Here’s a description. The shot is from a front-mounted camera. They are driving through a busy street, and give the cars in front of them a little “bump” to get them to pull to the side so they can continue. They continue in this fashion until the traffic gets to a standstill whereupon they go against the flow in the opposite lane to a roundabout and complain about some dude walking through.
Now my initial reaction was…This is really bad. I know that the disconnect between the populace can create a feeling of infamy on the part of the soldiers, but this is really not helping.
On the other hand, they were honking their horn. It may have been in an area where stopping would be very dangerous.
In the end, I realize that there may be no other choice, but it just makes me think that it probably pisses of the locals even more. Just sort of sums up the futility of the whole operation to me. A gigantic population on the sidelines of a civil war, just trying to go about their business getting pissed of by such stuff. Imagine if someone group of foreigners did that to you in your country?
I’d really like someone with experience over there to comment.
I get pissed seeing Hummers on OUR roads. I can’t imagine what it makes Iraqis feel like seeing military-grade versions bullying their way down their roads.
You mean military hummers or civillian hummers? I can understand it with civillian hummers, because they seem like such an obnoxious waste. Why can’t these people buy the “I’m Number One” hat from that will ferrell skit?
I have occasionally seen a “military” Hummer on the roads around here, but the civilianized ones are very common. (Especially now that General Motors has downsized it into H2 and H3 models, for the less extreme prick.) The Iraqis, of course, are seeing larger, militarized ones “bump” their cars.
(Sorry – in your initial post, you asked for comments from people with “experience over there.” I have none, and yet I continue to type!)
I would be really curious as to WHY it was necessary to continually honk the horn (was that wussy horn the actual horn on a Humvee? It sounded like one on a small bug or something), then bump the traffic and drive on the wrong side of the road. Was there an emergency to which they were headed? Or was it just a case of “I’m not sitting in traffic behind these slow drivers”?
Another interesting observation is that cars were moving to the side without being provoked, which makes me wonder if this is a common occurance. “Oh, no, there’s a Humvee in my rearview mirror, I need to immediately move to the side or they will bump the back of my car like all the other American’s in Humvees do!”
This does not look good. As an American, without knowing the (justifiable) reasoning behind this, I’m somewhat embarassed at their actions.
I’d imagine a unit in a Humvee wouldn’t wan’t to stay stuck in traffic much, what with the huge bullseyes painted on them all. RPG target practice at that point.
Also, if I were a driver in Baghdad, and I saw a gigantic RPG target in my rear view mirror, I’d willingly get out of the way so I don’t get caught in the blast.
Yep, that’s the real thing. “meep meep!” I haven’t heard the one they put on the Bradley or the Abrams, but think it sounds more like “ka-BOOM” and is much more effective at getting traffic to pull over.
I seem to recall reading something to that effect that many Iraqis are quite happy to let the American RPG, IED, car bomb, sniper magnets by as quickly as possible. I sure wouldn’t want to be stuck within 50 ft of one during a traffic jam.
I understand from the time my brother spent over there that the most likely time to get shot (by anything) is while stopped in traffic, so whenever possible, people try to avoid it.
“Keep moving” is a pretty good guideline in a place like that, I would assume.
Having a lot of military men in my family (hubby is due to deploy this fall or next spring) and many military friends who have done their share of time in Iraq – it is a safety issue for the guys in the humvee. You stop, you become a much easier target. We civilians here in the safe USA simply cannot grasp just how dangerous it is for our guys over there – they have to be always on the alert.
As others have noted, from a security standpoint, you don’t want to stop. The first order of business in an in-transit attack is to reduce or eliminate mobility, so the target can’t escape. If the driver permitted himself to be stuck in traffic, he’d be a sitting duck. I guarantee that if someone pulls to a stop in front of him and blocks the road, he’ll go around (or if necessary, through) the obstruction rather than remain stationary, including on the sidewalk and through a crowd. This is standard protection detail protocol.
That said, it’s not something that is going to endear the local populace to us, but then with the fact that the Occupation is causing multiple daily bombing attacks a little obnoxious driving is probably the least of the average Iraqi’s worries.
I suspect this is true, and soliders need to drive this way in order to be as safe as possible. I also suspect that the OP is right, and the fact that soldiers drive this way gives the locals a very negative impression. It’s pretty much the reason you don’t occupy countries unless you have to: by definition, you’re the asshole. And the more people don’t want you there, the more you have to be the asshole to keep yourself safe. Which makes people not want you there.