Nine children among 16 dead after US serviceman attacks villagers

[Stan]

I've no idea who put it there, what it's meant to convey, or its source. I wondered about that myself.

Regards

Mike

Mike,
We used to use a similar sign off within armor and recovery in the late 70s (when you have a massive V12 with twin carbs, magnetos and turbos).

SBCTs (Stryker Brigade Combat Team)s often refer to their speed and agility the same way (rapid response, rapidly moving, etc.).

I hope that future snake eater does not mean he is referring to the game Metal Gear Solid. The snake eater is known for having killed a lot of people. Seems someone is really into games. Hope there's a way of discerning between fact and fiction with those geeks

[tankersteve]

Mike,
.....
I hope that future snake eater does not mean he is referring to the game Metal Gear Solid. The snake eater is known for having killed a lot of people. Seems someone is really into games. Hope there's a way of discerning between fact and fiction with those geeks

I would guess (no personal knowledge of individual referenced) that as snake eater is a common euphemism for US Army Special Forces, perhaps he is an aspiring candidate, looking to join SF.

Tankersteve

[Stan]

I would guess (no personal knowledge of individual referenced) that as snake eater is a common euphemism for US Army Special Forces, perhaps he is an aspiring candidate, looking to join SF.

Tankersteve

Hey Steve,
I was being just a smiggin sarcastic having been in and around SOF since 79.

Considering his support for people that perform head shots on (unarmed) children, I would not even consider him an aspiring candidate in administration doing travel vouchers !

[KingJaja]

Is this actually true? If it is then I don't know what else the West can do in Afghanistan.

Public diplomacy isn't a job for the Military (or for 19 year privates).

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.
It started as a humorous tactic for poking fun at intolerant Islamists ignorant of American ideals.
Clayton Montgomery, owner of a well-known online vendor called Mil-Spec Monkey and designer of some infidel patches, said his most popular item has been his “Pork-Eating Crusader” patch, which includes a translation into Arabic.
“Everybody sort of hates occupying forces anyway, so it’s kind of embracing that,” he told Military.com “If you are going to hate us anyway, we might as well pretend to be the great white devil.”
Continued Montgomery: “Originally, when we made the patch, we thought it would be this small thing, the equivalent of an ‘I’m with stupid’ T-shirt. We didn’t think we would sell many, but the demand was there,” Montgomery said, describing how his company has sold about 10,000 of the patches.

http://www.military.com/news/article...2887570&rank=1

I think I have an advantage over most Americans, I grew up in a religiously divided country (Nigeria).

[Stan]

A bit late for sensitivity training

The American phenomenon with patches and Zippo lighters cannot be explained. I still wear my POW/MIA and 99% patches on my leather jacket. Oddly enough, few today have even the slightest clue what those two patches are all about.

This about sums up what most young Americans know about the things they buy and proudly (ignorantly) display

[slapout9]

A bit late for sensitivity training

The American phenomenon with patches and Zippo lighters cannot be explained. I still wear my POW/MIA and 99% patches on my leather jacket. Oddly enough, few today have even the slightest clue what those two patches are all about.

Stan, not only don't they understand the patches but very few people even no what a Zippo lighter is

[jmm99]

KingJaja:

BLUF: Yes, it's true within the limits of my experience (focused on our "twenty-somethings" young men whom I've sent to Iraq and Astan and who have come back).

As you know I come from Middle America; in fact, from something of an isolate in Middle America itself. Locally, we have something of a military tradition, with our people having enlisted in all service branches for the last 150 years. The most visible local military unit is our National Guard Engineer-Combat Battalion; and, for my home town and environs, its Sapper Company. I've written about that in a number of posts.

The young man quoted below is from here and the Sapper Company. His dad is a Vietnam vet - U.S. Navy, in country, Danang; his older brother is a Marine with multiple tours, and another is also National Guard. The family lives nearby me (the father has been a friend for 35 years).

"Bodi" sustained multiple IED concussions in Astan. This take is from an NPR interview (made because of the documentary, Where Soldiers Come From):

SIMON: Bodi, let me turn to you for your part of the story. As we see in the film, you wind up doing some of the most dangerous work there for U.S. servicemen and women in Afghanistan, and that's you become drivers and gunners who were looking for roadside bombs. You ran into some IEDs...

BEAUDOIN: Yeah.

SIMON: ...and tell us what that's like.

BEAUDOIN: Well, getting blown up is you get so filled with adrenaline that, you know, at first you really don't you don't feel anything, you just get a that, oh, here we go mode, you know, that lifesaving mode. So it's like anticipating getting punched in the face the whole time driving out there. And I mean that's our job. All of us knew on every mission that at any time, any of us had the possibility of getting blown up. So I think we did pretty well. I mean we found, the majority of the IEDs we found. I think we only got blown up like I think it was under 10 times and we found like 60 or 70 IEDs.

You know, for me what hurt me the most are RPGs, which is a rocket propelled grenade, more than the IEDs that hurt. Those are more scary.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM)

UNIDENTIFIED SOLIDER #1: Holy (bleep)

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER #2: What?

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER #1: Whoa. RPGs. Look out. Look out.

...
SIMON: Bodi, at one point in the film you say, you're serving in Afghanistan taught you to hate people - and you list them.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SIMON: You list quite a few groups. And I wonder what is it like to see yourself saying that now.

BEAUDOIN: At the time I was blown up I think around seven or eight times and I wasn't able to go out anymore with the guys, which really, really upset me. I always thought this was, you know, I don't want them to go out with[out] me. I worry, I would just worry about them. So I was so mad at the time.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM)

BEAUDOIN: I've learned to hate the people of Afghanistan and the country of Afghanistan. That's true. I hate everybody here. I hate everything about it. I hate the way they smell, the way they look, the way they talk, the way they dress, the way they think. I don't like them. I'm a racist American now because of this war and that is a true statement.

I obviously don't feel that way anymore. I look back at that and I can understand why I said that. You know, I was so jaded because of how many times that I was, that I got blown up.

SIMON: Well, help us understand that, because it's the determination of the army doctors that you were in so many explosions there's some effect.

BEAUDOIN: Yeah. That is...

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

BEAUDOIN: ...kind of on me also. I never wanted to not stop going out even though I got blown up so many times, so I would kind of bend the truth. Tell them that, you know, I feel fine, I feel fine, let me keep going out. And they have what's called a TBI test which is traumatic brain injury test - and I kind of cheated and memorized it. And there's is saying that they ask you a few words and you have to repeat them. And the few words are elbow, apple, carpet, saddle, bubble. And I will always remember that saying. And I could have sat out way earlier on the explosions, but I didn't want to because I wanted to go out with my boys. I'd rather get me blown up than my buddies.

All of this is one of the factors that has caused my Worldview - which you all know.

Regards

Mike

[ganulv]

As you know I come from Middle America; in fact, from something of an isolate in Middle America itself.

As someone who hails from an area within which the question “Are you Christian or Catholic?” is heard from time–to–time, I rarely overthink statements related to religion made by my fellow Americans.

[jmm99]

ganulv: Read and attempt to comprehend what is written; rather than Shoot, Ready, Aim.

Regards

Mike

[ganulv]

ganulv: Read and attempt to comprehend what is written; rather than Shoot, Ready, Aim.

I comprehend perfectly well that the post to which you replied was very much about religion. The discussion takes place as part of a thread until an administrator decides to knot it off.

[jmm99]

Here is my dad's Zippo:

Zippo.jpg

Sent in twice by him for new internals (the last time in 1974).

So, we remember the artifacts of wars; but more so, we must remember the wars themselves and the men who fought them.

Zippo was able to guarantee repair of the Zippo's internals. The men who return from wars do not have that nicety; and, have to make their own repairs over perhaps decades - at least, two decades for my dad.

In the meantime, they do not have to be basket cases - a condition reserved for some of their far less fortunate brothers. They can have very successful professional and personal lives (without harming anyone, including their families - as with my dad). The internal demons are well concealed to all but those living with them. Those demons can break loose (for no apparent, rational reason), resulting in attempted suicide or attempted murder - and going from attempt to actual is just a trigger squeeze away.

This isn't theoretical to me. It's simply a personal, experienced set of facts. That being said, you all are entitled to whatever opinions you want to express.

Just saying

Mike

[Stan]

All of this is one of the factors that has caused my Worldview - which you all know.

Regards

Mike

Remind me to tell you what happened when my 3rd X's parents saw my NRA life member lapel pin at dinner

First impressions are overrated

It will take several beers... several !