YouTube - US Tank crushes Iraqi civilian's car

That policy makes lots of friends, I'm sure.

Well if you were the person that those Iraqis stole the wood from, wouldn't you seek some kind of justice? I'm not saying that crushing their car was the correct thing to do, but isn't it an action that will make them think twice next time about stealing?

That's street-justice, not true justice. Where's due process in that situation? Did you see a jury of his peers?

Well like I said, I didn't say that crushing the car was the right thing to do. The soldiers could have just taken the wood from them and let them go on their way. When you're put in a situation and you aren't sure of your role, then you do the best you can do. That combined being in a "war" environment, you make decisions that don't necessarily reflect what should be done.

I'm just pointing out that our presence isn't winning us any fans.

Well I won't disagree on that, its just that the soldiers are trying their best. I'm wondering, how did you find that video?

You sure 'fun' was not in the equation when they decided to do that? Why else would they shoot into the car first..

Well the "fun" element could have been in the equation. I wasn't there so I can't say anything for sure. I'm just taking a best guess at the facts that were presented to me, my prior knowledge, and combining that with my ability to think to come up with a possible solution.

Just a side note, they may have shot at the car to make sure that the person couldn't salvage anything from it. Even if you run over the car with the tank, there is probably something you could savage. Like the front right tire [if I remember correctly]. They might have wanted to teach him a lesson that he would remember.

Yeah, shooting it with pistols was pretty unprofessional, to say the least. I seriously doubt there was a valid reason for that. To prevent salvaging the tires? Yeah, right.

Its a possibility. I didn't say I condone their actions, just that it could be a possibility.

What was the Army's response in this case? Were the soldiers brought up on charges? Punished? Given a pat on the back? Any idea?

I seem to remember right after the liberation, and there was a lot of looting, there was plenty of criticism because nothing was being done to stop it.

I don't know. I plan on looking into this further today, if I have time.

I'd be interested to hear what happened to the soldiers after the event too. Hopefully you'll find the answer.

I made a lazy attempt to google it, but everything went to the video. Watching the short video, I could identify at least a few things they did that were in violation of the UCMJ.

In any case, their actions aren't really representative of anything except the fact that not everyone in the Army is perfect. That's the problem with seeing the world through youtube videos.

Yeah, that's the same problem I'm having. Everything points to the video with no hint at the context or consequence.

No one is claiming that our military should be perfect. Any mechanism designed to engage in warfare is inherently flawed by intent, IMO.

My purpose in sharing the video was to put on public display the "democracy" we are exporting. If street-justice and occupation is all we offer these people, then it invalidates the entire premise for our continued presence.

That's just it. What happened in that video isn't representative of the "democracy we are exporting." I'm willing to bet that occured before Iraqs first elections after regime change, but I'm not sure. And what happened in that video isn't all we are offering "these people."

I think you can disagree with this administration's foreign policy without misrepresenting what is happening on the ground over there with isolated instances of thuggery by our Armed Forces.

The soldiers state in the video that they are following official policy. So, that is in fact the governance we are exporting. That's not a misrepresentation.

I don't blame the individual soldiers for following orders. It's a symptom of a wider, institutional problem.

For the purpose of finding background info, where did you come across the video?

Well, i cant say 'i dont blame the soldiers' even if those were orders. What they are doing obviously wont help anyone. On the other hand, they are given a tank, told whatever they tell them that means that they should do that. Maybe they just are not wise enough. (Or if some of them are, they cant do much about it but protest.) Probably this will rub 'support the troops' the wrong way, but i really dont get why they are not told(&tought) not to do shit like this.

Well you do have different kind of people in the military. Some are just there to follow orders and will do whatever they're told. Others do try to protest and do disobey orders but then their commanders probably reprimand them and find someone who will do it. Things don't always end up how we want them to.