Are American Soldiers considered bad?

Question

Dont freak out on me here, I have nothing against soldiers following orders, Im just interested in what peoples perception on the troops are... Someone just asked are German soldiers considered bad and some people brought up nazism, do you think countries will look at american soldiers in a similar fashion because of the war in iraq? Im not comparing americans to nazis - i mean will people hold a grudge in years to come because of what america is doing now?

oh boy... well at the risk of sounding 'uninformed' as one user put it - theres no way that the war in iraq was for the iraqi peoples benefit. GWB put WMDs as the reason for going to war - not to remove a dictator. And if america really is the policeman of the globe then why has this country taken action in darfur or sudan or zimbabwe? Im not even going to get into the fact that Saddam's regime was sponsored by previous US governments, but it seems that the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the iraqi people has been squandered by the administrations rush for a propoganda coup. Yes saddam was a brutal dictator, but no genocide was occuring at the time that the war started - we were 15 years too late to stop that.

Looking at a different conflict - the genocide in serbia, despite mistakes america worked with an international coalition under the UN to put an end to genocide - an amazing acheivement and one which americans should be proud of...

...but the war in Iraq has disrupted what was a stable country and decended it into bloodshed - so back to my question - what effect will this have on peoples opinion of american troops? no political rhetoric, what do you think the world will think of them? liberators? Forign invaders? Unwilling pawns? common, serious debate please not the same old patriotic mud fight.

Answer 1

Talk about people being "brain-washed".
Right now, what good the US is doing is far outweighed by the evil.
The U.S. is responsible for many of the problems we face today. It put Saddam in power to counter Soviet influence in Iraq. It drove the insurgents from Afghanistan, then left, allowing them to return; now we are in a battle to remove them again.
These are examples of U.S. political interference in other sovereign nations to suit its agenda. It is not charged for these interferences. Why? The countries that it interferes with are the ones that suffer, not the U.S.


By The Associated Press
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Eight marines were charged Thursday in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians last year in a bloody, door-to-door sweep that came after one of their comrades was killed by a roadside bomb.
In the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths in the Iraq war, four of the marines were charged with unpremeditated murder in the killings in the town of Haditha.
The other four charged were officers who were not there but were accused of failures in investigating and reporting the deaths, the U.S. Marine Corps said.
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, 26, a squad leader, was charged with the unpremeditated murder of 18 civilians, including six people inside a house members of his squad cleared with deadly force. Wuterich also was charged with one count each of making a false official statement and soliciting another sergeant to make false official statements.
What about homicides? Deaths while being interrogated, and homicide listed as the cause of death by American medical examiners? Could some of these be torture, even though America is not ruled by a dictator? Here's a report from Human Rights Watch April 2006, and another from September 2005. Also here's a freedom of information request on some homicides. You won't like the website, but the infor is from the federal gov't. Just read the left column that says cause of death. There were more than 30 as of March 2005, several soldiers have been prosecuted and dishonorably discharged already.

Human Rights Watch - Torture - Abuse of Detainees - Iraq - Afghanistan April 2006
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/ct0406/...

"New Accounts of Torture by US Troops" Sept. 25, 2005 http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/09/...

Autopsies Reveal Homicides of Detainees and Prisioners in US Custody in Iraq, as of March, 2005 Freedom of Information Act Request
http://action.aclu.org/torturefoia
Mon Aug 7, 10:59 AM
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. military court in Baghdad heard graphic testimony on Monday of how three U.S. soldiers took turns raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl before murdering her and her family.

The US and it's military are seen in a different light in different places.

Answer 2

First, we only put an end to the genocide in the former Yugoslavia after most of it was over, Hundreds of thousands of people were dead because th international community was slow to respond to the situation in the balkans, I really dont see what American soldiers are doing in Iraq as a bad thing, or why people would hold a grudge against American soldiers for they have commited no war crimes at all, except perhaps minor infractions that are overplayed in the media. Nor do I see how one could blame the German soldier for the attrocities of the Nazi regime, for they played little part in it, and like it or not they did fight very well for six years, but you must not mistake my words as support for the crimes the Germans committed, im just saying that you can not blame the average soldier for the whims of a madman, and the crimes carried out by his thugs.

Just my point, a couple rapes, and shooting of a small number of civilians is rather restrained for a counterinsurgency, shall we discuss what the Russians did in Afghanistan?

Answer 3

You haven't really presented any evidence, other than your own biased assertions. Also what is on parole together, does it involve going down to the local probation office with them or do you mean patrol. The Australians have recently announced their withdrawal from Iraq and only have a very small force in Afghanistan, whilst British and American soldiers have different areas of responsibility in Iraq, the British being centered around Basra. In Afghanistan, the British Army do cooperate within a joint NATO Framework, and I am sure most British Soldiers would be more than happy to patrol with American Troops or indeed any Allied troops offering to back them up. The British Army has no problem reguarly going out on Patrol with the Aghan Army or Iraqi Police and are unlikely have any problem patrolling with Americans. Indeed British and American troops have traditionally had a good working relationship dating back to WW2. Finally a significant proportion of blue on blue friendly fire incidents have involved the USAF and not ground troops, with more modern communication equipment and new technology now helping to lessen the possibility of such friendly fire incidents.

Answer 4

The troops are good people! The politics that tell the troops what to do is not always good. That is where the doubt comes in. NEVER the troops.

We are just doing our jobs. We don't make up the orders, we just follow them.

Some people talk badly about the military because of what have been told to do and are involved in. This anger should be directed towards the people who are making all hte big decisions (like the president and other such political figures)

Answer 5

To be frank friend the truth Is US solders are not trying too kill Iraq's people the they are fighting Nationalist from Syria,Iran and other Muslim country's who come too disrupt Iraq's process of Government they even threaten people too fight for there side by kidnapping family's members In order too get what they want.Some of these so called Imam thinking they can take power for themselves by claiming they are real holy person are a bunch of thieves and backstabers.Little that some people know there is a lot of corruption not by the US side but also the Iraq's side.

Answer 6

I don't think that the American soldier will be condsidered "bad". They are just doing their job although there was not justification to invade Iraq and it was not approved by the UN.

I don't think that the American people in general will be looked upon favourably in the world because of this illegal invasion. It WAS the US government and not the people but all Americans will feel the repercussions.

Answer 7

If people start looking at American soldiers like they're Nazis, the world has fallen into a situation where what people think of our troops are the least of your worries.

Anyone holding a grudge about what America is doing now is either uninformed or America's enemy. I am assuming you fall under the uninformed group?

Answer 8

I doubt it, the only ones that will hold anything against the soliders are the enemy. Keep in mind that through out history, the United States has been the police of the world, and the world is used to that. Now I don't agree that we need to be the police of the world, but that is just my oponion, but everyone knows that the US will always go assist the weaker countries, even if that country does not thank us.

Answer 9

I do not think the US, Soldiers, are bad. What about the IED?
that have killed many US, Soldiers. My close friend is in Iraq
and is training the Iraqi police, He is one the good guys.

Answer 10

The American soldier is the best trained and equipped soldier the world has ever seen. The American military is the best in the world. There is no close second.