Quote Originally Posted by Xenophon View Post
Lots of good stuff here. I'll add one thing: watch Restrepo. The Company Commander provides an excellent example of how not to act in a shura.
Not necessarily, but it depends on which shura you are talking about.

If you mean the one where the local men come to ask about one of the men previously detained, I agree only inasmuch as he could have had a cooler head and refrained from profanity when he was talking to the soldier off camera. As for his other stern responses during that meeting, well, sometimes that is exactly what is needed, as the locals can easily try to push the coalition side around.

How would you have gone after the issue?

It's totally a cultural thing, but our opposites often came across as prone to nagging...sometimes they need a raised voice to get them to stop nagging.

I think he did everything consciously and with a purpose, which is all I might ever ask for from someone representing the coalition. if there was a different shura that you're referencing, I might not be orienting on on the right one.

Now that I think of it, i think the married guys among us handled the worst of the shuras fairly well, once they remembered to disconnect themselves from the topic and nod their head occasionally or scribble a note every now and then. Feigning interest, in a fashion not all that unlike listening to your significant other, is an acquired skill.