared to deal with the Americans then the American GIs are them. American misdeeds have magnified the shortcomings of a society that is much more xenophobic, racist, anti-Semitic, and sexist than a far from perfect US society.) It is only natural to despise those that wish you harm and who openly celebrate, as the Iraqis do, every time one of your fellows is killed or maimed. It takes training counteract this tendency. It also helps to have trusted cultural ambassadors from the other side to help them navigate the pitfalls of racism and xenophobia. The problem in this regard is that many of their interpreters are likely to hate for many of the same reasons they do and many of them are not exactly sympathetic to all sectors of Iraqi society.
Now without accusing the author of the following piece as being a racist or anything like that, I truly have no idea, it seems to me that the situation he describes and the general frustrations he reveals gives an insight into what I am talking about.
“The convoy was made up of 2 Bradleys, one at each end of the small column and a few Hmmwv's. It came under attack from RPGs and the attackers quicker ran into the side streets and got away. …. It was … very frustrating to see all the Iraqis just walking around like nothing had happened at all. Guys were still selling goods in their carts right by the roads, they totally seemed oblivious. One of the hit Hmmwvs didn't look anything like a vehicle, just a hunk of burning and smoking rubble. I can never forget the pieces of brain matter that was on the ground and people were unintentionally stepping on. It was very frustrating for me and my friends. We wanted to go after those responsible. They didn't even kill any military personal, they were Civil Affairs. Luckily only 1 died, the loses are always small. We fight a group that claims to be brave and fighting for Iraqis, and yet, in alot of their own ambushes they set up against military convoys they kill more of their own and seem to think of it as acceptable. However, if we get into a fire fight and some Iraqi bystander dumb enough to watch gets wounded, we are murders. Their logic just doesn't seem right most of the time. Alot of people you talk to who are not Iraqi and have been to Iraq talk about how frustrating their people's logic is.” http://bootsonground.blogspot.com/
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