The U.S. Army Goes to High School - Disturbing...Really....

[deminflorida]

Disturbing....

I find this especially troublesome, if U.S. soldiers were responsible....

"His grandmother had three and a half kilos of gold and an heirloom diamond necklace taken during a nighttime raid on her house. All run-of-the-mill, unverifiable stories of the kind I have heard many times."


http://slate.msn.com/id/2093154/entry/2093160/

[Muddleoftheroad]

1. Sure

I always keep over seven pounds of gold laying around the house.

[kalian]

3. So...your point is...?

[Muddleoftheroad]

4. That I don't believe it

And when a writer gives credence to that which I consider entirely bogus, I lose all faith in whatever else is included in the piece.

[ima_sinnic]

7. expand your horizons

not everybody in the world conforms to your neat image of bank transactions for everything.

In many places, the physical accumulation/hoarding of gold is SOP.

[Muddleoftheroad]

18. Sure

But that belief only goes so far.

[kalian]

8. Sure thing....

;)

Just remember: "denial" is not a river.

[Muddleoftheroad]

19. It's also not a river of gold

[Divernan]

10. Hoarding gold and jewelry is standard practise in wartorn countries.

While the reporter's source may have exaggerated the amount, I have read previous reports of looting by US soldiers in Iraq, and it has certainly been a standard practise of all invading armies throughout history.
Further, given the impoverished background of many US soldiers, which is what influenced many of them to enlist, and the 24/7 lives of stress, fear and danger they are leading, I find it credible that they have no moral qualms about looting Iraqi property, especially small, easily concealable items.

[Benhurst]

11. This obviously is an example of a failure to communicate.

The Bush* Crime Family sent the troops there to steal oil, not gold.

[Walt Starr]

13. I would suggest you have formulated an ill-informed opinion

Seven pounds of gold would be a family's savings of many generations in most middle Eastern countries and it is quite common to keep that type of savings in the home.

Semitic peoples have a tradition dating back thousands of years with this sort of behavior where gold is concerned. This type of family savings is what enabled thousands of Jews to escape from Nazi Germany before the camps really got going.

Even today, I know several Jewish families in America that keep more gold in their home than this, not to mention the Lebanese family that must have at least twice that amount of gold.

[0007]

15. The gold thingy doesn't have anything to do with the article!

I don't think you read the article!

[Muddleoftheroad]

20. It is

I did.

[deminflorida]

14. Me personally, I think that morale is getting low and stories like

this should raise a red-flag in this country that we are on a fast-track to that un-mentionable dirty-word Vietnam. But, what the hell would I know, I'm just a retired military guy anyway.

[Book Lover]

6. If you were Iraqi, you might...

This is from Riverbend's blog (http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2003_10_01_riverbendblog_archive.html)

Iraqi people don’t own gold because they are either spectacularly wealthy, or they have recently been on a looting spree... Gold is a part of our culture and the roll it plays in ‘family savings’ has increased since 1990 when the Iraqi Dinar (which was $3) began fluctuating crazily. People began converting their money to gold- earrings, bracelets, necklaces- because the value of gold didn’t change. People pulled their money out of banks before the war, and bought gold instead. Women here call gold “zeeneh ou 7*azeeneh (khazeeneh)” which means, “ornaments and savings”. Gold can be shown off and worn, but in times of economical trouble, a few pieces can be sold to tide the family over.

Many troops claimed that they took gold from houses because they couldn't believe people like *that* could own gold... what they don't know is that when two Iraqis get married- regardless of religion- the man often gives the woman a 'mahar' or dowry, composed of gold jewelry. When a couple has a child, the gifts are often little gold trinkets that the parents can sell or keep... this was especially popular before the blockade.

[Devlzown]

9. Sounds similar to stories I've read about India.

National Geographic has done a lot of stories about the role gold plays in Indian society.

[peacetalksforall]

16. One benefit of DU

is the education. Yes, people in other countries keep gold in their homes. The value of currency is usually unstable in countries that are under embargo and in countries where the IMF/Banks and the countries leaders are playing hardball or not.

Just ask yourself what our soldiers were ordered to do the minute after George Bush declared a win in Iraq? They went searching (supposedly) for Husseins' billions. They tore through the banks. Would you want your $5 $500 or $50,000 equivalent taken by soldiers under orders?

Here we use banks except the banks of the rich are all on little islands all over the world. Just what are these poor rich people going to do when the water rises? How much of that interest built in the islands benefits you?

[kalian]

2. Unbelievable....

A few days after Saddam's capture, he was arrested by the Americans. About a hundred soldiers in armored Humvees and tanks surrounded the Amriyeh High School (a school for boys aged between 16 and 19). With the Iraqi police in attendance, they went from classroom to classroom matching faces to photographs and names to a list. They were looking for boys who had been at a pro-Saddam demonstration the day before.

"It's against the law," explained Lt. Col. Leopoldo Quintas, commander of the 2-70 "Old Ironsides" Armored Battalion, which carried out the operation. "And they were displaying pictures of Saddam."

"It's subversive," added his public affairs officer.

*************************************
So, let me get this straight: we're there to "bring them democracy"
but, if they decide to express their own beliefs...its considered
"subversive".
Why do I get an uncanny feeling that this is a practice run for what
will be happening here in the States within the next year or so...?
:eyes:

[0007]

12. Hmmmmm

"They were looking for boys who had been at a pro-Saddam demonstration the day before. "

Now if they were to go to Ahmed Chalabi's camp I think they'd be beyond surprised.

[Nlighten1]

5. How about Middle Schools?

I saw recruitment signs in serveral middle schools where I live. Made me want to puke.

[sid dicious]

17. I wouldn't be surprised about the taking of the gold.

There are over 100,000 troops there. More than enough for some bad apples. That's something, that if true, the troops should be busted to the max of military law. We're not the Soviets in postwar Germany here!!

However, this kid sounds like trouble. Don't know about the veracity of the story or the rules on protests. But the description of this boy sounds pretty troubling.