us soldiers are racist

Senior British officer brands US soldiers 'racist' in Iraq
RACHEL WILLIAMS
12th January 2006
news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=53212006

A SENIOR British officer has launched a scathing attack on the United States army and its operations in Iraq.

Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster accused the Americans of "cultural insensitivity" that amounted to institutional racism and "moral righteousness" which led in extreme cases to distorted military judgments.

Writing in the US army-published Military Review magazine, Brigadier Aylwin-Foster, who was the deputy commander of a programme training the Iraqi military, said the failings may have spurred the growth of the insurgency.

The Washington Post, which reported the article, said his comments had already provoked an intense reaction among US officers.

Brigadier Aylwin-Foster said of his US colleagues: "While they were almost unfailingly courteous and considerate, at times their cultural insensitivity, almost certainly inadvertent, arguably amounted to institutional racism."

The US army's approach during the early occupation "exacerbated the task it now faces by alienating significant sections of the population", he said.

While the US army had an "unparalleled sense of patriotism, duty, passion, commitment, and determination" US forces seemed "weighed down by bureaucracy, a stiflingly hierarchical outlook, a pre- disposition to offensive operations, and a sense that duty required all issues to be confronted head-on".

Military Review has run previous articles criticising US military operations in Iraq but none had been as blunt, the Washington Post said.

Brigadier Aylwin-Foster said he aimed to promote constructive discussion that would improve the coalition's chance of success in Iraq.

He stressed his views did not reflect those of the British government or military, the US army, or Military Review.

Lieutenant-General David Petraeus, who oversees the journal, said he did not agree with many of the assertions of the brigadier, whom he commanded in Iraq.

But he added: "He is a very good officer, and therefore his viewpoint has some importance, as we do not think it is his alone."

However, Colonel Kevin Benson, the commander of the US army's elite School of Advanced Military Studies, said: "I think he's an insufferable British snob."

Brigadier Aylwin-Foster, who is at present serving in Bosnia, commented in an e-mail to the Washington Post: "The Brits approve, those that have read it."