[IP] US army in Iraq institutionally racist, claims British officer
Begin forwarded message:
From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: January 12, 2006 4:54:09 AM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: US army in Iraq institutionally racist, claims British officer
Dave:
From todays (UK) Guardian
cheers
Brian
US army in Iraq institutionally racist, claims British officer
Richard Norton-Taylor and Jamie Wilson in Washington
Thursday January 12, 2006
The Guardian
A senior British officer has criticised the US army for its conduct
in Iraq, accusing it of institutional racism, moral righteousness,
misplaced optimism, and of being ill-suited to engage in counter-
insurgency operations.
The blistering critique, by Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, who was
the second most senior officer responsible for training Iraqi
security forces, reflects criticism and frustration voiced by
British commanders of American military tactics.
What is startling is the severity of his comments - and the
decision by Military Review, a US army magazine, to publish them.
American soldiers, says Brig Aylwin-Foster, were "almost
unfailingly courteous and considerate". But he says "at times their
cultural insensitivity, almost certainly inadvertent, arguably
amounted to institutional racism".
The US army, he says, is imbued with an unparalleled sense of
patriotism, duty, passion and talent. "Yet it seemed weighed down
by bureaucracy, a stiflingly hierarchical outlook, a predisposition
to offensive operations and a sense that duty required all issues
to be confronted head-on."
Brig Aylwin-Foster says the American army's laudable "can-do"
approach paradoxically led to another trait, namely "damaging
optimism". Such an ethos, he says, "is unhelpful if it discourages
junior commanders from reporting unwelcome news up the chain of
command".
But his central theme is that US military commanders have failed to
train and educate their soldiers in the art of counter-insurgency
operations and the need to cultivate the "hearts and minds" of the
local population.
. . . .
Full story at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,16518,1684564,00.html
--
School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon
Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell@xxxxxxxxx PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/
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