Does anyone know what derogatory name GIs are using for Iraqis

The military has to de-humanize the enemy so the soldiers don't feel guilt when killing them. In Vietnam they were referred to as Gooks or Slopes. I heard or read here a few days ago that they (Iraqis) were referred to as sand niggers but I would think that would upset a large portion of our black soldiers. Most Iraqis don't wear turbans so rag-heads just doesn't quite fit. Just curious about this as it is an indicator of inherent racism within the military.

from johnny quest? No its the term for pilgrim

the brits call them wogs

Now WHERE did I hear that?

..it is Ali Babar....

Inventive huh??? :eyes:

Perhaps it would be some sort of indicator./

what our racist neighbors used to call us when I was growing up....sandniggers.

besides the ones I mentioned elsewhere on this thread...

(he was suppose to go to Iraq but it was postponed but went to whatever training he was suppose to prior to leaving) he said they call them "towel heads". Alot of his fellow guardsmen would say things like, "I can't wait to go kill some towel heads". My uncle is a vietnam vet and wasn't very happy but knows that is what is done. Dehumanize the enemy.

during Desert Storm which I am a veteran of. I heard these terms used frequently on my ship...

It was used like the N word was used in America. It probably was used to dehumanize people and it was used because their culture was different from ours. It was putting the Vietnamese on a lower level than us because of their cultural ways.

I think that many Americans see themselves as a higher developed or more moral class then the rest of the world. I would also guess that not only military but all travelers to foreign lands have derogatory names for other cultures,

That the term "gook" itself is derived from the term "goo-goo's," which is what the US military called the rebels during the Philipines War of the early 20th century (another chapter in American brutality, BTW). It may even have derived from a term used by the Army for the Native Americans during the Indian Wars of the 1870's and 80's, thereby laying Manifest Destiny, linguistically, all the way to the A Shau Valley...

but that was used for all arabs as far as I know. I never heard anything special used for Iraqi's.

As long as the military is used to fight either black, brown or yellow-skinned people.

Outside of those Germans (who I guess were too white) we haven't really fought a non-white army in a long, long time.

Didn't the term 'rag head' work for the Persian Gulf War?

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!


HoustonChronicle.com
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April 2, 2002, 12:12AM

ELITISM VS. RACISM?

Some see efforts to diversify Special Forces as lowering of standards for sake of image
By RON KAMPEAS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Special Forces have always prided themselves on how hard it is to become a member. For some black SEALs, Rangers and Green Berets, staying is tougher than getting in. With Special Forces having become the face of the U.S. military in the Afghan war, leaders are sensitive to the fact that those faces are overwhelmingly white, and they are recruiting in minority neighborhoods. The problem, some say, is the attitudes black recruits face once inside. "It was like being the only black in a Harley-Davidson gang, as out of place as you can be," said retired Lt. Jake Zweig of his short, tumultuous stay in the SEALs. "It was horrendous."

The SEALs have acknowledged "pockets of racial insensitivity" and have appointed a minority recruitment chief with authority to veto bigoted candidates. The crux, all agree, is the elitism that defines the "special" in Special Forces.

<snip>

When he suggested more aggressive recruitment among minority sailors, Zweig said an officer retorted sharply: "What do you want us to do, lower the standards, so more of y'all can make it in?"

Zweig filed a complaint.

A Navy investigator confirmed Zweig's account of the meeting but concluded the remark was a misunderstanding and "not racial in nature." The report expressed sympathy for the view that "any change in training is seen as an eroding of the standards." Rear Adm. Eric Olson, the top SEAL, concluded there was no systemic racism, but "pockets of racial insensitivity." Zweig, now 29, ended his three years in the SEALs last year and is now studying law.