US troops struggle to tell friend from foe in Iraq(deja vu all over again)

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/4727626.htm

KHAN DARI, Iraq, July 11 (Reuters) - Iraqi children skip joyously toward the U.S. military convoy. They smile and wave and yell "thank you" with thumbs up.

"The kids are great -- until they start throwing rocks," said Sergeant Marvin Foster, waving back on the streets of Khan Dari, some 30 km (20 miles) west of Baghdad.

"If you don't wave, you get a rock." snip

But the troops cannot always determine whether the civilians they came to free from Saddam Hussein are friendly or hostile. A stone may suddenly come flying from an apparently genial crowd, or a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) from behind a market stall.

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[I AM SPARTACUS]

1. "They...yell "thank you" with thumbs up." (what thumbs-up means)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2080812/
<snip...>
What Does a "Thumbs Up" Mean in Iraq?

Iraqis are giving passing Americans the "thumbs up" sign, which the troops interpret as a symbol of support. But many veteran travelers insist that the gesture is a crass Middle Eastern insult. How should coalition forces take those skyward thumbs?

Depends on how media savvy those Iraqi bystanders may be. It's true that "thumbs up" traditionally translates as the foulest of Iraqi insults—the most straightforward interpretation is "Up yours, pal!" The sign has a similarly pejorative meaning in parts of West Africa, Russia, Australia, Iran, Greece, and Sardinia, according to Roger E. Axtell's book Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World. So, it's possible that the ostensibly cheering Iraqis are, in fact, silently voicing their displeasure.
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