Standard policy?

How is this practice (not to mention the stupidity of recording it on film) ok'd by any military commander working in an occupied territory? Is this standard policy?

Before anyone goes off on how that this guy they are writing on could (and notice I say could) have been an insurgent and trying to kill americans a few minutes or hours later, maybe you might reflect a little and realize that many of the iraqis see the american forces as an occupying and hostile force. Tagging their foreheads with a sharpie pen will dehumanise these people just enough to think that maybe they're right.

the counter to your arguement would be the typical bill oreilly looping arguement which attempts to justify our actions by pointing out the acts of the enemy.

but....we are supposed to be the side that is 'right' so shouldn't we set an example to the world rather than sink to the enemy's level of 'evil'?

and for our holy leader bush, does christ not strictly forbid revenge?

as far as i know this is the initial processing of prisoners taken after actions against possible insurrgents...its used as a means of initial identification and is cleaned off after further and more conclusive identification occurs

why not just tattoo the i.d. numbers on them?

oh wait, thats been done before

Originally posted by PVS
why not just tattoo the i.d. numbers on them?

oh wait, thats been done before

lol and besides who has the time or money for all that extra effort... not unless its gonna be a kick ass guns and roses tat.

lol 😂

Originally posted by jaden101
as far as i know this is the initial processing of prisoners taken after actions against possible insurrgents...its used as a means of initial identification and is cleaned off after further and more conclusive identification occurs

You do see how it is dehumanizing and puts the american soldiers practicing this form of "identification" in a bad light don't you?

Cant they just run to Staples & pick up some self adhesive name tags? You know, the kind you get at a convention that say 'hi! My name is ....' then the soldiers could still use their beloved sharpies!

(yes I agree, this practice is humiliating and ridiculous, then again so is our entire foreign policy these days.. Reagan called it.. trickle down effect)

Better then spelling his name out with bullet holes.

Oh thats BAD Backfire!! 😛

Originally posted by PVS
and for our holy leader bush, does christ not strictly forbid revenge?

not when he calls for it.

Originally posted by KharmaDog
You do see how it is dehumanizing and puts the american soldiers practicing this form of "identification" in a bad light don't you?

i do...but its hardly the source of supposed anti US sentiment

the people blowing themselves up in crowded markets are not iraqi's who are a bit annoyed that they have a number written of their head

But it might be enough to push some guy over the brink, causing him to blow up some more innocents.

Originally posted by RedAlertv2
But it might be enough to push some guy over the brink, causing him to blow up some more innocents.

eerrrmmm...no..no i dont think so..

the terrorists who employ those tactics tend to have been listening to extremist islamic teaching for many years...

al queda are no different from any other idiotic religious cult in their methods of coercing people to perform actions in the name of their beliefs...they only differ in the actions they want people to carry out

the perfect example of how al queda view the mainstream islamic world is the fact that they are blowing up muslims...

personally you would think this would invoke far more hatred than getting a number written on your head

but not according to the anti bush media it doesn't

Originally posted by jaden101
i do...but its hardly the source of supposed anti US sentiment

the people blowing themselves up in crowded markets are not iraqi's who are a bit annoyed that they have a number written of their head

No but it is a symptom of the problem. You can't go around telling the world that you are bringing it freedom and that you're a great bunch of folks and then have this (among other forms of brutal or apalling behaviour) type of thing happen.

i personally dont see how writing on someones head is brutal or appauling behaviour or how it can be compared to the mindless stupidity of the likes of what lindy englund and co done to prisoners

but to say that these are some of the factors for the terrorist attacks in iraq show a lack of understanding of what the roots of islamic extremism stems from

al queda dont care if iraqi's are being abused...those iraqis are just as guilty as any US soldier because to al queda...any person who engages in any kind of politics is taking power reserved to allah and are therfor a legitimate target to be killed

And according to the west leaders take power from the people and should be put out of office...

Anyways I don't really think this is a good example, yeah it shows yet another mistake of the US army but there are better one's that out there

Originally posted by jaden101
i personally dont see how writing on someones head is brutal or appauling behaviour or how it can be compared to the mindless stupidity of the likes of what lindy englund and co done to prisoners

If we have become so desensitised to such behaviour then I don't know what to say. Would it be different if that was an iraqi writing on an allied soldier's head with permanent marker? Does it only register when someone is beaten or molested? These little actions add up.

Originally posted by jaden101
but to say that these are some of the factors for the terrorist attacks in iraq show a lack of understanding of what the roots of islamic extremism stems from

And not seeing how dehumanizing people through acts such as this and others shows a complete lack in the understanding of psychological warfare and the reactions it can draw from those who feel victimized. This is just adding fuel to the fire.

Originally posted by jaden101
al queda dont care if iraqi's are being abused...those iraqis are just as guilty as any US soldier because to al queda...any person who engages in any kind of politics is taking power reserved to allah and are therfor a legitimate target to be killed

No Al Queda doesn't care to much about iraqis being abused, but I'm pretty sure the Iraqis do.

You do realize, that for the most part, al queda soldiers are not fighting in Iraq don't you? And that Iraq has nothing to do with Al Queda in the first place.

The suicide bombings and such that are occuring now seem to be conducted by different factions, some are insurgents against an occupying force, some are iraqis against the government which they feel is a puppet of the states, and yes, some are now even al queda suicide bombers who can now easily enter or exit the country since it has been distabilized.

I really have no idea.It is something to think abou through.I guess what happen happen and we have no control over the matter at all.JM

Originally posted by KharmaDog
If we have become so desensitised to such behaviour then I don't know what to say. Would it be different if that was an iraqi writing on an allied soldier's head with permanent marker? Does it only register when someone is beaten or molested? These little actions add up.

And not seeing how dehumanizing people through acts such as this and others shows a complete lack in the understanding of psychological warfare and the reactions it can draw from those who feel victimized. This is just adding fuel to the fire.

No Al Queda doesn't care to much about iraqis being abused, but I'm pretty sure the Iraqis do.

You do realize, that for the most part, al queda soldiers are not fighting in Iraq don't you? And that Iraq has nothing to do with Al Queda in the first place.

The suicide bombings and such that are occuring now seem to be conducted by different factions, some are insurgents against an occupying force, some are iraqis against the government which they feel is a puppet of the states, and yes, some are now even al queda suicide bombers who can now easily enter or exit the country since it has been distabilized.

i personally just think you are making a mountain out of a mole hill...its not torture and i personally dont see it as dehumanizing anyone

as for al queda...i know much of their origins and the various factions that they were borne from...the roots of which can be traced to various algerian factions who assasinated government members...

i even know how the US funded and trained many operatives of al queda during the cold war to fight against the soviets in afghanistan

but despite how the 9/11 commision was interpreted by the media the supposed fact that iraq had nothing to do with al queda and al queda had nothing to do with iraq is actually a falacy...

many members of al queda were trained in the use of explosives in iraq at military bases...

on a side note...iraq was targeted as part of the war on terror...correct?...and it has been well documented that saddam's regime funded and rewarded palastinian suicide bombers...that in my book is supporting terrorism...

but this is off topic

shall we debate the flip side of these "dehumanizing" effects with stories of people who actually benefited from being arrested by american troops

i remember watching a newsnight special on a prisoner held at the supposed torture hell hole of guantanamo bay...who learned to read and write and speak english during his time there and when released was able to find relatively lucrative work and help to lift his family out of poverty

but do these things generally get reported

also

can you really blame the troops for being heavy handed given that on many occasions they have went into communities to help hand out aid only to have to shoot children who are forced by terrorists to approach the troops with a smile on their face and a grenade behind their back

or the stories of troops helping to build schools and hand out equiptment and books for those schools

or how about the incident that happened to a friend of mine while serving in iraq

he was on patrol and was walking through a busy street in basra...a young iraqi boy appooched him and he gave the boy some water and some pencils and paper( they go mad for it for some reason) ...they went on to finish the patrol and when they came back down the street...terrorists had hanged the boy from a street light just for speaking to the troops...

But that's not the topic.

They could just use sticky pads.