US military's goodwill offering met with hail of stones in Baghdad

Their chance for winning hearts and minds collapsed a long time ago. New units to the area need to be briefed on this.

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=44851

...Friend and the other platoons pressed on though, promising to add new generators, classrooms, chalkboards, walls and windows to a collection of crowded, weather-worn school buildings.

But 2nd Platoon’s motorcade of generosity came to a sudden, tire-squealing halt Sunday when students at one school started lobbing stones at their Humvees.

The first fist-sized rock arced over the playground wall and bounced off the roof of the lead vehicle. Other missiles followed.

Although the armor on a seven-ton Humvee is more than a match for rocks, a well-placed stone could seriously injure — or at least ring the bell — of a turret gunner, who sits partially exposed in the gunner’s hatch.

None of the gunners was injured Sunday, but soldiers fumed over the hail of rocks. Part of this anger was historic. Roughly three months ago a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the platoon and was thought to have escaped into the same school.

Friend’s men piled out of their Humvees and swarmed on the school. As a group of soldiers fanned out over the playground, Friend found the school’s headmaster, a middle-aged man with a comb-over and paunch.

“We were going to come here and make improvements to this school,” Friend told the headmaster, who sat at his desk. “But when we drove up here, we started getting hit with a lot of rocks.”

The schoolmaster fired up a Miami cigarette and responded through an interpreter. “Sometimes they don’t know how to treat the freedom. I’m sorry,” he said with an anxious grin...

and the rocks came. We would do the same.

rock and the hard place he's positioned our troops between.

was being sarcastic?

“Sometimes they don’t know how to treat the freedom. I’m sorry,” he said with an anxious grin...



If someone invaded my country and was responsible for the death of 1 in 20 of my fellow citizens, I don't think I'd exactly be tripping over myself to thank them either.

DAYUM! That's one for the history books. I really just
don't have the words to describe how utterly, beautifully
perfect that politely-worded BITCHSLAP was.

Have to remember that one.

"to win their hearts and minds" idiocy (just another one from his shite-pile) works so well...

We noticed it more than once.

If we stopped at a town, and did the usual 'friendly' thing with the local kids, hanging around, playing with them, giving them goodies, food, whatever, they loved us. If we were more purposeful, and went in more with a specific mission in mind, or simply looked like we were driving through and not stopping, they'd lob stones at us. (And more often than not, the adults would pelt the bejesus out of the kids in punishment).

There are two schools of thought on the concept of encouraging the local kids by giving them candy. Some commanders forbade the practise, on the grounds that it was a distraction to the soldiers and encouraged kids to come close, making them possible collatoral damage in an insurgent attack on the troops, and also more than one kid has fallen under American truck wheels in an attempt to get stuff. The other school of thought is that it's a good thing as it keeps the kids happy, and that if surrounded by kids, an insurgent is less likely to attack a Coalition soldier. It's quite possible that this new unit had a different policy to the old one, and the kids vented their anger at the change.

because what the iraqi children care about, when their fucking country is being destroyed, is the candy. Right.

You keep telling yourself that.

All of a sudden, the kids got it into their head to lob rocks at this new unit.

What entered their heads to do that? Either they made the choice on their own, or someone decided to encourage them to do it. If the latter, then we can discount what the kids think anyway. If they made the choice on their own, why did they decide to start their rock-lobbing careers at this new group? Because after four years, they just happened to decide as a unified group that the situation was no longer tolerable at the same time as this new unit shows up? More likely, I think, because the new unit operated differently to the old one, and they didn't like it.

And yes, after meeting literally hundreds of them, I think that the average Iraqi kid cares more about the candy than national politics. They view us (troops) as sources of freebies at best, or business opportunities at worst. Ask any soldier what the most common thing an Iraqi kid said to them, and he'll tell you it's not 'Salaam', it's not 'How are you', or even 'go away.' It's "Mister, give me..." (Frequently followed by pointing at some item of equipment) or the words 'mangaria' and 'candy.' (Which mean the same thing)

>>>The other school of thought is that it's a good thing as it keeps the kids happy, and that if surrounded by kids, an insurgent is less likely to attack a Coalition soldier. It's quite possible that this new unit had a different policy to the old one, and the kids vented their anger at the change.<<<

What would we do in their place?

Exactly what they are doing.

It cannot be repeated enough.

most interesting:

The almost unanimous response that teachers gave Friend and other platoon leaders was that they really needed electricity, water and sewage. Gifts of computers would do no good unless they had the juice to run them, and the city supplied only 60 minutes of power every five hours. That was on a good day.

Sounds like they might have a reason to throw rocks, or worse, doesn't it?

They don't like having their doors broken down at night and having their houses searched?

They didn't appreciate the humor of Abu Graihb?

What's with these ungracious children?

The occupiers could be handing out hundred dollar bills and free turkeys and I would still be shooting at them after living through Shock and Awe.

Don

12 Iraqis equal 1 American.

So, the equivalent of 36 million Iraqis have fled their country. Americans should try to put themselves in the Iraqi people's shoes when it comes to bestowing gratitude.

If you accept anything from the American's you might as well be signing your own death warrant.