US army in Iraq institutionally racist, claims British officer

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell () newcastle ac uk>
Date: January 12, 2006 4:54:09 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
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 () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/


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