Those are Marines. Can you please correct that in the description, Farhad?
[Edit] Thanks

*Military, and also *NSFW because they use the F-bomb quite noticeably one time.

This video has been flagged as being Not Suitable For Work - declared nsfw by kronosposeidon.

Adding video to channels (Military) - requested by kronosposeidon.

this is what happens when you drive armoured vehicles through somebody else's country after bombing them for 10 years.

Gunrock, please take this the right way... i want to ask... are marines really this goofy? no offence intended, it just seems like they are mucking about on some kind of school trip to paris. can you fill in some context here?

Leveling Tehran would probably cut the number of IEDs to zero.

Leveling Teheran would most likely turn the whole planet into an IED...

...and I know, I shouldn't feed the trolls...

MINK:

I haven't had much experience with Marines but I've seen the US Army in action quite a bit and I have to say it's pretty par for the course. They're mostly late teens/early twenties and as most young men do when you get a critical mass of them they act like frat boys. With the added bonus that at least the ACTUAL frat boys passed High School for the most part.

How many intelligent people have you met who joined the US military as an enlisted rank (non officer)? The ones I knew could barely read and write.

P.S. This is not a dis of the US soldiers, it is rather a state of affairs brought about by a highly biased education system and a policy of quantity over quality in recruitment and low wages. Instead of putting the money into training and better wages the US military establishment would rather spend the money on implausible technologies that might maybe one day be somewhat better than useless because that is where the big donations come from for the politicians.

MINK, Not at all! But could you please elaborate some more? I'd be more than glad to answer any of your questions!

Drachen_Jager: Please inform yourself before making asinine comments like that. P.fuckingS. or not, your comment was a direct insult to all members of the military, and to myself.
Now, I'm not telling you that there aren't less than intelligent people in the military, or that recruitment standards haven't gone down. But you basically said that most people in the military are not high school graduates. I'll have you know that you can not get into the Marine Corps without a high shcool diploma. There are people in the military that are intelligent, and there are even college graduates that go enlisted. But for the most part, the people in the military are your average person, no less intelligent than your "frat boy."

That was a smaller IED. Apparently its 'getting safer' in Iraq.

^Wtf was that supposed to mean?
Excuse the fuck out of me, but when was the last time an IED went off near you? What's that? Never? I thought so. The next time you fear for your life on a daily basis, you may make comments like that. Until then, STFU.

It means you have lost your ability to sense sarcasm MGR.
Here let me spell it out for you so you don't feel so affronted next time.
Basically, the Bush Administration would have us believe that things are getting better/safer in Iraq. What Honkeytonk73 is doing here is riffing on the fact that the explosion in this video appears to be smaller(therefore safer...geddit?) than some of the other IEDs that can be seen exploding on youtube.

I just don't take things like that lightly.

Eh, yeah... you have to have a high school diploma to get in the military. Also, plenty of military from all branches are enrolled in online universities working to get a degree while deployed. Soldiers and Marines tend to "act goofey" as a stress reliever. Being dead pan serious all day long would drive you insane. Besides, they didn't really do anything that crazy. They were just joking around with each other in the truck.

Well, as far as the goofing around - I really didn't see much. It's all like Lurch said - and you will find that most troops wave to the locals.

I'm sure the locals really appreciate their invaders taking the time to wave at them

Actually, they do. Most Iraqis don't see us as "invaders". Don't believe everything you see on Tv.

I think you'll find you've got that statement backwards. Don't believe everything YOU see on TV.

Hmm. How about this: I've fucking been there, so I probably know more than the reporters.

hmmm, how about this. My girlfriend is an Iraqi expat and we have Iraqi and Iranian friends. I'm pretty sure their opinion of what is going on in their country trumps someone who was part of the illegal invasion (no inverted commas needed since by international law this statement is correct).

Or how about Iraqis are regular people just like citizens of any other country. Not all of them have identical opinions. I've seen plenty that would agree with Gunrock and myself, you know people that agree with you. It's like saying every American has the exact same thought process.

ok ok it's understandable that gunrock would feel affronted.

my own experience of the military is as a cadet in the RAF, and I was always surprised how ... erm... professional they were. The british stiff upper lip was well preserved. Sure, they joked around, but if they were driving past some random cars in Iraq, I would expect them to quit goofing off.

So from gunrock, all i wanted was some kind of reason why they might be expected to be relaxed at that point, are they in a "safe" area? is it that they drive past so many cars that don't explode they dropped their guard? I just was struck by how casual they were. Are they always this casual? Is it the only way to deal with the pressure?

and yes, i know joking around is a good way to relieve the enormous physical and emotional strain of being in someone else's country risking your life... it's just, well, this seemed so casual. "hi guys! salam a fuckin laikum, woohoo" BANG.

I'd just like to add that it wasn't a vehicle exploding in that video, or at least I can't see any vehicle next to them. That was most likely a roadside IED buried in the reeds they were driving past. Also VBIEDs tend to be packed with much more explosive material and would probably have destroyed the truck and everyone in it, including the camera.

I don't know what an Iraqi expert is, but what I do know that I've gotten more smiles than middle fingers.
That being said, MINK:

They really didn't appear to be goofing off too much, but what would you rather them do? crouch down behind the armor? If the Iraqi people, whenever they us US troops, just saw mean and cold-looking people, they might believe the propaganda that Marines do in fact eat babies. (Which I have to say is the most bad-ass stereotype I've ever been labeled with )

He meant expat, like expatriate. I had to double take to make sure it didn't say expert as well.

Ah, well in that case, their opinion doesn't trump shit. I think hundreds or thousands of smiles trump one person's opinion any day.

Yea I'd smile and be friendly to a bunch of thugs with rifles too.
Dumbass.

Good job with the personal attacks and generalizations. Really helps your arguement. You're entitled to your opinion of course. Reasoning for the war and all the political non-sense aside, all soldiers and Marines on the ground are not murderers, rapists, and thugs. I've worked with Iraqi civilians, ex-military, and all types when I was there. Lots of them were friendly and wanted to talk. I was told over and over again by some how they were glad we came. I heard stories from ex-soldiers about how they served against their will and were praying for us to cross the border so they could be free from Saddam. I brought toys and candy for children, helped in building projects, and even went fishing with an Iraqi construction worker. Of course this doesn't cover every single person over there, but they exist and there are plenty of them. I never had people cowering in fear because of my presence. I had people glad to see me. The people planting IED's like this go beyond just attacking because we're on their soil. They drive car loads of explosives into a crowd of children just to kill the soldier handing out pencils.

Oh don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with overthowing the odd dictator. Nobody is saying that the Iraqis aren't happy that Saddam is gone. But lets be honest now, the invasion of Iraq was only about Saddam in 2003 and even then Saddam was only a pre/subtext. The reality now is that the US is in Iraq for its own interests, not the iraqi peoples. No amount of handing out sweets and helping to build things that never get used is going to fool the majority of iraqis into thinking you're there to help them.

Clearly you just don't get it. It is extremely easy to tell the difference between a genuine and a forced smile. When I was there, I spent about a month escorting the Iraqi contractors that were hired to build up our base. When they broke for lunch, I would sit aside and pick away at my MRE. I would watch them put up an impromptu tent for shade, and lay out massive quantities of food. They would then invite me to sit down with them and would share their food with me.

Have you ever stopped to think that maybe all this "They hate us and want us out" shit is propaganda? Propaganda didn't go away with WWII, you know. I'm not saying every one of them want us there, but I would say that the good majority of people do.

And thanks for the personal attacks. Those always make your argument unbeatable.

Well, arguing the politics of the war is an entirely different matter than generalizing soldiers and Marines as thugs. Politics have been argued on this site to complete exhaustion and I don't really mind other people's opinions. I just take offense when someone comes on here and puts down the military as dumb, crazy, or <insert insult here>.

why? Calling a spade a spade is what life is all about. Militaries are hired thugs. Goons for hire. Whether it's for a contractor or a government it's all just violence for hire. Trying to pretend that it's all peaceful, well meaning/intentioned shenanigans is for the morons who've swallowed the propaganda pill. You don't defend your country by invading another. That is propaganda. And in this case you don't defend your country by invading a country that had nothing to do with the attack in the first place.
They hate you and want you out because you have invaded their country and are now systematically stealing/locking away their wealth.
Don't take my word for it. Take the iraqis word for it. You don't have to search to hard to find opinion polls about it.

Oh and MGR my argument is unbeatable because it has the benifit of being right.

Well, that's your opinion. You can be as arrogant as you want about it, but I still disagree. If no one made the choice to serve as a "goon for hire" then there would be no one to fight for your right to sound like such an asshole. I'm not saying that somehow by association being in Iraq is defending your freedom, I'm saying that's the main function of our military. Again, politics of the war aside, I'm not arguing that we should be there or that every soldier leaves a rainbow in his wake. I'm just saying people like you that think all soldiers are thugs are completely full of shit. That's all. What's your profession? Would it be fair to say that everyone you work with is identical and shares the exact same values and mindset? No, it wouldn't... Would it be fair to say that all police officers are amoral goons establishing a dictatorship because you saw a video clip of one cop tasing someone? No, it wouldn't. Contrary to whatever you think, young men and women do not enlist in the military with dreams of becoming henchmen. By your logic, everyone that's served in the American military in any capacity throughout history is no better than a common gang member. To that, I say you are an ass.

No one is fighting for my right to sound like an asshole. If anything it's you who is the asshole because you are fighting an illegal war. Defending your country is exactly what your military is for. My point which you seem incapable of seeing, is that you are not defending anything.

As for the rest of your comment. Please spare me your strawmen. We are talking about iraq, not police or the history of the American Military.

I joined the military before the war began. I served my 4 years and now I am out. I did not re-enlist to continue. Once again, I did not say that we are defending your freedom by being in Iraq if you bothered to actually read what I wrote. I said, like you, that the purpose of the military is defending our country. That is why I dislike your generalization that all soldiers are thugs. You said yourself that all militaries are hired thugs. Violence for hire. It's not a strawman to point out that your logic can be applied to anyone else. You're grouping a vast number of people with a wide range of jobs into a criminal category. Everyone in the military is not a brainwashed monster. Once again I'll state that I couldn't care less about your political opinions or arguing your backwards logic on whats legal. I want you to recognize that soldiers and Marines are not all thugs and goons for hire. Judging by the tone you've been taking so far, that's not likely to happen. But I will not sit here quietly and read that kind of ignorance without a challenge.

Whatever Fade. I'm done trying to argue against idiocy. That's all fine though, because if your country was ever invaded, the first people you'd go crying to is the military. If I happened to be the one you came crying to to defend you, I would. Simply because that's what I swore to do. That, and I'm just a better person than you.

ad hom from both sides... classy!

anyway ignoring that, i was intrigued by the "i've seen thousands of smiles" thing.

i mean, there's millions of people who wrongly support the war or in the short term think it's a good thing, but that doesn't make it right.

i could go to america and find millions of bush supporters, but that doesn't make bush a good president.

and no gunrock, people tend not to flip the bird at american soldiers occupying their country. for a start they don't even have the bird in their culture, and you might find they have a different opinion behind closed doors when the US Army isn't within 10 metres holding a big gun. Am i right?

Being a soldier "on the ground" might actually obscure the truth from you, rather than give you more qualification to say things about the war.

I'm sure this isn't exactly what you were trying to say, but here's how it came across to me. Soldiers opinions don't count because what they see is a front and only people that already agree with you can be trusted. I've seen the way news is reported from Iraq for the most part. I was even approached once and asked to do specific things for the camera to help make a story. You can see why I'm mostly skeptical of news coverage. I know it's a war and everything is not all roses and rainbows, but it's not all rape and murder either. I was constantly asked by people I knew, or even strangers while passing through an airport in uniform, what it was like to be deployed. The majority of people had these perceptions already drilled into their heads of all kinds of horrifying things going on that I had just never seen or even heard of. It was unreal. It was like anything I told them was fake because it didn't match what they already knew to be true. Some people even approached me privately later on and asked if I was lying to supress the horrors I experienced. That kind of stuff makes me irate. Different opinions are fine. Suggesting I'm a liar or saying I'm a thug are not.

As for flipping the bird, Iraqis actually give a thumbs up instead with basically the same meaning. Not in exactly the same way someone giving a happy thumbs up in the US would do it, but same basic thing.