Posted March 1, 2009
Check out this YouTube click of an American army officer [transcribed below] as he harangues an Iraqi police patrol, telling them they’re “acting like a bunch of fucking women”. They’re “pussies”. They need to “man up”. They are “too much of a fucking woman” to patrol.
And, finally, their own nationalism is at fault, obviously, because he doesn’t see them “in [his] hometown.” That part made me LOL. We don’t see Iraqi military occupiers in American towns. Nope.
This is a rarity, since the official military policy was changed two years ago to ban soldiers from uploading video or blogging about their tours. How it got out, I am not sure. The gendered aspects are not surprising, of course, but it is still instructive.
“We’re going to talk a little bit about how you are conducting yourself as Iraqi police. Raise your hand if you are in the Mahdi Militia. Let’s see it. Who’s in the militia? Who has militia ties? Which ones of you are more loyal to the militia than you are to your own country?
None of you!? Bullshit! Some of you in this formation are fucking lying right now. You know why I’m pissed of? I come down here with my soldiers, trying to train you, and you’re trying to fucking kill Americans, you’re trying to kill your fellow fucking Iraqis, ‘cuz you got no fucking backbone.
You want everything from me. You want weapons and ammunition, you want fuel, you want trucks… but you’re too fucking pussy to go three kilometers down the fucking road and go get the people who are tearing this fucking town apart. That’s pure fucking cowardice. I’ll take three goddamn trucks down the road any fucking day! You think this is funny? You fucking – you want to call me out? You think it’s fucking funny? Why don’t I take your ass out back and kick your little fucking ass? You better shut the fuck up and fucking pay attention!
I got no problem with beating any one of your asses. Not one. Because I don’t give a fuck. Because you’re acting like a bunch of fucking women. Shut up while I’m talking! Shut your fucking mouth. I’m not going to come down here and waste my fucking time, or my soldiers’ lives, because you don’t want to do shit. You guys better figure out where your loyalties lie. Are you loyal to Iraq? Shi’a? Sunni? What is it? You wanna fight for your country, or are you better off having me die for your country because you’re too much of a fucking woman to do it yourself? You love seeing Americans die for your country but you won’t die for it yourselves. I don’t see your ass in my hometown.
And you fucking leaders better get your heads out of your asses too. Lead from the fucking front. When’s the last time you led a patrol? Probably never. When’s the last time you led these guys down al-Lej, when did you take ‘em down to al-Lej and fucking lead ‘em on a fucking patrol? You never did, did you, ‘cuz you’re too chickenshit.
Figure out what the fuck you want out of us or I’m going to stop coming down here. And when the Sunnis from fucking al-Lej come down here and cut your fucking legs off, I’m not going to do a god damned thing about it. I’m going to let them bomb your fucking ass into oblivion with their fucking mortars, because you will not do shit about it. I will not help people who do not help themselves.
So get your heads out of this fucking bullshit Mahdi Militia, and start fighting for Iraq. What do you want? Questions.
[An Iraqi Police Officer asks question in Arabic]
You want to fix your image? Fuck your stupid checkpoints, they’re worthless. Get all your weapons, get together, and start marching South, towards the river. I guarantee you’ll get into a gunfight and I guarantee you’ll fuck some people up. Get down there and kick some ass! Walk! You don’t need trucks. Take some water. Hey, quick making fucking excuses! Don’t talk about US patrols! I never saw your ass down in fucking al-Lej, where were you? I never saw you in Qanassa, Derayah, so shut the fuck up! Until you manage to man up, you shut the fuck up. You guys wanna be men, you go down there and fucking start beating some people’s asses. You’re supposed to be Iraqi police, why don’t you start acting like it? You sit here with your thumb up your ass ‘cuz you’re too fucking scared to do your jobs.”
Comments
One response to “YouTube: Race, Gender, and Imperialism in Iraq”
Of course the language used by those in a war zone will differ from what some people prefer to hear. I am not an American, yet I felt I could relate to this man’s appeal to the ineffective individuals in front of him. He risks his life and the life of his men while the people he is protecting do nothing to protect the lives of their families or their country. This man is a plain speaking, honest, hero. Of course his reference to women, when read on a computer at home in a safe country, seems distasteful, but that is a long way from his main point so it seems like you’re wrangling the situation to suit your agenda.