Doesn't look like they're fulfilling it very well.

Time to get out of Central Asia, NOW.

Lacking an ISAF patch, it's hard to guess where he is, except to say he's not in Afghanistan.

Someone needs to explain to these people what we are (in theory) supposed to be doing in Afghanistan.

those in command. Long ago when I was in service, *NO* non-military-issue AND authorized patches, badges, pins, etc of ANY kind were allowed on anything: uniforms, equipment, lockers, anything at all. Again, if this kind of thing is going on, it's with tacit permission of the ones who are supposed to be in charge. That would imply top-down implicit permission.

What, are they trying to piss off the Afghan citizens? If that's the case, they're fulfilling that mission admirably.

to add patches to their uniforms? I find this odd.

Because these patches are far from new. Back in 2004 there was already a Huge variety of what is called "Morale" Patches for sale from the bazaar merchants in Iraq. There was a Local Iraqi who had a factory making desert patches for the Army in Jarmouk that were sold on base. He and his teen sons were Killed and beheaded in late 2005.

I wore a No VBIED international sign on my DAPS while a turret gunner on a M1114(didnt work still got hit), my PL wore a Suck o Meter patch on his IBA.

the picture in the OP is of German soldiers.

this is disgusting. they are disgusting, certainly not the best and brightest.

...keeping in mind that a little humor (as inappropriate as it may be) is sometimes what keeps people in stressful situations from snapping. What has been asked of many of these people, who joined the services with all good intentions and strong hearts - how have many of them spent their last 10 years?

So its an insensitive and counterproductive joke, but I know some good people who've come back from those wars, and were about half broken by them. If you can make a joke, sometimes, that's a really good sign, and something to hang on to.

I don't think many would find it to be a joke at all, but a statement of bigotry.

Afterall, they arent insulting the Afghans, who do call non Muslims Infidels?

They are all there of their own ultimate volition.

They still have a draft you know.

In any case, German conscripts couldn't be sent into conflicts against their will, so it's a moot point.

Of where they deploy.

This they volunteered crap is ignorant at best of the very real economic draft we have.

But it is still a choice, just like selling toxic mortgages, etc. After eleven years of foreign adventures, it's a little hard for any veteran to play the exploited innocent card to excuse their continued participation.

Some of us live in this thing called reality.

Have a good, fantasy day.

The kind where everybody is responsible for their actions and doesn't rationalize everything away that creates internal conflict. Sometimes that is the only way to deal with an imperfect world. I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about what I'd like, either, but then again, it's your time.

Nor are all members baby killers.

I love that fantasy. It did not work in the 1960s, it doesn't today either.

- though at the moment you could say its beside the point, as the troops aren't "ours" anyway.

But my original thought was of a son of a guy who was my neighbor a few years back. The kid was always some trouble or other, playing jokes and getting into all the regular messes kids get into, and seemed headed nowhere good by the time he was about 16. He wasn't serious about anything, least of all school, didn't care about the what he was going to do tomorrow any more than he cared about what he did yesterday, and hung out mostly with a bunch of no-account kids who were unlikely to stay out of jail for long (this is how his dad tells it).

Anyway, 9-11, they watch the towers go down, and the next day his son says he's thought it through - the first serious decision of his life - and he wants to join the military. His dad gave him a rash of crap about how he wouldn't last a month, how he'd never get in with his grades, and how you don't just go in because you're mad and want to kick ass, because that's not how it works.

The kid comes back with how he'll get his grades up, whatever it takes, he'll stick with it because he's made up his mind, and he doesn't want to kick ass - he wants to protect people.

And then he did all that, and two tours in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan, and he's out now and going to college.

Now, he wasn't ever the best and the brightest, and I don't know how it was for him over there, but I imagine it was hard to fight in a war that was increasingly pointless as it went on - to go in with all the right reasons and see it all turn to crap. But I think that's more the kind of kid who went into the service and is still there - usually good at heart, breakable but determined, and I'd make plenty of allowances for a sense of humor if it lets a guy keep his perspective.

In a way, that makes the crusader label kind of fitting - they were plenty of the rich guys who went, but mostly it was regular guys who were talked into "the cause" because they were the sort who wanted to do something important and something right. Of course, there were atrocities on both sides of that, and most of those guys never came home. The crusades were a big con job that failed, which I think many of the guys coming home today can relate to.

NT

Those guys in the photo are German soldiers.

Edited to add: Also since they're not bearing International Security Assistance Force insignia, they're almost certainly not in Afghanistan.

It is of course quite easy while sitting warm, clean, and secure in your person and that of your family to call those who risk their lives daily disgusting and impugne their intelligence. It's called black humor,its been around since the days of rocks and clubs, and it's how fighting men deal with the horrors they see daily, helping them cope.

Frankly I'd say these German troops could care less about some random internet American views about their intelligence- pro or con. they are too busy like our men and women are.

Winning hearts and minds, my ass.

I have to wonder what the freepidiots think about this. They're probably all for it because it really 'gets under the brown people's skin'.

and went, like, I know HE's ignorant but doesn't he have *somebody* in his crew who knows something?!1

(I'm try to figure out what cut of pork he's eating.)

looks like a ham hock. Were crusaders big on eating ham hocks?

jayzuz.

an official military uniform.
If ground commanders are giving it a blind eye they ought top be broken.

notice they could only find an old picture of German troops wearing the patch.

Good to know. This just serves, then, as more propaganda for the Afghan people to hate Americans and inspire terrorists.

That sucks, and thank you for pointing it out. I still think we need to leave Afghanistan, but smearing our troops with something they didn't do is disgusting.

the army is very strict about informal patches on uniforms.

I suspect the lighters are banned too.


The German soldiers have an odd ball sense of humor - they had another patch that read "further east than our grandfathers" that was also poorly received by their government.

You know, the Amway bunch.

and whoever cooked it up should be ashamed of themselves.

For one thing, those rifles they're carrying are the Heckler & Koch G36. That's the standard issue rifle of the German military, whereas the United States has the M-4 rifle, and most of Europe uses their own designs. They use the same magazines and ammunition (NATO standards), but they have different actual rifles.

plus those are not US uniforms or weapons.

ISAF patch on the uniform.

nor did they burn Korans, nor did they defile bodies, and on and on and on. However, Germany has had several arrests and close calls from al qaeda operations in the past few years. So let's just say they're on the list, but the USA will be the first target.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/poeacrpa.html

it is a private company created by a couple of LA cops.

And probably have em as their sigline

Crusades and all.

We need to leave Afghanistan. We are doing more harm than good there. I'm not going to bash the troops for this, because it is the leadership that allows this to continue, and it is the leadership that is keeping our people in an untenable situation.

All we are doing there is creating a new generation of terrorists, and not just the ones in Afghanistan.

the hatred you fear is out there. If you summon it first, you are a little bit in control. This is a way to cope with a brutalizing situation.

That these aren't American troops. These are German troops. This is a smear job, and it angers me. I know we are making mistakes in Afghanistan and need to leave, but there is no need to fuel hatred for Americans with this kind of disgusting propaganda.

and the vendor says they are very popular. If our troops are urinating on dead Afghans, shooting their dogs in the face, shooting and burning their families, I don't have much trouble believing they would buy and wear a patch.

Vendors say a lot of things about products that they want to sell.

with the troops. He talks about how the group of men he was with seemed to be barely holding their aggression in check.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101619665

I AM arguing that before we jump to conclusions that AMERICAN soldiers are wearing these, which the evidence does not support that they are, and that AMERICAN companies like Zippo are producing these products, which evidence does not conclude they are (looks like an engraving after the fact - Zippos can be easily engraved and are, all of the time), let's take this with a very large grain of salt.

Don't we have enough reason to get out of Afghanistan without articles that don't have anything to do with American troops making it seem like they are doing something horrible yet again?

...without the big green ISAF patch, this German soldier in the picture here doesn't need to leave Afghanistan at all. He's not there to begin with.

This "argue against Afghanistan at any cost, even if it costs the lives of American troops" argument disgusts me on a fundamental level.

Remember, the Taliban didn't put sheltering Bin Laden up for a vote and the Afghan people have been paying for that with their blood and children for ten years.

The point isn't to smear them but to know that. Look, they've been there long enough for their revulsion and fear to be made graphic and marketed. This happened during Vietnam, too. It probably happens during any long war.

just sayin'

It's disgusting.

and then I will get outraged.

There is no way in hell that commanders in theater would allow soldiers to wear or use such inflammatory things.

He's German. And since he's got no ISAF patch, he's almost certainly NOT in Afghanistan.

But please, continue with the story.

That these are German troops and not American troops? We have enough PR issues without having American soldiers being lumped in with this type of behavior.

and the patch are in english not german.

I know that they are, but I prefer to not see this particular photograph characterized in such a way as to make it seem that they are Americans. Heaven knows we have enough problems in Afghanistan with adding gasoline to the flames.

We desperately need to leave there.

letters. And the parent corporation of ZIPPO also make things like pocketknives, keychains, etc so a boycott could really reach a wide variety of products.

I suggest that the validity of the claim that this is actually marketed by Zippo, and not something engraved after the fact is made clear. You can engrave just about anything on a Zippo - that doesn't mean Zippo made it that way.

And frankly - that one pictured looks engraved after the fact. That doesn't mean Zippo made it that way.

Zippo has both engraved and screen printed lighters available for purchase on their website. I'll investigate and see if I can find this particular one there.

and quieried Zippo on the FB page. Here is their response.

"Zippo We have very strict standards about what we decorate our lighters with. People often take our plain lighters and decorate them with their own designs".

It looks like engraving on a black coated brass zippo.

http://www.military.com/news/article/troops-still-embrace-infidel-label.html?comp=1198882887570&rank=1

In the wake of the recent setbacks in Afghanistan, American commanders are working overtime trying to instill sensitivity among U.S. troops toward their Afghan counterparts and their Islamic culture.

But many American servicemembers already wear their feelings on their sleeves -- sometimes literally -- choosing a powerful term to represent the way they believe they’re perceived by the Muslim world: “Infidel.”

There are infidel hats, infidel T-shirts and infidel uniform patches -- an entire genre of morale wear that emerged from the ashes of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Now that a decade has passed, the movement is booming. Type “Infidel Strong” into Google and page after page of military gear sites pop up, peddling what has become an ersatz symbol of patriotism.

Last edited Fri Mar 16, 2012, 02:57 PM - Edit history (1)

Usually the only type of Americans that wear these patches or Infidel gear are the Walter Mittys and the airsoft commandos.

But who'd expect correct punctuation from those that would make this patch.

ever is doing this embroidery on these patches is probably also hawking merch at those events with the same picture and different text.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/aboutus.html

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/policestuff_2199_548233910

L.A. Police Gear, Inc. was founded by Los Angeles area Police Officers. The business has grown and changed greatly over the years and now serves the general public, military personnel, security professionals, and of course police officers (or anyone else who would like to buy from us).

Here at L.A. Police Gear, Inc., we proudly brand ourselves on extremely fast shipping, low prices, and outstanding service. We are factory-authorized dealers for most of the brands you see on our web site. We take great joy in helping people get the gear they want and need. Our web site name might make people think that we only sell to cops, but that is not the case at all. We enjoy selling to everyone! We will continue to keep the name L.A. Police Gear, Inc. because it is what most of our customers know us by. Please take a look around our site and don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or needs.

L.A. Police Gear, Inc. takes the issue of security very seriously. Every time you send us your credit card number and your billing and shipping information, we use the industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology to prevent the information from being intercepted. Our computers are protected via multiple firewalls and "DMZ's", as well as the latest in anti-virus softwares so that your information is always secure. All credit card information is automatically encrypted once your order is placed. As of this date there has never been a breach of our system's security (and we plan on keeping it that way...)!

Words to live by!:

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." THEODORE ROOSEVELT (Paris Sorbonne,1910)

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." ---George Orwell on a BBC broadcast, April 4, 1942



*** and quoting george orwell

artisans. My dad has a collection of them from his two tours. I've rarely seen a racist one from Vietnam.







None of these are from my dad's collection... his are a lot more tame, mostly maps and unit insignia etc.

That looks like an engraving after the fact.

Although I realize that mocking the faith of other people is a rather entertaining little game for many to play at, vulgarity is, by its own definition, vulgar. And it seems that in this case, it may cross the line of petulant, self-serving humor into another bridge of commonality that has been blown up.

but isn't it against the rules to wear non-regulation insignia no your uniform? If American soldiers are wearing the patch then it would have had to be approved by someone higher than platoon leader level. And if it's widespread then I'd start asking questions of the U.S. military leaders in Afghanistan.

So that while U.S. troops may not be able to sport the patch, they too can enjoy the bigotry it conveys. Damned thoughtful of our German allies.

the good old USA. The companies that sell it cater to the weekend warriors and general assholes who like to think they're military-ready. You're more likely to see this shit at your local shooting range or at some "militia training" outing somewhere. It's big with the keyboard warriors, too.

Where you won't find it is on any US military personnel's uniforms. That isn't happening.

Someone's trying to blow some sort of smoke with this photo. As others have pointed out, the photos are of German military personnel, not US.

time for a google.

We all advertise our level of class and the convictions we place into ethics in many different ways... I imagine a few would even pay to do it.

This story sucks because it purports two things:

1. American troops wearing an offensive badge that was not worn by American troops.

2. Promoting that Zippo, Inc., an American company promoted such things on their products, when their products have always been engraved. I could engrave I hate HUMANS on a zippo, and that has nothing to do with Zippo.

I love you, cher, but this one is horrible - not because you reported it, but because of the people who claimed they vetted it.

than at any stupid patch the soldiers don. You lie to young people, tell them they're serving some just cause, you train them to kill then ask them to be ambassadors, you send them back over and over to live every moment in a continued sense of dread and stress, for nothing. And I'm supposed to get worked up over this? Nah.

No German flag either,so I don't know where these guys are from. I'd suggest editing your OP.