US soldiers robbing (looting, pillaging) Iraqis

[scottxyz]

Alexander Cockburn in Salon (free daypass required)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/04/08/occupation/index.html

"I really don't care for the Iraqi people, I don't care about helping them get back on their feet," an Army captain stationed in the Sunni triangle wrote home to his family last year. "However, I don't condone stealing from them, hurting them unnecessarily or threatening them with violence if it is not needed. We will never win hearts and minds here, but what these guys are doing is wrong."

The young officer was referring to his neighboring unit, who, as he related, had been robbing Iraqis during house raids and other security operations -- a phenomenon widely reported by Iraqis the length and breadth of the country, though for the most part discreetly unmentioned in the U.S. press. Yet it represents merely the bottom-most and crudest layer of an occupation that Iraqis have come to regard as both cruel and corrupt.

Even if they escape casual robbery at roadblocks, Iraqis know that, despite the billions allegedly disbursed by the U.S. for reconstruction, the electricity is still off for most of the day, hospitals are short of the most basic medicines, and the chances of finding a job are slim -- especially for their wives and daughters, who in any case must brave rape or kidnap whenever they venture out the door. They also know about the rich pickings enjoyed by those Iraqis favored by the occupiers, such as members of the handpicked Governing Council pushing their way through the traffic in their convoys of white U.S.-supplied SUVs -- and the even richer pickings garnered by those at the top of the corruption pyramid, such as Halliburton.

[DAGDA56]

1. I understand wholesale theft by Halliburton, but what...

...does the average Iraqui civillian have that the average GI would want?

[benburch]

2. Jewelry?

Iraq had a burgeoning middle class before the '91 war. They have quite a few material possessions that might be worth looting.

[opihimoimoi]

3. WE are such arrogant fools

We are blowing it big time.

[DAGDA56]

4. Yeah, you're right...and I am a little bit ashamed...

...that I had begun to think of Iraq as a third world country. This was, after all, a modern society (not to mention the cradle of civilization) even under Saddam. It just occurred to me how subtle the propaganda has been. I guess I fell for some of it, and that isn't a pleasant thought.

[scottxyz]

6. Check out riverbend, a blog from Iraq

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

She's just as wired and witty as the best of the West!

[benburch]

7. Don't feel too bad.

It is hard to resist the sort of immersion mind-control the media is subjecting us all to over Iraq, and especially over Islam.

The root to the word Islam is "Justice." It is a religion of love, peace, and civilization.

Please try to remember this, folks!

-Ben Burch
White Rose Society Webmaster
http://www.WhiteRoseSociety.org/

[DAGDA56]

9. Thanks, Ben..

...there are a few sites that help me maintain perspective and yours is definately one of them.

[kichigai usagi]

5. Flash back to the civil-war,

Even back then, the greedy and powerful officers and their minnions looted and pillaged the homes and mansions of the southern states.

It is no real surprise that some greedy and powerful folks have seized the opportunity to loot and pillage from the Iraqi people. While they have suffered and strugled through the years of sanctions, they still retained many of the little things. Any group that still believes in the dowery system for compensating families for their daughters marriage, will have lots of nice little jewels and gold nick-knacks in the home. Just perfect for slipping into a pocket and then into a goodwill package for delivery to the states.

The shit never changes, does it?

[PfcHammer]

8. look to ebay for stolen items

[scottxyz]

11. Well, a soldier's got to pay for his boots and Kevlar SOMEHOW...

... seeing as Bushco is reneging on promised to provide basic things like armor and decent shoes.

[lyrical di]

10. I understand that Bushco is unprofessional, but I'd like to think that

our professional soldiers maintained their professionalism. I doubt this is happening and your source increases my skepticism. If something sounds too sensational, it often is. Don't paint the military with the same brush you want to damn the Bushies with. It is actions like that that gives the other side ammunition when they say we hate the military.

[sspiderjohn]

12. Damn -- I thought it was just the private contractors doing this.

nt