U.S. army is racist, claims British officer (Barf barf spin alert!)

The Hindu newspaper ^ | 1/24/06 | Richard Norton-Taylor and Jamie Wilson

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Brig. Aylwin-Foster. Oh, it's that idiot again! Or, is this from his original rant?

[mrsmel]

I do sympathise with the honorable remaining soldiers in the British military who must know that their army is becoming the laughingstock of the sane Western world(what little is left of it). What a great tradition and heritage being destroyed.

[docbnj]

"But he says ``at times their cultural insensitivity, almost certainly inadvertent, arguably amounted to institutional racism''."

Which is it, race or culture? Being culturally unaware is not "racism." Is this limey actually put in a responsible position? No wonder they lost an empire.

It seems to me that our troops were very culturally sensitive, to the point of avoiding treading on any of the numerous holy sites which cover much of the Iraqi countryside.

Hey, and how about this critic's sensitivity to OUR ways? I am deeply hurt (sob!) by what he says. He should be more sensitive to us!

[NavVet]

That's okay they can just stay down there in the south away from all that nasty shootin' We'll let 'em know when the fighting is over.

[mrsmel]

Isn't it GREAT to be an American? I thank God everyday,and I'm not ashamed to admit it! Too bad some people of other to-be-unnamed nationalities don't feel as proud of their country!

And I've found when "talking" on other message boards with people of other English-speaking nations,that I generally know,in a surface way,as much about their countries as they know about mine,so that can get off that kick about how insular and unaware WE are. Much of what they THINK they know,for that matter,is attained from our syndicated television shows and liberal-spun news media. They don't have a clue about America in any real way.

[Sender]

...their strategy was ``to kill or capture all terrorists and insurgents: they saw military destruction of the enemy as a strategic goal in its own right''

Well, DUH. Do the Brits not see military destruction of the enemy as a strategic goal? To kill or capture all terrorists and insurgents? DUH?

[Red6]

In the Multi National Sector, even in the Kurdish areas (In which we are) the passive, defensive "Nice guy" approach works. In the Sunni triangle it will allow things to spiral out of control.

How you operate largely depends on who your clientele!

Red6

[mrsmel]

Well, DUH. Do the Brits not see military destruction of the enemy as a strategic goal? To kill or capture all terrorists and insurgents? DUH?

No,to paraphrase Scarlett,they think that they ought to serve them fried chicken three times a day and tuck them in with eiderdown quilts. Or would that still be "culturally insensitive"?

I'D like to show them "culturally insensitive",hehe,as my just-returned from Iraq brother says,with a bullet smeared with pig grease!

[SandRat]

Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster should go back to his adulation of Field Marshall Montgomery in the privacy of his own home study as that seems to be his idol and speech writer.

[USN40VET]

I thought I could detect a trace of ole Monty in his attitude.

[SandRat]

Having taken the time to read Monty's Memoirs just because it was on the Army AG's recommended reading list "BORING!" Nigel is full of that ponpus arse Monty.

[Last Dakotan]

Montgomery probably said the same things to Patton.

I would have liked to hear Patton's reply however.

[voletti]

The US military has nothing to prove here.
What our military needs is an adversary worthy of respect. Even if China were to become a rival superpower tomorrow, I somehow doubt I could accord chicom troops with respect.

[marron]

a sense that duty required all issues to be confronted head-on

I don't take that as a criticism. That he does, might explain why Britain has faded away so quickly, in hardly a generation.

Don't get me wrong, they are the only Euro army worthy of respect, and the only one capable of putting up a fight. Compared to their colleagues across the channel they are giants. But if this guy is any measure, we are seeing the last generation of Brits before they slip beneath the wave.

[Triggerhippie]

To be fair, this General's comments aren't why Britain lost the empire. They managed to loose (not lose) their grasp on Empire when they threw their military into the grinder of the WWI trenches.

Having learned that lesson, it is a bit more understandable that they would be looking for a less head-on way to beat their enemies.

[marron]

I know you're right. And I have a high regard for them. Still, this guy annoys me.

[delacoert]

Online edition of India's National Newspaper

Pfft

[NZerFromHK]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Are we dealing with the same nation which, in their great-great-grandfather's generation had army officers that believed in the following instead? ;-)

...if you will fairly contrast the gain to humanity with the price which we are bound to pay for it, I think you may well rejoice in the result of such expeditions as those which may have, and indeed have, cost valuable lives, but as to which we may rest assured that for one life lost a hundred will be gained, and the cause of civilization and the prosperity of the people will in the long run be eminently advanced. But no doubt such a state of things, such a mission as I have described, involves heavy responsibility. In the wide dominions of the Queen the doors of the temple of Janus are never closed, and it is a gigantic task that we have undertaken when we have determined to wield the sceptre of empire. Great is the task, great is the responsibility, but great is the honour; and I am convinced that the conscience and the spirit of the country will rise to the height of its obligations, and that we shall have the strength to fulfill the mission which our history and our national character have imposed upon us.

As I recall, even Teddy Roosevelt never said anything oike that. Who says Americans are institutional racists?

[spitz]

Actually America lost or rather sold out the British Empire, check your history after WW2, Ghandi has always been offered as the excuse for lose of Empire, but American greed is the real reason.

[spitz]

You AmeriScum TM really have no idea, you never stopped an insurgency in your limited History and you won't accept advice or criticism because it's Anti- American. Read the original response from the US military and you may be , perhaps wont come across as STUPID AMERICANS.