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TechnoratiAt US Base, Iraqis Must Use Separate Latrine
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, Iraq - The sign taped to the men's latrine is just five lines:
"US MILITARY CONTRACTORS CIVILIANS ONLY!!!!!"
It needed only one: "NO IRAQIS."
Here at this searing, dusty U.S. military base about four miles west of Baqouba, Iraqis - including interpreters who walk the same foot patrols and sleep in the same tents as U.S. troops - must use segregated bathrooms.
Another sign, in a dining hall, warns Iraqis and "third-country nationals" that they have just one hour for breakfast, lunch or dinner. American troops get three hours. Iraqis say they sometimes wait as long as 45 minutes in hot lines to get inside the chow hall, leaving just 15 minutes to get their food and eat it.
It's been nearly 60 years since President Harry Truman ended racial segregation in the U.S. military. But at Forward Operating Base Warhorse it's alive and well, perhaps the only U.S. military facility with such rules, Iraqi interpreters here say.
It's unclear precisely who ordered the rules. "The rule separating local national latrines from soldiers was enacted about two to three rotations ago," Maj. Raul Marquez, a spokesman for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, wrote in an e-mail. That was before his brigade or the 3rd Stryker Combat Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., the other major combat force here, was based at Warhorse.
There's also disagreement on the reason.
Marquez cited security. "We are at war, and operational security (OPSEC) and force protection are critical in this environment," Marquez wrote. "We screen all our local nationals working and living in the FOB, however, you can never know what's in their mind."
Other soldiers traced the regulations to what they called cultural differences between the Iraqis and the Americans.
"We've had issues with locals," said Staff Sgt. Oscar Garcia, who mans Warhorse's administrative hub. "It's not because we're segregating."
Garcia said some Iraqis squatted on the rims of unfamiliar American-style toilets or had used showers as toilets, forcing private contractors who maintain the facilities to clean up after them.
Another soldier at the administrative hub who declined to give his name or rank cited conflicts over hygiene habits. "We can't accept people washing their feet where I brush my teeth," he said.
"It's to keep problems from happening," said Army Capt. Janet Herrick, a public affairs officer. "It's a preventive measure . . . so no one gets belittled."
But the Iraqis who're paid $80,000 to $120,000 a year for their interpreting services are offended.
"It sucks," Ahmed Mohammed, 30, said of the latrine policy. He called the signs - in English and Arabic - "racist."
He's worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military since 2004. He's college educated and well versed in the ways of Western plumbing. He said Warhorse was the only American base where he'd encountered U.S.-only signs on latrines and country-of-origin restrictions on dining hours.
"I live in the same tent with 80 Americans," he said.
Mohammed works for L-3 Titan Group, a unit of New York-based L-3 Communications. He declined to have his picture taken for publication. He fears for his life. He said his brother was killed last year in Baghdad for working for an American company.
Mohammed has sold his house and has squirreled away enough money to buy visas for his family of four. He said he intended to quit soon and emigrate to Germany. The latrine policy is part of the reason, he said.
L-3 officials didn't respond to a request for comment.
"On one hand we're asking Iraqis to help us," often at great risk, said Laila al Qatami, spokeswoman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Washington. "But at the same time we're saying, 'We want to keep you at a distance.' It's a mixed message we're sending.
"I don't understand having separate bathrooms. It seems to go against everything that the United States stands for."
McClatchy Newspapers 2007
53 Comments so far
Show AllWhich restroom is OSAMA using? Where is OSAMA DUMBYA?
WHITES ONLY! Long live the colonial power.
I am a U.S. soldier currently on FOB Warhorse. Now, I'm sure I haven't been to every latrine on the FOB, but I've NEVER seen any signs like the ones pictured.
I'm not saying that there aren't any, or that this story is false, but I can say that these "signs" aren't previlent around the FOB. As for the chow lines, yes, they (Iraqi's) have a designated (not limited) time for each meal. That is because our FOB has three times the people it did when the chow hall was built. They come at a specific time so that the chow hall doesn't get overwhelmed with too many people at once. I've never seen Iraq's "rushed" out of chow because they went two minutes over their "alloted time". I've never seen any Iraq's treated with anything but respect. This is just one more example of how things get blown out of proportion in order to villiafy the United States Military.
An IED in a latrine? What a way to go!
Can we please assume that if a terrorist wanted to booby trap a latrine, they would probably do so with or without a sign on the door? And if you are going to do a booby trap or ambush explosion, why bother withb the latrines will a low kill ratio when you can go for lunch in the cafeteria, as has been done previously?
This type of news is irritating.
LOL, (big smiles!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks Kem,
I believe 'F.O.' stands for 'Foreign Object', and that's quite appropriate since I wasn't born in America (as a rather petulant writer just mistakenly presumed) -- but it looks like I'm now forever lumbered with being severely "fantatical"
(-what a curious new word, it's almost like FANATICAL, yet somehow quite meaningless!) :)
F.O. is also an acronym for 'Far Out' and I kinda like that!
I'm reminded here of the old aphorism, "There are none so blind as they who will not see," --so on that basis I'll say nothing more on the topic.
Now, back to toilets... !
:)
this is business as usual for america.
UN-common-dreams:
You come across as a fantatical, cynic and as an obnoxiously, arrogant american know it all. As far as Creme's story goes, your mind is full of illusions and you pass those on to others as "facts". Yes, some groups have labeled Share International a cult, so what. They're the fundamentalist Christian groups who also think that everyone except for them are going to burn eternally in hell. Apparently, that's your crowd. I've been following the story for a long time and you can't/won't budge me. How I know the story is true is none of your business. As a rule, I never debate people or try to persuade them to believe that the story is true, nor does Benjamin Creme. People should NOT take my word for anything, nor should they take yours. If they're so inclined, they should check the story out and decide whether or not they think it is plausible, for themselves. I'm sure other CD readers besides me would appreciate it if you'd refrain from posting your fanatical, off topic little blasts of hot air under CD's articles. Now, for the second time today, please FO and have a nice day.
To MaxheMust:
Oh dear, -a mad Max! :p
-sorry if you find such truths unpalatable.
As I said first time round (did you read carefully?) I have *personally* checked out Creme, -can you say the same? I have (actually) investigated his work and private background etc.
And I wasn't trying to 'control' you Max, but I did *request* that your friends didn't advertise that 'Share International' group here anymore, as Creme and his poor believers have already caused enough harm and confusion in various circles...
As re my "apparent view of a cult" Max, -here are but two dictionary definitions:
Cult:
1. An instance of veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers.
2. A group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
-Which bit of those is 'strange' to you?
And are you a little muddled here: "...and with all due respect, FO." ?
That doesn't *appear* overtly 'respectful'! :)
I am not out to attack you personally Max, but I *have* done my research. I am NOT prejudiced, but do have a problem with certain groups which spring up, based solely around 'charismatic' leaders and their flawed assertions / predictions etc.
Were you personally one of that dedicated team who searched (in vain) in London's Brick Lane for a whole year for the ever-elusive, ultra camera shy 'World Teacher' figure (who Creme had *categorically* stated was resident there) - but who never once appeared, and could not be found by anyone at all?
Or one of those who went off to Nairobi to search for the 'mysterious tall gentleman' in white robes? Do you believe in Creme's grandiose assertion that he, (-out of approx 6 billion people on Earth) was the ONLY human to have been specially 'chosen' to announce this 'World Teacher' person?
Were you personally at the Friend's Meeting House (1977 onwards) in London, Euston, where Creme first started making outlandish statements about himself? Did you read the full page ads in many newspapers [April 25, 1982 ] stating that Creme's 'World Teacher' would pop up two months from that date? (He never did of course.)
Ps: there's a lot more failed predictions by others of Creme's ilk on this page: http://www.abhota.info/end3.htm
Do you know Creme's kids, by his first or second marriage, (Lucis, Tara and Julian) or his second wife Phyllis? Have you personally been with him when as he's sat around drinking his whiskey and coming out with weirdo comments?
Where you attending the gathering of the international press when Creme said (categorically) that his supposed 'Maitreya / World Teacher' would *definitely* declare himself, - but then Creme (quite risibly) announced at the last minute that there had been a 'cosmic emergency' and that the fabled being couldn't make the all-important date after all?
Did you know that Creme was a strong supporter of 'Sai Baba' (and went to see him in India and bought back a few trinkets) but that this Indian being has since been widely discredited as a boy child abuser, and has had several murders committed in his grounds, as well as having his 'miracles' exposed (by long-term supporters) as a fraud?
Did you know that various cult investigation groups have listed Creme's organisation on their files as being a cult?
And I certainly do *not* discredit the practice of proper meditation Max, but we don't (actually) need to hold on to bits of wire connected to a homemade geometric-shaped box to do so! ;)
I could relate a lot more, but that would bore the others here who are not in the least interested in such stuff. -(Toilets are a lot more interesting!) ;)
Sorry if the truth is painful Max, but that's not of my making. Go right ahead and continue to post adverts for Creme's group here if you wish, - I would simply advise caution in believing all that you are told by the likes of that poor deluded old man.
When I was in Europe for a few weeks, in ~1994. To see the grand and LUXURIOUS Europe of cathederals, castles and gourmet food and wine, famous for its fashion and shopping. The U.S. looks up to Europe for its class and style. We visited the Leaning Tower of Pis in Italy, a tourist haven. Nature calls. There was a squat toilet, or whatever the accurate terminology, to describe a small drain in the floor at the center of a stall. There was another stall next to it, which I didn't go into. It was situated as if a shower stall, with the floor slanting in a bit towards the drain. Wow, what to do.
Well, I'm a female who's been camping, so I just did the same, peed into it. As if I was behind a tree and my tent was out of view. Common sense dictated what to do in the restroom stall in Itay. No flushing needed. It saves water. Now, why would such a device be useful in the DESERT?
And it really isn't any different from an American URINAL, now it it? At least the squat toilet provided privacy, while the American urinal is for all to see and view at their lingering leisure, well, as '...Marquez wrote. "... you can never know what's in their mind."'
I don't recall any mass chaotic TOURIST REVOLT by those Americans wisiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa, against the toilet situation in ITALY. In fact, you have to PAY with a few coins, to use a public toilet, often, in Italy and England (and probably elsewhere).
Let me tell you about the public TOILETS in PARIS which were situated outside along streets and near tourist attractions. They looked like U.S. porta-potties. A big plastic box, standing by itself. But in PARIS, for it to open, you had to pay. Put some coins inside the slot machine. And whoa and behold, music played while you were inside. And when the door closed behind you, the porta-potty self-cleaned itself. Yes, you could hear the wash and rinse. What an amazing invention! And the jobs of cleaning people eliminated.
Oh, but we love their wine and gelato (ice cream). A different culture. A different toilet. Perhaps the U.S. invading armed forces feel that it's easier to DEMONIZE the people of another country which it has invaded. Deaden any emotions and thoughts that connect THEM to us. They don't LOOK like use, they don't sound like us, they don't live like us. If anything, feel CONTEMPT.
Lewis and Clark did it to the Indians, the SAVAGES, who gave them food and shelter and tought them to grow crops in the spring. Helping them to get through a winter which would have otherwise killed crew. But Lewis and Clark weren't officially ordered by the US gov't to kill them and run them off their land, as we've done, over and over. Maybe we're closer to Europe's exciting history of imperialistic take-overs. This time it's in the Middle East.
This is simply another somewhat subtle tactic promoted by the Bush administration to continue the hate, war, and promote terror throughout the world.
Please remember this: prior to the Bush Administration creating this insanely horrific," War on Terror" from 1960-2001 (including 9/11) less than 6000 people WORLDWIDE had died in terrorist attacks. I would guess that is less than the number of people that drowned in their bathtubs. I doubt if the cowardly sycophants that lead our military could win a war against bathwater. This war will go down in history as one of the worst if not the worst unprovoked criminal assault on humanity in modern history.
The really sad part of all of this is that I now believe the intent from the start was simply to create world-wide terror not prevent it. Which would explain the tortures, secret prisons, human rights violations and many of the other actions the Bush administration led criminals have perpetrated.
Why did the Bush administration aided by the Republican lead congress decided to create this horrific never-ending Orwellian War causing the destruction of millions of lives and wasting trillions of dollars of the American taxpayers' money on the Halliburton/KBR/Backwater type organizations?
"What are they afraid is going to happen, an Iraqi uses up all the toilet paper? Or clogs the toilet? Most likely the excrement in the shower originated from a shitfaced grunt who thought it was a toilet."
An understanding of this starts with an understanding of the cultural ignorance of USAns - specifically their ignorance of the defecating customs of the people over a large swath from Morocco to India, to SE Asia. There, people defecate (and women uriniate) in the more natural squatting position. Shitting while sitting in a seat with a hole in it is, to them, very unnatural and awkward. So, toilets in these parts of the world consist of flushable, shallow porcelain pans or bowls set in the floor with a hole in the middle - resembling a bit the floor pan of a stall shower.
So, the obvious solution would simply install some middle-eastern style toilets in the bathrooms - or better yet have the US occupiers simply take up the shitting habits of the "locals' but I guess it is way, way beyond what racist-cultural-imperialist USAns are capable of...
"It's to keep problems from happening," said Army Capt. Janet Herrick
What are they afraid is going to happen, an Iraqi uses up all the toilet paper? Or clogs the toilet? Most likely the excrement in the shower originated from a shitfaced grunt who thought it was a toilet. Like we haven't seen public bathrooms smeared with shit here in the good ol USA.
Sad fact is, while there are some decent people in the US military, there are enough that aren't to give the whole thing the veneer of a racist, boorish group.
Why any Iraqi would agree to work on a US base is beyond me, unless they plan to go straight from there and emigrate to another country. It's like buying futures in suicide.
My advice: $80K/yr isn't enough money to endure that.
@ MaxheMust:
I don't like to be unkind and disabuse you and your friends who often advertise your diminutive cult here, but please note: 'The World Teacher' did NOT say that thing!!
The person who said it was, (in fact) sad, demented old Benjamin Creme (of London, UK) -the failed artist, the failed prophet, the whiskey-swigging nutjob, -and he who has been justifiably ridiculed (internationally) for his plethora of daft prophecies, *NONE* of which have ever come true over the last 25 years!
Trust me, I've checked him out, in depth, and IN PERSON [-have you?] and he is, -quite simply- in thrall to mischievous entities!
Put it this way MaxheMust, who TOLD you a 'World Teacher' said that stuff? Did you hear it in person?
Nope! You heard it from crazy Creme didn't you?
I realise that you poor Creme followers have bandied about the name of Common Dreams in your little circle, and that you now seek to 'bring your message here', -but sorry, all that Ben Creme stuff is complete hogwash, so *please* don't bother advertising it here anymore?
The world has enough to cope with already, without Creme and his pathetic little CULT adding to the confusion!
~ Thankyou.
The GOOD NEWS is that there are far fewer racists today than there were 50 years ago,
...and that before too much longer, racism will be one of the ridiculous aspects of the past - along with unbridled greed and it's children: political corruption, war, poverty, human/animal rights abuses, etc
============================
"The developed nations of the world cannot remain secure islands of prosperity in a seething sea of poverty. The storm is rising against the privileged minority of the earth, from which there is no shelter in isolation and armament. The storm will not abate until a just distribution of the fruits of the earth enables men everywhere to live in dignity and human decency."
Martin Luther King, Jr
=======================
"The time for war has past...
"Man must change or die.
There is no other course."
The World Teacher
http://www.Share-International.org
Apparently, we want their "hearts and minds" but not their butt cheeks.
Perhaps this is a big reason why so many pin-headed conservatives love this war. It allows them to engage in segregation and condescension again.
At least Pandora had some excuse; -she didn't know what was in her box (or jar) prior to opening it and thus accidentally letting evils lose upon the world.
But the gang of vile creatures in the 'Dark House' in Washington D.C. knew precisely what they were planning to let lose, (even the CIA warned them that it would result in a shambolic mess) but these Govern-mental Terrorists decided to go for it anyway, - and now plan yet more dis-ease for the human race.
Someone who was dying on a hill in ancient Golgotha once requested, "Forgive them Lord, they know not what they do." Somehow I can't quite see the Deadly Nightshade crew of the current US administration ever being forgiven, for they KNEW, (and know still) exactly what they are doing...
Thankfully, there is enough goodness left in the heart of humanity as a whole to ensure that the dog mess on Capitol Hill will eventually be pooper-scooped up, and hygienically disposed of.
Then we can get back to helping our world towards being the safer, cleaner place it ought to be, -and can be, once the Bu$hCo dung beetles no longer scurry about in the corridors of power.
Whilst I'm on the subject of things scatological, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do' says the old cliché. Squat latrines are generally far healthier than 'sitting' toilets, for both men and women.
Many might wish to use Red, White and Blue cleaning rags, but whilst perfectly understandable, that could prove contentious for some...
I guess we liberated the Iraqi's to have their own latrines then?
"When ignorance reigns life is lost..." RATM
This is not unique. The base in Kandahar, Afghanistan requires Afghan nationals to use separate toilets. It's part of the US Military attitude.
this seems to be a wide-spread system of old time racism like practiced in the South. read the last line of the following article from 2005:
IRAQ: No, This Certainly Is Not Switzerland
By Trish Schuh July 7, 2007 IPS
KARBALA, Iraq- It should have been little more than an hour's drive south from Baghdad to Karbala. But it took an hour just to exit the checkpoints, with humvees intermittently veering into oncoming traffic. Along the road, a car lay smashed after colliding with a military vehicle. One complaint heard from Iraqis was that tanks accidentally drove over the top of cars, crushing passengers.
Outside the city, progress was frustrated by a mile-long convoy of APCs, tanks, humvees and military supplies waiting for deployment. Hundreds of civilian autos were forced off the four lane highway onto a narrow dirt road bisected by railway tracks. Traffic stalled, zigzagged, and backtracked. Cars, trucks, and SUVs fought tanks to maneuver. More waiting. From the chaos and dust, a train sped by and sent vehicles squealing; then relief that the commotion wasn't a car bomb. The trip took four and a half hours.
Camp Lima Forward Operating Base just east of Karbala, is home to the 155th Armored Brigade BCT of the Mississippi National Guard. The Civil Affairs Battalion team headed by Chaplain Terry Partin, Major Jack Helmers and Major Kenneth Booth voiced US support for democracy, human rights and "winning hearts and minds." The soldiers gave an example. After a night house raid, troops would return to the affected neighborhood in the morning and distribute toys.
Major Booth then explained US reconstruction plans and the unit's motto: S.W.E.A.T.(sewage, water, electricity, academic, and trash priorities). He said that their major obstacle was getting the money to rebuild. Despite this limitation, the military had begun 5 water and electrical projects, schools and a nursing home. Major Booth felt it was now "up to the Iraqis," and that those who expected more were being unreasonable. "They think every problem is a U.S. problem. They can't expect us to turn Iraq into Switzerland in six months."
Being in country for nine months, Major Jack Helmers was asked why the Americans invaded Iraq. "There are many reasons," he said, "but mostly Saddam himself was a weapon of mass destruction. He killed Kurds and Shiites. He was working on other WMDs. We may still find them." He added that part of the 155th's mission was "explosive ordnance disposal."
Experts claim one WMD, depleted uranium, is easy to find. But American authorities have refused to clean it up or acknowledge its harmful effects. Conventional weapons also posed a danger. In the past, live munitions were piled along streets unmarked, due to a shortage of yellow plastic 'caution' tape. Major Booth reassured us; "Alot of the explosives are fairly stable- though some devices can explode with weather or temperature changes." Pedestrians casting a shadow over an undetonated object could also cause it to explode.
On a visit later to the Karbala office of Iraqi Human Rights Watch, Hussein Al Abrahemy placed a cluster bomb on his desk. He claimed citizens had unsuccessfully requested many times that the US military retrieve the WMDs. Daisy cutters, in addition to cluster bombs, were still being found throughout the city.
Children thought the yellow devices were toys. So on April 3, 2005, a committee headed by Ali Hamza of the Muslim Peacemakers Team finally decided to dispose of the ordnance themselves. Attempting to clear a school yard of explosives, Hamza was killed. The Army promised compensation, but the family has received nothing. Responding to American inaction, the Community of Victims' Kin was founded, demanding that 5% of Iraq's oil revenue be allotted to war victims' families.
The incident challenged Major Booth's earlier statements on democracy and Iraqi human rights. Ali Nassir of the Iraqi Council for Solidarity and Peace commented that democracy was a long term commitment. "If you want to build a house it may take a year, but to build human beings it takes the future. The US Army didn't bring democracy."
It may not have brought equality either. On the way out of Camp Lima Base were two latrines. One marked "IRAQIS ONLY" and the other "NO IRAQIS- AMERICANS ONLY."
"We can't accept people washing their feet where I brush my teeth,"
Well, la-dee-da...I thought overtly flamboyant gays weren't allowed in the military?
How did this assclown ever get though survival school?
its kind of funny...most of the hicks that have volunteered for Iraq have never even shit indoors before, and used to regularly shower with their pigs.... and are now worried about some Iraqi washing his feet in the sink?
I hear the US Constitution is now bring printed in roll form...double ply...... for use in the white house
The book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" is an excellent example of this sort of thing in the Green Zone and elsewhere. The latrines are the tip of the iceberg it gets worse. The book also talks about how the Pakistani and Iraqi Muslim cooks are forced to handle pork products for the troops. Pork is haram/forbidden for muslims to not only consume but to touch!
What a great recruiting poster for the insurgency of Al Quaeda in Iraq that picture would make.
And these are the Iraqis who are risking everything to work for the American occupation force. They will be the ones scrambling to get on the copters that lift off from the Green Zone at the end (that is if there is ever an end to this nightmare).
What Constitution?
Bush said it was just a G/D piece of paper and he is proving once again, that he is right. God is always right.
They may as well put that sign on the Constitution too.
PS ... that was just the first hit. The rest looked interesting too. Here's the search results from 'women sexual assault iraq military'
http://www.google.com/search?q=women+sexual+assualt+iraq+military&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozil...
A quick google on sexual assualt in iraq found this article in the Christian Science Monitor.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0319/p99s01-duts.html
"the danger of rape by other soldiers is so widely recognized in Iraq that their officers routinely told them not to go to the latrines or showers without another woman for protection."
"Col. Janis Karpinski (who was demoted from brigadier general for her role in the Abu Ghraib scandal) alleged last year that three women died of dehydration in 2003 because they were afraid to go to the latrines at night for fear of being sexually assaulted, and so did not drink any water late in the day."
"In an interview with radio program Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, Iraq veteran Mickiela Montoya talked about why she carried a knife in Iraq to protect her safety.
SPC. MICKIELA MONTOYA: No, safe from the other soldiers. I never intended on using the knife for an Iraqi. I had my M-16 for that. But my knife, I always just kept it for another soldier, because any time I would have any type of strong sexual harassment words spoken, I just mainly felt a little bit more secure, and it was visible, too, to the other soldiers.
AMY GOODMAN: Did anything specifically happen to you?
SPC. MICKIELA MONTOYA: Yeah. That's why I would carry the knife. I remember it was really late, and over there they don't have electricity, so we run off generators, and if you scream or if you were to yell for help or anything like that, nobody could hear you, because you're not going to shoot a comrade, because these are your supposed battle buddies. So I would just use the knife as, I guess, a scare tactic, and it worked for me, because after that I never really had a problem."
------------------
Meanwhile, the US military is lowering the standards for joining the US military to allow more felons, drug users and drop outs.
Thank god we are over there fighting for freedom and democracy. Unfortunately its the racist US military's idea of 'freedom' and 'democracy'. 'Freedom' is Jim Crow freedom of the 1940's south, and democracy means you jump when we say jump and you shut up when we say shut up. Meanwhile we just kill anyone who gets too close to a convoy or a checkpoint, or who just looks at us funny.
Is it any wonder they want us out of their country?
collidingrivers August 4th, 2007 3:41 pm "... how many female troops are being raped on their way to the latrine at night- by our own troops!"
I believe every word of this. Please share your source(s)
Thanks,
Democracy in action!
It is this type of restriction that explains American lack of understanding of other cultures.
I do believe its to keep the Iraqis safe from the rectal cranial inversions from our culture. We all know what a american mens room looks like. Isn't the rule of US law only subjected to government employees?
As far as back in the red, white and blue of the U.S.of A -
Remember that if ONE GROUP is being discriminated against it does or will include ALL GROUPS, minority and otherwise -- blacks, gays, women, disabled persons..... and so on, and peoples' beliefs in regards to religion, homosexuality, and marital status or choice, political belieft ....and on and on. If you're not in a 'minority group' now, you may be in the future. Ever been in a car accident?
Civil Rights looks GREAT - in PRINT, pages in dusty manuals, on some office shelf. Used in appearance but unused in (actual) practice. But following and enforcing them takes it to a level that often doen't happen.
Besides the Civil Rights Act, additionally with the more recent 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, discrimination occurs. Even within the chief staff of the "Human Resources," so dutifully named, department of our local government. If SMALL TOWN gov't 'leadership' don't even follow their own policies and laws in regards to equal treatment of people, how can the mighty and powerful FEDERAL GOV'T be expected to?
'...Marquez wrote. "We screen all our local nationals working and living in the FOB, however, you can never know what's in their mind."
--what's in their mind????!!!! Probably their families, their own lives, maybe something they saw on tv. Who cares? How is this relevant?
"Other soldiers traced the regulations to what they called cultural differences between the Iraqis and the Americans."
--cultural dfferences??? In the US we are a 'melting pot' or a 'mixed salad' of many people, with many different beliefs, from many different cities/states/countries. The salad doesn't taste good with just lettuce in it. It needs carrots, green peppers, onions and radishes.
But then, if paid US staff treats someone different from themselves in their OWN country, how can we expect them to treat people equally ABROAD?
If armed forces and armed hitmen, oops, contract hires, can't stand the sights and smells of a human bathroom, oh, gosh, I'm confused. How the hell can they POSSIBLY TOLERATE all the freshly dead and long-since dead bodies that they come accross? And the MASS CARNAGE that goes along with war?
Ah, the little perks that come w/ imperialism.
This is old news, minor stuff, contrasted with all the needless death and destruction; however, what IS news, concerning the latrines in Iraq, is how many female troops are being raped on their way to the latrine at night- by our own troops! So fearful are they of such attacks, some women are drinking less water, and there have even been deaths due to dehydration for this reason. Women in Iraq, from the US, or those that live there, face worse abuses than before the war- thanks, Bush.
Well whats new, first it was the native Americans they are the red skins genocid that got us the land next the niggers that got us capitalism then it was the gooks in Korea that got us invesment then on to latin America that got us invesment in resources minerials and fruits on to Vietnam they were the Buda Heads now its the ragheads in Iraq and all others in the middle-East that will get us much control of the oil. It's a way of life ,Corperate life.
Well well,__ the be-knighted___ "Sir" Melvin Cleo-puss has arrived. He gives us his words of wisdom.
This is the same jackass, who last week wrote that JEWS were all a bunch of dung and they should ALL have their hooked noses removed and replaced, so they wouldn't be so ugly.
Thank you "sir", for crawling out and telling us Americans what crap we are. Go peddle your high horse slop someplace where you will be in good company. Try North Korea.
Lest the house ragheads get too uppity.
Hey! They asked Clarence Thomas and he said 'seperate but equal' is OK.
Bigotry in the armed forces?
Without proof, military targets man assumed to be gay
by Julie A. Weisberg
After enduring months of homophobic harassment and slurs, a decorated soldier with an exemplary service record may have been targeted for dismissal by his Army superiors because they think that he is gay. PFC Christopher Mastromarino, pictured, a military policeman and member of the Army's prestigious Old Guard -
http://pageoneq.com/news/2007/Without_proof_military_targets_man_assumed_to_0803.html
It goes "against everything the US stands for" ??!!
The US leadership stands for endless greed & hoarding of resources, deception, racism, merciless & mindless exploitation of human, animal and other resources.
Part of the US Military strategy is to dehumanize whoever they're invading, killing, maiming, robbing &/or raping. That makes it easier for the young heroes (unthinking soldier boys) to follow the orders of their "superiors".
Soldiers are conditioned/taught to view Iraqis as less significant than dogs. The US press frequently mentions the death toll of US troops in Iraq (less than 4,000) but never discusses the 800,000 + Iraqis who've been killed (thanks to the US invasion) or the 1 million+ Iraqi people who've been crippled for life.
The bastards in the pentagon apparently learned from vietnam - that it does not serve their interests to count the number of so called enemies that are killed.
Oh so the U.S. Military are racists against the people of Iraq. Does not surprise me in the least. One more example of illustrating how cruel "The West" is. Separate bathrooms for U.S. military and Iraqis and third world people implies racism. Seems whoever created this policy care not to accept the true intention of it. That's nice...
Iraqis were educated people, prior to 2003 of course. Not anymore (courtesy of paranoid, greedy, vengeful, scapegoating Americans). I am sure the people of Iraq are familiar with toilets and general plumbing. Signs explaining what each bathroom device is for is all that is needed. Now perhaps there were some Iraqis who pooped in the shower, but that is minor compared to Americans turning Iraq into a nuclear waste dump. Besides, the U.S. military are guests in Iraq fighting "terrorists over there so they won't fight them here." After all, Iraq became a sovereign nation after their first so-called Democracy election.
"I don't understand having separate bathrooms. It seems to go against everything that the United States stands for."
Um, see "saywhat's" post above mine.
It fits perfectly.
Jim Crow strikes again.
Are we winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people or are the displays of our alleged superiority pushing them away?
Do they have to ride on the back of the bus?
These are the same reasons given for racial segregation in America not all that long ago. It's a good thing we have Brown v. Board of Ed to protect from this sort of thing repeating. Oh, that's right. I forgot about this term's SCOTUS rulings. Never mind.
It does as it's told or it gets the hose.....
No nasty, hairy Iraqi butts on our latrines! Why doesn't this surprise me? Its the Army and its "raghead" idiot culture....
If the Americans weren't in Iraq, the signs wouldn't be necessary.
I enjoy reading Un-Common-Dreams comments, I don't always agree with everything written. This is the first time I ever read anything that negative about his/her comments; what does FO mean? Is it nice or what?
Never mind,___ I know.