The widely seen YouTube video of U.S. soldiers taunting Iraqi kids with a bottle of water (seen in our Pass It On from Monday ), along with another video has prompted the U.S. Department of Defense to investigate. The second clip shows soldiers complaining about how they can’t lay waste to some Iraqi children who are throwing rocks at them. There's not much available information about the clips such as when they were shot or even who the original Youtube poster is.
Still I’m somewhat doubtful that the Department of Defense is going to treat this as if it’s a real problem as opposed to merely a “public relations problem.” I doubt the issue that concerns DoD is how these videos reveal how our occupying soldiers are not always benign forces intent on "helping" Iraq.
No, I suspect the official reaction will focus on the cameras rather than the behavior of the troops. Just wait for the news story about the Pentagon banning the use of cameras by enlisted men and women!
--Rachel Joy Larris |
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 1:15 PM
