AP Photo
Fouth (sp) Infantry Division soldiers from the 1st Battalion 68 Armor Regiment detain and put sandbags on the heads of all the men of the village of Mishahdah, Iraq 45 kilometers north of Baghdad Sunday, July 13, 2003. The dawn search mission was part of Operation Ivy Serpent which began Sunday, an attempt to root out and eliminate pro-Saddam insurgents who have been firing rocket-propelled grenades on American vehicle convoys and launching mortar attacks on U.S. bases.
Our guys are rounding up the entire male poplulation of an Iraqi village, putting sandbags on their heads (in 115+ degree heat) and using one of the prisoners as a photo op prop.
I know these soldiers are young - maybe too young to fully understand protocol. But if you were an Iraqi, what would go through your mind seeing this? To put it in perspective, how would you feel if Iraqis took our kids, put sandbags over their heads and took pictures like this? Infuriated?
Point made (vis a vis winning hearts and minds).
