Interesting article here by a graduate student who, for some reason, is in the military and training to be shipped to Iraq as part of the American occupation. I think we should all read material like this (which you can find all over the place if you look for it) to be reminded that US military forces offer no exception to the kinds of rules, training, and perceptions soldiers get, in this case even before even being put on the ground, in a situation where there is an active insurgency.
Here are some examples of the advice he has been getting from more experienced soldiers he has come across:
You can’t tell which Iraqis are going to try to kill you, so you should act on any doubt or suspicion you have by cutting down anyone who makes you nervous. Act on hunches; pull the trigger. It may turn out to be the wrong choice, but it’s a wrong choice that you’ll live through.
An NCO explained to a class that the ragheads won’t understand what you tell them, and you won’t understand that little gobbledy-gook that they talk, so the best way to get them on the ground to search them is to kick ’em in the balls or butt-stroke ’em in the face. That they’ll understand.
While there are important and highly relevant differences in the scale of violence, I have read very similar statements to these being made by Japanese soldiers in occupied China, German occupation soldiers in wartime Europe, and in the example most relevant for Americans, of course, made by troops in Vietnam. Again, highly important differences in scale and thankfully there are other forms of violence (rape, large massacres) which are far less prevalent in this conflict, but it is important to remember that an occupied people will come into contact with this day-to-day level of violence and racism by the troops in their midsts, and depending on a number of factors, it can produce powerful and long-lasting memories.