"Christian Peacemaker Teams" says US soldiers steal from Iraq homes.

[Eric J in MN]

"Confiscation and theft during raids is rampant," said Stewart Vriesinga, a coordinator for Christian Peacemaker Teams, a non-profit group that documents abuses in Iraq.


"Soldiers don't seem to understand the Iraqi custom of not using banks -- a lot of people keep fairly substantial sums of money at home. A soldier from Kentucky or wherever sees that and thinks the person must be up to no good, so he takes it.


"We sure don't know how much money has been taken from (Iraqis)...but it's enough to have serious socio-economic consequences," he told Reuters.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040525/ts_nm/iraq_raids_dc_1

[wtmusic]

1. Not to mention "goodwill" consequences n/t

[Eric J in MN]

2. Breaking down doors in the middle of the night, arresting

Breaking down doors in the middle of the night, arresting a family's breadwinner and imprisoning him without trial or due process, and stealing the family's savings, isn't going to make the US poplular.

[keithyboy]

3. Soldiers steal, so do corporations. If you aren't sufficiently outraged,

read this.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=16276&mode=thread&order=1&thold=0

[gratuitous]

4. If it wasn't CPT, I would look at this report with a very jaundiced eye

But since it is CPT, I tend to believe them. The "Red Hats" have been in the Middle East, in every country, and they know something the chimperialists don't, and that the habits, mores and customs of the countries we're invading.

More than outrageous, this theft is just shameful. Would that we had a Nathan to convict George W. Bush in his heart for his crimes.

[Eric J in MN]

5. They wear red hats? Like helmets or baseball caps? (nt)

nt

[gratuitous]

7. Baseball style caps

Red, with a stylized CPT in a circle. Very stylish. Wish I had one, but all I have is the shirt I got for going on a CPT delegation to Chiapas in 2001.

[Don_G]

6. You Can't Throw A War

Without having the Gomers that fight in them pick up a little something to show the folks back home.

You can't expect them to mail a Humvee home past the Customs people responsible for maintaining the security at our borders, can you?

[bedtimeforbonzo]

8. watch "Band of Brothers"

It glorifies the stealing from civilians those fuckers did. They were in a competition to loot the most.

[Loonman]

9. Different war

Different circumstances.

[bedtimeforbonzo]

11. same crime, different circumstances

Hell, they glorify gunning down helpless POWs, too. No wonder we have GIs running amok in Iraq, with that behavior being held up as an example.

It's pro-war, pro-warcrime agitprop.

[Eric J in MN]

10. Maybe looting occurs in every war, but it so it should be prosecuted

Maybe looting occurs in every war, but it so it should be prosecuted in every war.

I haven't read about a single case of a US soldier being prosecuted for looting from a house in Iraq.

[Don_G]

12. Looting Yes...

Mailing a Jeep home ala Radar O'Reilly...no.