Those doofuses.

The armor isn't air conditioned -- it's the molded platinum *substructure* that's cooled by inverse thermo-osmosis.

Everything else is true, though.

So.... exactly why should we dispel these beliefs? It seems to me that it might help protect our troops.

DarthBrooks: The armor isn't air conditioned -- it's the molded platinum *substructure* that's cooled by inverse thermo-osmosis. Everything else is true, though.

CIWS is pretty damn cool to watch in action.

well, you can't see bullets in-flight, and they do possess a huge amount of kinetic energy, so the invisible force field thing is true.

maybe we are testing new tech's over there..
after all we tried agent orange on the Vietnamese .
we tested "depleted Uranium" are the Iraqies the first time around.
so who knows...

//tin foil adjusted.

Inshallah is common to Christianity too. They just calls it "God's will" instead of the same thing translated into Arabic.

Wow that was a sad, sad article.

The Moslems.

/I,m lovin' it!

The slow blade penetrates the shield!

the spice must flow

DarthBrooks: The armor isn't air conditioned -- it's the molded platinum *substructure* that's cooled by inverse thermo-osmosis.

It's the way we wear our still-suits
(and use our inner monologues)


Weaver95: the spice must flow

you beat me

My time at the skunk works tell me 2 of those 3 things are not just possible, but deployable for at least officers.

/though most iraqis believe in god also, so these ideas aren't based on our actual tech, just like more than half of Americans believe in ghosts, angels, and David Caruso

Perhaps they have found out about the military version of These (pop) I want me some of them.

SphericalTime: Inshallah is common to Christianity too. They just calls it "God's will" instead of the same thing translated into Arabic.

At least Christianity has the belief of "God helps those who help themselves." Yes I know that quote is from the 1757 Poor Richard's Almanac, but it embodies the general belief.

Of course you do have some who genuinely believe that god will provide everything if you ask hard enough.

Getting back to the Middle East, Inshallah partially explains their generally poor marksmanship skills.

They also discover that the cause of this, and many other Arab problems, is the concept of "inshallah" ("If God wills it.") This is a basic tenet of Islam, although some scholars believe the attitude preceded that religion. In any event, "inshallah" is deadly when combined with modern technology. For this reason, Arab countries either have poorly maintained infrastructure and equipment (including military stuff), or import a lot of foreigners, possessing the right attitudes, to maintain everything.

If you want a good read on the Arab militaries, here is a good article.

Why Arabs Loose Wars (new window)

Crosshair: Why Arabs Loose Wars (new window)

LOSE ! ! ! It's LOSE not LOOSE ! ! !

/pet peeve

And yet they've still managed to fight us to a standstill.

Saborlas: And yet they've still managed to fight us to a standstill.

The military was defeated almost instantly. Now we fight guerillas.

Approves.

/obscure?

Most excellent, use the disinformation to spread fear about our powerful great satan's beloved country!


Kinda reminded me about Star wars, when one kid made a comment that jedi never dies, and the jedi replies that he wishes it was that way.

trouzourt: maybe we are testing new tech's over there..
after all we tried agent orange on the Vietnamese .
we tested "depleted Uranium" are the Iraqies the first time around.
so who knows...

//tin foil adjusted.

heeey this is also what I thought of when I RTFA! *high fives* so are we meeting in your mom's basement or mine? :-D

Benevolent Misanthrope: Saborlas: And yet they've still managed to fight us to a standstill.

The military was defeated almost instantly. Now we fight kick the shiat out of guerillas.

Those that we find that is. The rest we'll find and kill later. Provided the Iraqi army doesn't get to them first

evildick: So.... exactly why should we dispel these beliefs? It seems to me that it might help protect our troops.

I talked to a man last year that was in military intel. He told a similar story. The Afghans thought we had sent robot soldiers because of the facemasks and after watching a couple guys take rounds and get back up due to kevlar vests.

He said that brass wanted to dispel those myths and so made soldiers take off the sunglasses and face shields. I thought it was a pity we didn't promote the invincible supersoldier meme, but I guess the idea is to win hearts and minds.

<shrug> Americans believe that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.

People believe weird stuff.

They also believed that Saddam owned a blue stone that made him immortal. Didn't work out that well.

Iraqis believe that American troops wear sunglasses that see through clothing, body armor that is air conditioned, and that American military bases are protected by force fields.

I for one welcome our high tech American soldier overlords.

As much as everyone loves to hate on the US, I love that our poor people are fat and our soldiers have magical armor... or at least, the fables to describe our day and age may describe it as such. And that's pretty bad-ass.

/when history becomes myth, print the myth

DamnYankees: Approves.

/obscure?

Boxer rebellion?

...still?

/DRTFA
//Iraq vet who laughed at local Iraqi's when they said this shiat
///Command told us to play along, no joke.

air conditioned?!?

/has been sweating his ass off since 1987!

At least they haven't discovered our Spidey-sense yet

Benevolent Misanthrope: Saborlas: And yet they've still managed to fight us to a standstill.

The military was defeated almost instantly. Now we fight guerillas.



They are pretty tough to take down.

In reality, they are fighting a government that can't even balance its own budget.

AND instigates its own financial demise, seemingly on purpose.

Bases with force fields? How are there no Star Wars references in here yet?

Fano: I talked to a man last year that was in military intel. He told a similar story. The Afghans thought we had sent robot soldiers because of the facemasks and after watching a couple guys take rounds and get back up due to kevlar vests.

He said that brass wanted to dispel those myths and so made soldiers take off the sunglasses and face shields. I thought it was a pity we didn't promote the invincible supersoldier meme, but I guess the idea is to win hearts and minds.

It'll probably also change the mind of people who wanted the robots destroyed to know they're human. I can imagine it's easier to justify shooting a robot than a person.

Reminds me of a Taliban fighter who was captured at the same battle as Lindh. He believed the Joos and Americans invented dinosaurs to eat Muslims.

/Didn't Spielberg did produce Jurassic Park??

Personally, if they believe this kind of stuff, I wonder what other kinds of crazy urban legends are going around there.

davidphogan: Fano: I talked to a man last year that was in military intel. He told a similar story. The Afghans thought we had sent robot soldiers because of the facemasks and after watching a couple guys take rounds and get back up due to kevlar vests.

He said that brass wanted to dispel those myths and so made soldiers take off the sunglasses and face shields. I thought it was a pity we didn't promote the invincible supersoldier meme, but I guess the idea is to win hearts and minds.

It'll probably also change the mind of people who wanted the robots destroyed to know they're human. I can imagine it's easier to justify shooting a robot than a person.

Very true. But we could have terrified their old people into purchasing insurance. The war might have paid for itself.

I'm not sure whether to make a Stargate Atlantis joke or a comic book joke here.

Fluid: Personally, if they believe this kind of stuff, I wonder what other kinds of crazy urban legends are going around there.

I remember getting into a forum war with some dude right at the start of the Iraq war that claimed that Israelis had invented a virus that killed only arabs.

Keep in mind we are generally talking about "backwoods" villagers for the most part. I think.

I believe that Fano is, in fact, Sam Waterston.

bmihura: In reality, they are fighting a government that can't even balance its own budget.

AND instigates its own financial demise, seemingly on purpose.

I weep... at the truth of your words.

Man, I hope they don't find the thermal exhaust port.

Fano: I remember getting into a forum war with some dude right at the start of the Iraq war that claimed that Israelis had invented a virus that killed only arabs.

Dude, I've been working in this for 22 years.

Semitic bloodlines tend to...

oh wait. Did I say that out load?

Don't know much about the above mentioned Tech, except that the US troops don't even have adequate armor, so I'm not sure where that's coming from.

BUT... MANY eye-witnesses in the Middle East have reported the US forces to have tested a very very powerful weapon that melted cars. Eye-witnesses report it looks like fire and lighting together.

That's all I know about it.

I am relatively convinced that whole article was a well written troll for the internet. Such as the whole "insallah" being pre-islamic. What is that based on? The region was largely polytheistic and I've never seen a reputable scholar say anything along that line. And the rest of it just read like some anti-Islam screed written just to point and laugh and go "oh my, look how stupid different people are! haha! They believe stupid things! Thank Goodness we Americans are so much more enlightened!" Blah. Tripe. The whole thing.

LargeCanine: bmihura: In reality, they are fighting a government that can't even balance its own budget.

AND instigates its own financial demise, seemingly on purpose.

I weep... at the truth of your words.

Funny, I wept at the stupidity of his words...

Man On Pink Corner: <shrug> Americans believe that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.

People believe weird stuff.

Not this American! I believe in a Wargod who rides an eight-legged horse who goes out and hunts people from time to time. (When he's not disguised as a beggar, wandering around and punishing you for not giving him swag, of course.) He hangs out with a giant, red-bearded man who pulls a wagon through the sky causing thunder but is none too bright. THAT dude's best fishing buddy was most likely sleeping with thunder dude's wife and runs around causing mischief. That's my favorite one! There's a bunch of other ones, too, but I don't pay any attention to them, really.

So, HA!

/understands some people believe in intelligent pasta products with foul breath

srtpointman: Man, I hope they don't find the thermal exhaust port.

Or the heart plug.

Our patrol area was in Al Daura, in the Al Rashid district of Baghdad. Even though it was pretty hostile area, most of the residents were educated middle class, either retired military officers, or skilled workers employed by the nearby Daura oil refinery.

The only ones who believed in these Urban Legends were what the educated Iraqis referred to as "Shroogies," which is the Arabic equivalent of hillbillies or white trash. Uneducated, superstitious, old-fashioned, and poor Iraqis who immigrated to Baghdad from the rural areas of Iraq.

Most of the locals thought our high-tech gear was pretty neat, but they weren't baffled by it. I was amused when one of the local shopkeepers who developed a serious man-crush on our Lieutenant gave him his MySpace address and asked the LT to add him to his Friends List.

Supposedly, some of the FOBs inside the Green Zone were getting PHALANX-type systems to shoot down incoming mortar rounds and the Chinese 107mm rockets they love to lob onto FOBs. The PHALANX was originally installed on Navy ships to shoot down anti-ship missiles, like the Exocet. It's an automated gatling gun slaved to a radar system, that automatically detects and shoots down incoming missiles.

That might explain the "force field" rumor.

veryequiped: Don't know much about the above mentioned Tech, except that the US troops don't even have adequate armor, so I'm not sure where that's coming from.

2004 called and wants it's TOE back.

scumm: well, you can't see bullets in-flight, and they do possess a huge amount of kinetic energy, so the invisible force field thing is true.

You're not looking at big enough bullets. 155mm rounds can be seen in flight like watching a golf ball being hit off of a tee.

Saborlas: And yet they've still managed to fight us to a standstill.Benevolent Misanthrope: The military was defeated almost instantly. Now we fight guerillas.

The guerrillas seem to be rather scientific (i.e. reproducibility of results, predictability, etc.) in design, placement, and execution of land mines (now knows as IEDs) and ambushes. So, at least some of them understand more than just "God did it".


Article fails to mention that Iraqis believed that American soldiers (82nd Division) had magical powers that allowed them to fly. No parachutes or airplanes needed. I'll have to remember these tricks for my next deployment business trip.