US troops act like Hollywood stars in Iraq, says UK officer

[rodeodance]

http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-20/0604194171164649.htm

US troops act like Hollywood stars in Iraq, says UK officer
London, April 19, IRNA

UK Officer-US Troops
........


Brigadier Alan Sharpe, who worked alongside Americans in Baghdad, said there was a "strong streak of Hollywood" with officers trying to portray themselves as Sylvester Stallone or John Wayne.

An important part to being a successful American officer was to be able to combine the "real and acted heroics" of Audie Murphy, the "newsreel antics" of Gen Douglas MacArthur and the "movie
performances" of Hollywood actors, Sharpe said.

According to the Daily Telegraph Wednesday, his criticisms were voiced in a thesis on Britain's influence on US foreign relations after previously gaining the American Bronze Star for writing the "coalition campaign plan" for Iraq during a tour in Baghdad in 2004.

He suggested that "loud voices, full body armour, wrap-around sunglasses, air strikes and daily broadcasts from shoulder-holster wearing brigadier-generals proudly announcing how many Iraqis have been killed by US forces today" was no "hearts-and-minds winning tool".

[SeveneightyWhoa]

1. I don't like to attack sources but...

Isn't this from an Iranian news agency? :crazy:

[medeak]

3. it was on bbc as well..n/t

[tuvor]

4. Are all Iranian news agencies suspect? n/t

[SeveneightyWhoa]

5. I tend to think of them as government-controlled.

Am I wrong?

[tuvor]

6. I haven't got a clue if you're wrong.

But it's arguable that a lot of US media is government-controlled, too.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

8. Nobody's disputing that.

If someone posted a FOX article here, it'd get the same reaction.

Although an Iranian news article attacking US soldiers deserves a much greater level of suspicion.

[TheBaldyMan]

11. They are all govt. controlled but there is still a spectrum of opinion.

:sarcasm:How unlike the dear old US of A.

Take it with a good deal of scepticism but don't dismiss it out of hand. Any free press is just as guilty of pandering to their target market, it's just a little bit more obvious with the Iranian News Agency.

[CanuckAmok]

2. Not new.

My mom was an 11 year old girl in London at the end of WW2. She said that the British were genuinely grateful for the American efforts during the war, and originally welcomed the GIs with open arms, but that within a few months, they had clearly worn out their welcome.

She says they were arrogant, loud, ignorant, insensitive to local customs, and assumed (sometimes accurately) they could buy anything with their American money, at a time when civilians' access to basic goods were tightly rationed (even long after the War ended).


My own experiences are not dissimilar; For the most part I found American servicemen and women pretty decent, but on every OPFOR exercise or overseas deployment I was on, there were always a few guys, usually junior officers, swaggering and blustering like Rambo on payday. Ironically, the least objectional grunts I ever met were Marines. I know they have a reputation for insanity, but I don't think I ever met a Marine I didn't mind.

[lumpy]

9. The only education that many

American acquire is through movies and TV. Amazing the influence they have on thinking and perception.

[Kailassa]

10. Australia's experience with American soldiers was the same.

They were initially welcomed, but people soon learnt to avoid them.

[Burried News]

7. You see the same thing in hospitals where younger staff mimic

the characters they see on TV.
The media influence on behavior is huge and for the most part outside our awareness.

[Greeby]

12. Is that you John Wayne? Is this me?

:eyes: