Untermenschen

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ben Griffin, a trooper in the Special Air Service's counter-terrorist team said in an interview with the Telegraph, the Americans treated the Iraqis like untermenschen, sub-humans.

Unknown to any of his SAS colleagues at their Hereford-based unit, however, Mr Griffin, then 25, had been harbouring doubts over the "legality" of the war. Despite recognising that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator and posed a threat, albeit a small one, to the West, he did not believe that the case for war had been made. The events he witnessed during his three-month tour in Baghdad, and especially the conduct of the American troops, would force him into making the most difficult decision of his life.

During a week's leave in March 2005 he told his commanding officer in a formal interview that he had no intention of returning to Iraq because he believed that the war was morally wrong. Moreover, he said he believed that Tony Blair and the Government had lied to the country and had deceived every British serviceman and woman serving in Iraq.

He said: "I saw a lot of things in Baghdad that were illegal or just wrong. I knew, so others must have known, that this was not the way to conduct operations if you wanted to win the hearts and minds of the local population. And if you don't win the hearts and minds of the people, you can't win the war.

He said, 'I didn't join the British Army to conduct American foreign policy'.
He gave up everything he'd worked so hard to achieve because of his moral convictions....... which take big brass ones.

Hip, Hip...! At long last, a display of integrity and courage from "our" side of the equation. That British soldier stood up for American ideals better than anyone else I've read about recently! Let's hear it for our cousins across the pond!

Most people here don't realize the number of Brits and Aussies who are also over there fighting shrub's war. The number of Aussies, especially, is quite high.

From personal conversations, the soldiers I have spoken with our very demoralized over the Iraqi engagement. They are doing 2, 3, 4, tours of duty over there with no end in sight. Most of them have become quite cynical about the war. Here, any active duty soldier who speaks out against the war in Iraq risks court martial. I have been told by a drill Sgt who is now on his second tour over there, that any time a soldier is interviewed by the press, a member of JAG stands right behind him to make sure he says the politically correct thing.

Our soldiers over there are going without adequate supplies or even clean drinking water. I recently sent off $200.00 worth of food items for 18 of our soldiers in Iraq - things like Kool Aide, dried beef sticks, packs of cookies, ramen noodles, and instant oatmeal. These things are highly prized. Our soldiers prize instant oatmeal and ramen?

They return home to substandard housing, ever dwindling VA benefits, and a general population who doesn't want to know. Is it any wonder that some of them treat Iraqi's like untermenschen, when this is the way they, themselves, are being treated by their own country?

Cyclefrance, would you sponsor me for British citizenship, please? I've read Ian's book thoroughly and filled out all the forms.

[Ridgeplate]

Poor conditions for our troops in the field is not a new thing, unfortunatly. I've spoken with a number of Vietnam vets who told me stories of soldiers that would willingly cross known mine-fields because of the presence of a good meal on the other side. At least in Vietnam, our troops could take some R&R and even booze it up once and again. Iraq is a "dry" conflict. Getting caught with booze is a court martial offense at present. Needless to say, there's a thriving black market for alcohol out there.

As for Iraqis being treated as Untermenschen, to some degree, that's standard military doctrine. A soldiers basic humanity is challenged every time they have to pull a trigger on another human being. If the baseline opinion of the indigineous peoples is that of less-than-human, it becomes psychologically easier to whip lead into them. Since, technically, any Iraqi *might* be a potential enemy, they all have to be treated the same. These opinions are only reinforced by our labeling them as Third World. In our overwhelming arrogance, we don't even rate their basic society as equal to ours. (your mileage may vary on this topic) Ultimately, we cannot ask for humanitarian behavior from our soldiers. We ask them to kill people, and lots of them. That a British soldier has the brass cojones to step down because of what he sees makes him a damn fine human, but clearly, a less than effective soldier. That being said, I applaud his ethics and his ability to stick by them.