Sunday, July 02, 2006

Jingoism = Ignorance + Patriotism + Inaction

posted by Dorman at 11:36

4 Comments:

Blogger mattandriver said...

I support the war, the war on drugs.

09:44  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'd read this and I was saddened, horrified and disturbed. But, I have to admit, considering how the combatants (what we hear about it) operate...I'm surprised that there's not more of it. Or maybe there is and we just don't hear about it.

Did you work closely with them while you were there? Were you able to/Did you trust the Iraqis you met? Did you have concerns about this kind of stuff then?

16:38  
Blogger Dorman said...

I did work with the IA. The FOB I was on, Camp Caldwell, was THE Iraqi Army Training base. My friend (from the Blues for Allah posts) was in charge of training them. They were everywhere on base. Whenever I went for my contemplative walks, they were around, driving or walking. Whilst driving, they manned mounted 240b machine guns (or the Iraqi equivelent).

I never trusted anyone out of my uniform, and only most that wore my uniform. They always seemed happy and respectful to us. They seemed to view us as the "real" soldiers and they seemed like kids excited and proud to be playing the part.

The IA is pretty much a Bad News Bears army. Very patriotic members, very violent and aggressive leaders, and neither having any quality sense or experience.

This was bound to happen. There is a screening process that supposedly takes place for volunteers, but how in the hell can you do a background check on Haji? Dude was born in a mud hut in the middle of the plains while mom was herding goats. Not like there is a central registry out there in Rural Iraq.

23:12  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gonna display my massive ignorance of military stuff (in case I hadn't already)

I've read that the training you undergo heightens your awareness. Did this constant, possibly malevolent presence crank even that up a notch? Did it make things worse for you?

Even in America, when you screen volunteers you're taking a chance. Sometimes the bad ones just haven't been caught yet. People complain that we no longer have any privacy. And still people slip through. In part because they'll be drawn to where their targets are. I can't imagine trying to do a background check it a third world country.

11:01  

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