Do US Soldiers on the ground respect Iraqis?

[26 X World Champs]

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq has made some very serious accusations against his American allies. He stated publicly that American soldiers do not respect Iraqi citizens that they commit acts of violence against Iraqis on a regular basis.

My question:
Do US Soldiers on the ground respect Iraqis?

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, head of a Shiite Muslim-led governing coalition that, at times, has expressed resentment of the U.S. troop presence here, on Thursday formally condemned not just the Haditha killings but what he called "the practice" of occupying forces' disregard for civilians in Iraq.

"These forces do not respect the citizens, some of whom are crushed by tanks, others shot. ... They run them over and leave them, or they kill anyone suspicious," said al-Maliki, who leads Iraq's first permanent government since the fall of Saddam Hussein, after a Cabinet meeting.

Spurce: http://archives.seattletimes.nwsour...b/vortex/display?slug=haditha02&date=20060602

 

[LiberalNation]

I don't know if the PM is completely correct about our troops but there is some truth in his statement. In the end if most Iraqis don't think we respect them or their lives we will never be able to win the peace over there. I believe most of them probably feel about the same way as their PM.

Also having the PM of Iraq saying those things means the Iraqi government with him as the leader will probably not be on very friendly with America once our guns aren’t pointing right at them.

 

[cherokee]

I believe they do understand and respect the Iraqi people.
Before anyone starts with Haditha can we wait until the investigation is finished?.
But if you wish to talk about the pregnant woman being shot go ahead but before you do ask yourself this. If Saddam were still in power would they have raced thru a CP or restricted area like they did? For some reason I would have to say no.

I swear some of you people think the Military is nothing more then stupid murdering fools.
If that was true then why do we throw the book at any service members that do break the rules?
Iraq is a hellhole but we are doing our best to rebuild it.

 

[jennyb]

i deffinately think our men have a problem over there, there are reports of violence daily...... i think, and i know i am going to get alot of flack for this, but i am convinced that they see iraqis as not as their equals.... lower than they(americans)....
it is time for these men to come home,,, there is definately somethng wrong when our men, for i dont know what reason are murdering entire families in front of children.... that is just not right.

 

[DeeJayH]

i deffinately think our men have a problem over there, there are reports of violence daily...... i think, and i know i am going to get alot of flack for this, but i am convinced that they see iraqis as not as their equals.... lower than they(americans)....
it is time for these men to come home,,, there is definately somethng wrong when our men, for i dont know what reason are murdering entire families in front of children.... that is just not right.

can you document/ back-up any of these outrageous claims?

 

[vexati0n]

Our soldiers are under lots of stress. I despise anyone who allows himself to sink to the levels we've seen in Iraq with prisoner abuse, killing of civilians, etc., but we have to remember that many of these soldiers are in Iraq for the 3rd or 4th time. Many have been kept past their originally agreed-upon enlistment period. They face the threat of violence every day and they hardly ever know where it's going to come from, of course somebody's going to snap. At least we haven't crashed a C-130 into a baghdad high rise...

Then again, I think the US armed forces aren't being properly educated as to the responsibilities of an occupying power in a foreign culture. If we expect to have any measure of success, our military philosophy has got to include such education. Our troops must understand that while their enemy may not value human life very much, we are supposed to be there to show Iraqis that there is a better way. If we disregard civilians' lives, they are going to see that we are no morally superior to the insurgents, but we are foreigners, which makes us worse.

Unless the military institutes a deeply rooted policy of respect for Iraqi civilians and their culture, and punishes service members not only for infractions against human life and dignity but for infractions against Iraqi culture as well, we can only expect things to keep getting worse. They must be made to understand that they while we are the occupying power, we still respect that their culture is the dominant and rightful one for their country.