Originally posted by Th_m_s:
Could it be possible that the video is staged or faked for propaganda purposes? It seems like something was wrong with the voices and accents.


I definitely had that thought. The soliders look caucasian, though, but that alone doesn't make it impossible. The cameraman sounds like he has a screw loose... as if he was trying a little too hard to sound like an enraged American. And who's to say the guys getting beat up were kids? I certainly couldn't tell that from the vid.

But I suspect the most simple explanation is true... soldiers caught a few protesters and decided to teach them a lesson.

I disagree that the beatdown was acceptable conduct. We're supposed to be setting the moral example over there, not helping the radicals make their case against us. Would have been much better if the soldiers had taken the protesters into custody and dealt with them in private.

Of course I understand how the stress of working in a combat zone makes events like this inevitable. But unfortunately that's irrelevant to the Iraqis who are losing faith in us by seeing footage like this.

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