US Marines posed with Nazi "SS" flag in Afghanistan

by dontplaceliterature 38 Replies latest jw friends

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  dontplaceliterature

  I'm not deeply offended, james_woods. It's just embarassing that the people who are primarily responsible for face-to-face contact with civilian Afghan people aren't acting more responsibly than this. In like manner, I am embarassed by gaffes various presidents have made in the past, or the scandals involving our leaders in Congress. That feeling stems from being proud of where I come from and our culture.

  These people are imperfect, and bound to make dumb decisions. I could be guilty of simlar things if put under the same pressure those men are. Still, that doesn't change the negetive impact on our image with the rest of the world.
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  james_woods

  Well, I disagree. I think that the image of a politically correct, sensitive SNIPER OUTFIT is more than just a little bit of an oxymoron.

  I also don't think very many people in Afghanistan would make any kind of Nazi connection with that image.

  Those Afghans that possibly would are already our enemy (AQ, Taliban) and having a different flag is not going to make them our friends.

  Did you think about the effect on the morale of our own unit it would have to school them that their insignia is not politically correct and they need to change it?
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  dontplaceliterature

  I hadn't considerd that, james_woods. It's a good point. But the fact remains that this has been seen with a critical eye by many, which could also be bad for their morale. If they hadn't used it to begin with, the situation would have been averted. Instead, they may get the impression that people don't appreciate the hard work they do when they see negative comments start popping up about this.

  Also, I wouldn't call an "SS" flag "their insgnia" though, because it's not. Much like if it had been a Swastika instead, it wouldn't be "theirs". It would be a borrowed symbol they chose to make themselves look like badasses.
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  james_woods

  Also, I wouldn't call an "SS" flag "their insgnia" though, because it's not.

  Well, not to put too fine an edge on it (because this has already been about done to death) - but that was certainly NOT an SS flag.

  But, it must have been their insignia or else they would not have been displaying it in a group photo.
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  MrFreeze

  People get too offended too easily.
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  kurtbethel

  Symbols get repurposed all the time. Even the swastica was lifted from the Tibetans. They are just that, symbols. They are not the thing they represent at any given time.

  It could be this is a tell that the regime is using to send a message to those in the know.

  It makes Americans look silly to vote for the people who support these policies of war and occupation, and then whine about the outcome. 99% of American voters supported war and conquest, and now they have it. These boys properly put their flag BELOW the USA flag, so nothing to complain about here.

  And Outlaw,
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  james_woods

  People get too offended too easily.

  True, but Don'tPlaceLiterature does not seem to be unreasonable about this. To me, it is about as meaningful as calling the Dukes of Hazzard racists and slave-promoters because they had the Dixie flag on the roof of the General Lee...
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  botchtowersociety

  But, it must have been their insignia or else they would not have been displaying it in a group photo.

  I do not believe that is their official insignia.

  This is the insignia of the Charlie Company of which they are a part:

  which is part of the 1st Recon Battalion:

  

  which is a Marine Recon division:

  

  and part of 1 Marine Expeditionary Force:

  

  and the 1st Marine Division:

  

  garrisoned at Camp Pendleton:

  BTS
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  cofty

  I can understand a young unit not making the connection to the SS. The colours are different and the lightning has strong links to their own ID

  For some reason though we still tolerate holocaust denier Sinis using the SS flag as his avatar.
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  straightshooter

  I personally feel that posing in front of the Nazi symbol just degrades the world's opinion of the U.S.