To be fair some Iraqis do like our soldiers

[NNN0LHI]

An Iraqi girl reaches out to shake hands with a passing US soldier from the 1st Battalion 5th Infantry during a search for hidden weapons in Mosul, 400 kilometers north of Baghdad.(AFP/Cris Bouroncle)

[Minstrel Boy]

1. To be fair

she's a child.

And on edit, for clarity: I'm not comparing the soldier to Hitler, but comparing the child to the children, to suggest the power of the innocent image of a child and its exploitation in reactionary propaganda.

[rudeboy666]

3. So our soldiers are Hitlers?

[Minstrel Boy]

6. see the remark I added on edit n/t

[rudeboy666]

9. Granted

But you have to admit that this could be easily miscontrued.

Especially by those lurking freeper types.

[Minstrel Boy]

11. yeah, I realized as soon as I'd posted,

which is why I added the clarification.

[Ironpost]

4. You on top of it ain't you Bro. sad where we americans are.

[tyne]

8. To be fair...

To be fair, how can you compare a child with Hitler, and a child with one of our soldiers. That's disgusting.

There is NO reason to diss our soldiers. 99% of them think that they are helping out over there, and they are. We should be honoring their intention. Let's keep the anger focused where it belongs....and, it's not at our soldiers.

[Minstrel Boy]

10. like I said, I'm comparing the child with the children.

The innocent image of a child makes very evocative wartime propaganda.

[Selatius]

2. That's true, and that's being faithful to reality to acknowledge it

If reality is what one wants though, one also has to note the millions of Iraqis who want us gone for whatever reason be it revenge for a wrong or for power or for simple self-determination, nevermind the conduct of the war or the condition of Iraq itself. This requires that we must examine everything through a sober lens and try hard to fight against bias both internal and external. The truth is the beacon you should try to walk towards.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. To be fair

not ALL Iraqi children are happy our soldiers are there. This one watched US soldiers kill her parents.

[KG]

7. i'll bet no soldeirs have killed her family at a check point.

yet.

[jedr]

12. after the first bullet whizzes over your shoulder,

God and country go down the drain...your just trying to stay alive...I'm sure the majority of soldiers are just trying to make something good come out of the Hell they been placed in.... damn hard to make lemonade out of these lemons... thank you George, you weren't willing to go and do it when it was your turn

[DefenseLawyer]

13. A kid shook hands with a soldier, so it was all worth it.

Preemptive war based on fraud, forgery and bald-faced lies causing untold death disfigurement and destruction to soldiers and civilians, but two years into the debacle a ten year old smiles somewhere in Iraq. Can't argue with that. God bless America and George W. Bush. (note: please feel free to hum "Battle Hymn of The Republic" while reading this)

[Terran1212]

14. They don't like US Government and Policies as a whole BUT

They definitely don't have a blind hate for ALL Americans. OF COURSE they can form friendships with American soldiers. In every war people formed friendship with the enemy, because those people saw that human beings are more important than politics...

PS: I know this from knowing many Muslims who speak about America as a wonderful people but as a very ruthless government.

[NNN0LHI]

15. I just showed this photo to my daughter who is here for the...

...weekend with my grandson. I was showing her all the photos from Iraq I posted yesterday including this one. She looked at this photo for about two seconds, and then turned and looked at me quizzically and said, "dad, don't be so naive". I asked her what she was talking about? All she said to me was "boom, boom", and then went chasing after my grandson who had ran into the other room. I hope she isn't right. Shit.

Don

[Deja Q]

16. Thank you, that is a very sweet picture. Nothing is EVER 1-sided.

Even I with my biases readily recognize that and have apologized in the past for being subconsciously one-sided.

I still think the war was not right, but we're there now. What else can we do? I don't know. Do you? I say we praise the good soldiers and get angry at the scum who do bad things (e.g. Abu Gharib).