If you watch the video closely, you can clearly see the bullet holes in the hood and windshield of this taxi. Don't know what the actual story is (car ran a checkpoint? abandoned by owner?) but obviously its not as simple as the "Evil army dudes run over some guy's car." When and where was this shot? Was there a curfew on vehicle traffic imposed on that day?

Looks like there was room to go around the car.

Umm, even if there are bullet holes in the windshield and the hood, does that mean that the vehicle should be totaled? Last I heard, windshields and hoods can be replaced. Besides, I'm sure there are many bullet-riddled vehicles in Iraq whose owners did absolutely nothing wrong.

"Was there a curfew on vehicle traffic imposed on that day?" you ask.
Is there a specifically ordained rule that says all cars out during curfew will be summarily crushed?

It's a senseless act of destruction. It's like when little boys stomp on ant hills. This is not the act of professional soldiers. It's the act of juvenile delinquents with a $60 million piece of hardware.

I have the utmost respect for our men and women in uniform who behave honorably in the course of duty. I'm all for giving the benefit of the doubt too. However the giddy behavior of these soldiers, combined with the fact that they backed over the vehicle after they had already crushed it, leads me to believe that they are behaving no better than hooligans.

They really have to stop posting videos like this, as it will probably be used as evidence at a hearing.

Notice the locals in the background watching and learning what we're really all about. No wonder the world hates america.

Also remember, the ghetto trash who thought this was funny as hell will very soon be coming to a neighbothood near you, grunting: "you wan fries wit dat?" or "welcum ta home depo" or if this war economy under bush continues - "spare change?"

i wish everyday that the chinese were occupying the u.s, and their folks from the streets and the hoods were controlling the streets of the u.s heavily armoured. i guess then the americans finally would spend a minute,or two, thinkin about what they have, and are doing to other people.

Sometimes I am so ashamed of being an American, with idiots like this around the world representing us. Get them out of there already!

>> ^kronosposeidon:
Umm, even if there are bullet holes in the windshield and the hood, does that mean that the vehicle should be totaled? Last I heard, windshields and hoods can be replaced. Besides, I'm sure there are many bullet-riddled vehicles in Iraq whose owners did absolutely nothing wrong.

The answer to your question is a resounding "Yes." Abandoned vehicles are IEDs waiting to happen. In fact, there's an article you can read right here that talks about the army's effort to improve safety around Baghdad by removing abandoned vehicles: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2006/09/mil-060901-usia01.htm

If I had to guess, what happened here is that the vehicle was scheduled to be removed/destroyed anyway and the soldiers just had some fun with it first. I'm mostly amused by also a little puzzled by your reaction to this vid. Sure, there are examples of American soldiers behaving badly on the Internet. But there are far more examples of American soliders doing great things in Iraq, such as this gentleman for instance: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnlyinAmerica/story?id=609346&page=1

But of course, a guy adopting a disabled boy doesn't make nearly as a good of a Sift, now does it?

*dark

Adding video to channels (Dark) - requested by Krupo.

Gundam:

First of all, if they thought it had an IED in it, would it be wise to drive over it?
Second of all, if they didn't think it had an IED in it, how good does it look to the Iraqi population for American soldiers to have "some fun" with it by driving a tank over it? Even if they were going to tow it away later, it looks like shit. If the streets of America were being occupied by a foreign invader, how happy would you be to see your neighbor's car being crushed by a tank, even if they were going to tow it away later?

Besides, towing is a generally ittle more difficult after a vehicle has been crushed. But boys will be boys, right? Except they are NOT boys; they're soldiers. They need to act like professionals, because when they don't it only disgraces their uniform and their country.

I am a little puzzled by your reaction, Gundam. Are you saying that I don't support the troops because I show a video of some unprofessional behavior? Is it asking too much for our soldiers to not act like children?

I was simply trying to point out the conclusions you jump to with no evidence in this vid:

1) This cab belongs to somebody. I haven't seen anything that shows this isn't an abandoned or confiscated vehicle. Hell for all you know some soldier paid the Iraqis for it just so they could crush it.
2) The Iraqis are upset with the Americans for crushing it. No evidence of that at all in this vid. Hell, if tanks started crushing cars in my neighborhood (where parking is a bitch) they would draw large cheering crowds. As the article I linked to above mentioned, removing abandoned vehicles makes the city safe for both the soldiers AND the citizens since it can no longer be turned into an IED.
3) These soldiers are acting "unprofessional." Again, no evidence here that they didn't have orders to destroy the vehicle. Doesn't mean they can't enjoy destroying it if they have permission, does it?

But for the sake of argument, let's assume they acted on their own and destroyed an abandoned vehicle. Most of these guys have been in-country getting shot at and watching friends get blown up for well over a year. Some have done two or three tours. Saying that it's a stressful job would be an enormous understatement. So in my opinion, I'd say they've earned the right to blow off a little steam as long as they aren't hurting anyone.

Now, if I'm wrong and these guys just went and wrecked somebody's car for the fun of it, then by all means they need to be disciplined. But you've provided nothing here aside from your own assumptions that shows that.

I think this is a great Sift. I just think it could do without all the anti-military commentary since clearly you have no better idea of what's going on here than I do. The only thing either of us have is the vid with no backstory. If you find some info about this incident that shows these soldiers were in fact behaving inappropriately, by all means post it and I'll agree with your comments and upvote.

1. If it is an abandoned or confiscated vehicle, do you think it looks good to the locals to crush it?
2. Do you really think if a conquering army came into your neighborhood and started crushing vehicles that their actions would be met with cheers? Really? If you cheered for it, I'd have to wonder who's side you're on.
If they want to remove abandoned vehicles, fine. Shit, that's what we do here in America with abandoned vehicles. But you know what? The police have them towed away, NOT crushed.
3. Yes, those soldiers are behaving unprofessionally, and you know how I know that? Because the whole world can see this video of them laughing and giggling while they drive over the vehicle AND then back over it for good measure. Not as bad as when that Marine threw a puppy off a cliff, but it still tarnishes the reputation of American armed forces. I can NOT imagine the Iraqi locals positively responding to giggling soldiers crushing a vehicle. Most people in the world also find this to be in bad taste, and many Americans do too. And for every act like this, how many Iraqis say "Fuck it, I'm joining the insurgency." We don't need to create even more enemies over there.

I am NOT anti-military. I served in the military myself. However I AM anti-military-idiocy, which this is to me. The response to the pictures from Abu Ghraib should have sent a clear signal to all the men and women in uniform that they have to behave professionally, ESPECIALLY if you're going to take fucking pictures or videos of your actions. The action depicted in this video is not as bad as Abu Ghraib, but it certainly turns the world against us. And that is very unprofessional.

SDGundamX, you do know all those procedures are of a OCCUPATIONAL force that has INVADED a SOVERIGN NATION under FALSE pretenses imposing CURFEWS, breaking into HOMES, arbitrarily ARRESTING and TORTURING people.

A taxi in the arab world is the most BASIC and the MOST POPULAR means of SURVIVAL. They just DESTROYED someones MEANS to LIVE.

See it from THEIR eyes for ONCE. Maybe then you will understand why they attack US forces still.

God the sheer hypocrisy of explaining any military action through safety procedure for the American troops without any regard to the civilians.

Again, all I see here are massive assumptions on both Farhad's and krono's part. Assumptions for instance that all Iraqi's see us as a conquering army. Maybe I should start making assumptions too, like all black people are criminals or all Germans are Nazis. Apparently I am a hypocrite for asking for more information before coming to a conclusion about this vid, instead of buying into your guys' assumptions.

I can post tons of clips out of context on the Internet and make up any backstory I want too, you know. That doesn't make the backstory true. All I'm asking is for someone to find out and post what really happened here.

So krono, if it turns out this vid is of some soldiers who bought a car off an Iraqi and crushed it for fun while on some downtime, you're telling me that's going to cause someone to go out and join the insurgency? Do you not see how taking this clip completely out of context and making it into something it isn't is just as bad as the crap Fox news pulls every day in its own pro-war spin?

I just want to say again, I'm not against you posting this. I'm against all the assumptions you made when you posted this that you haven't backed up yet with any single shred of evidence.

Hear, hear, Gundamn.

Besides, every tank has a commander - a commissioned officer senior NCO. Any shit that is illegal or wrong, especially if it's being videotaped - will ultimately fall upon his shoulders. So had this been a no-no, surely the Cpl/Sgt would have put a stop to it.

I'm not saying that this couldn't have been illegal, but like Gundam said, for all we know the tank crew all chipped in and bought the car for some fun stress reliever. Don't sit there and tell me that if you went to an airshow or something and they did this there that you wouldn't be giddy if you saw a tank run over a car in real life.

^uhh are you sure about that? or is that how they do it in the USMC? I know in the Army, all the crew is enlisted, with the exception of the PLT leaders tank.