An amazing youtube of an American officer berating a group of Iraqi policemen, apparently last month, calling them "women" for the fact that they won't take on the Mahdi militia. All his rage must be translated into Arabic by a soldier at his side:
"You love seeing Americans die for your fucking country, you won't die for it yourself. I don't see your ass in my hometown."
The only response to this video is that it's tragic. An American is placed in a terrible situation, so are all these Iraqis. And they have been placed there by our disastrous decision, which was pushed by Paul Berman, David Brooks, and all the other armchair interventionists who thought they could install democracy in an Arab country that was hostile to us. None of them is now in this officer's position.
Note that the officer accuses many of the police officers of being collaborators. But he talks to them nonetheless. We are also happy to forgive the Mahdi army all its alleged terrorist activities if it will just become a political actor. The same obviously applies to talking to Hamas. (Thanks to Nabil al-Khowaiter).
