Comments (36)

JR wrote on June 14, 2007 4:11 PM:

If you substitute "Loyal Bushie" with the term "Arab" it's amazing how revealing the paradigm really is.

If only that 2003 Army booklet had been handed out to American voters in 2000, perhaps things would have been different.

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on June 14, 2007 4:18 PM:

What are Petraeus's credentials other than supposedly being media-savvy?

In August 2005, Petraeus told Newsday that corruption in the Iraq Defense Ministry was none of our business after a billion dollars was stolen by the defense minister.

Hello? None of our business? Are any US tax dollars funding Iraqi defense? Any stolen money funding the insurgency?

Crediting General Petraeus with effectively fighting the insurgency in Mosul between March 2003 and June 2004 is not exactly a ringing endorsement of his competency since northern Iraq was not a hotbed of insurgency in the first place.

Petraeus then moved on to training and equipping the Iraqi army from June 2004 until September 2005. I notice no one has claimed that Petraeus did a good job training and equipping the Iraqi army.

My guess is that Petraeus did such a lousy job training and equipping the Iraqi army that the Pentagon became alarmed at the prospect of one of its "stars" going down in flames. Hence, Petraeus was hauled back to the US to write a rehash of every other counterinsurgency manual ever written.

Looks good but I don't think there is much upstairs, if you catch my drift.

Anonymous wrote on June 14, 2007 4:21 PM:

I never realized before now that Bush is an Arab, who, apparently, are indistinguishable to feudal european aristocrats.

Ron G wrote on June 14, 2007 4:22 PM:

I don't see what's wrong with what you excerpted...seems pretty dead on to anyone who knows anything about middle eastern culture.

shadow wrote on June 14, 2007 4:29 PM:

Seems like a defect in the system to have an Arab culture guidebook written by someone lacking the social graces of a baboon.

Faber wrote on June 14, 2007 4:38 PM:

It is not so much the desire to avoid dishonor that drives what non-Arabs see as evasion of responsibility, so much as the desire to avoid blasphemy. Any commitment to a future outcome that doesn't include the obligatory "insh'allah" is inherently sinful. Read any of the sites that deal with the Islamic calendar: you'll be firmly told that the predicted appearance of the new moon is just that -- a prediction -- but that it appears when Allah wills, and not otherwise.

AC wrote on June 14, 2007 4:49 PM:

Aside from the avoiding responsibility bit (and maybe the breath in face), I'd have to echo RonG's comments about this. Maybe it had to be written simply for its audience? That's not an insult - it just needs to be plain as day.

anon wrote on June 14, 2007 4:54 PM:

Jak sie masz!

My name Petraeus. I am not Arab but I love your country. In my country, we worship Supreme Warlord Premier Bush. He has asked me to write this book to destroy your country and helping win his war of terror!

I like you!

Anonymous wrote on June 14, 2007 4:56 PM:

* Arabs, by American standards, are reluctant to accept responsibility...

Bush and Rummy trained them well. Follow republican protocols.

Woodhall Hollow wrote on June 14, 2007 4:58 PM:

The stupidity of these people is beyond astounding. It is bad enough to actually think these things, but to actually write it down?????

Our tax dollars at 'work."

code word: glass, as in what people who live in them shouldn't do.

Roscoe Atherton wrote on June 14, 2007 5:13 PM:

Good grief, you folks would be howling if the Army DIDN'T try to find ways to explain cultural differences and sensitivites. What on earth is wrong with this list -- that some cultural differences are not pretty or to be universally desired?

AC wrote on June 14, 2007 5:14 PM:

Aside from the avoiding responsibility bit (and maybe the breath in face), I'd have to echo RonG's comments about this. Maybe it had to be written simply for its audience? That's not an insult - it just needs to be plain as day.

Yossarian wrote on June 14, 2007 5:21 PM:

Call it a day in Iraq and call Iran and hand over the country to them. Then fund an insurgency against them. Our boys and girls will be nice and safe and Iraq will be in chaos while Iran will be trying to deal with the insurgency instead of nukes. I think that is the best you can get out of this situation. Of course it will also mean that we might have to admit failure first but in strategy you have to sometimes take a tactical defeat in order to win the war.

Woodhall Hollow wrote on June 14, 2007 5:27 PM:

Roscoe--you are an idiot.

Because this list does NOT accurately describe what you disingenuously call "cultural differences and sensitivites."

EG: * Arabs do not believe in upward mobility or social status; they gain status by being born in the right family.

If that were truly the case, then why would so many be fighting each other?

I have lived in the arab world, and I can tell you that Arabs are as upwardly mobile as anyone, *if there is an opportunity.*

I could go on and on about what is wrong with this list--but I just don't have the time.

(one point cultural point worth mentioning re handshaking and breathing: In Arab culture, one does not shake hands, one kisses cheeks--with members of the same sex, that is.)

CD wrote on June 14, 2007 6:06 PM:

As one who went over to serve, the infomation provided is right on the money. It's not how we'd like to believe, but it is real. It is a different culture. And knowing that info saved or made agreements. Little slights mean a lot to a culture that punishes more severely for rape and disrespect of family, than for murder.

Those of you who take this front line guidance to those putting their life in harms way and slam the President are letting your venom show. Did he have anything to do with the guidance? Not likely.

And in case you forget, next time you read of an honor killing in the UK, remember the guidance above.

Or, if President Karzi in Afghanistan passes the buck, remember the guidance.

How tantalizing and arrogant to be patronizing toward those using real experiece to help those protecting you.

If you believe it different, get over there and bring back your own examples.

I am guessing you won't --do either. Go or come back with different reconn.

Happy Flag Day.

Zathras wrote on June 14, 2007 6:28 PM:

Somehow I don't think wording a guidance to combat troops as if one were writing a section of the Democratic Party platform would have helped this war go any better than it has.

It must be tempting to a blogger whose only contact with Arabs is likely to be with the cultured English-speaking ones he meets at cocktail parties and foreign policy symposia to snark over a booklet like this that offers practical basic practical guidance to junior officers and enlisted personnel as to how to avoid giving offense and avoid misunderstanding in a strange country they've just arrived in. Too tempting, obviously. But I imagine that the people who wrote it would find a lot to make fun of about Spencer Ackerman, too.

RS wrote on June 14, 2007 7:43 PM:

From personal experience as an Arabic linguist, I can attest that the Army manual is spot on. Arabs in general have huge problems regarding acceptance of responsibility and in meeting schedules. Even considering that there is no such thing as one "Arab" culture, this problem is a recurring theme across the board.

The Iraquis will NOT meet any schedules set for them. This is not a politically based statement, but is a professional observation. As linguists, one of the first things we learn is that we must NOT expect Arabic speakers to live by our Western ideals. Forgetting that - or worse, not bothering to learn it - causes much needless strife.

Jane wrote on June 14, 2007 8:04 PM:

Yes, the guidance is good to have but it didn't need to be put in language that comes across in English as demeaning.

For example, in Thailand it is impolite to say no so when a invitation is given the answer is yes.

This could be put either demeaningly:

The Thais will lie and say yes to a request when they mean no.

OR it could be put politely

In Thailand it it polite to respond to an invitation with yes whether or not you plan to attend. Since everyone knows that this is the pattern no one is mislead and depends on other indications to see who will attend.

As to venom, how much forgiveness are we required to give George II who stole an election and lied us into an unnecessary war and has been distorting the Constitution ever since?

Oh, and don't give me the sound byte about fighting them over there rather than here -- we gave them a training ground in Iraq and a recruitment poster for most of the Muslim world.

Janet wrote on June 14, 2007 8:30 PM:

It's always necessary to acknowledge that cultural differences shape, but do not determine, behavior.

I could come up with a set of statements about Americans that were generally true -- but they would not predict any given American's behavior perfectly. The way the quoted guidelines are written, they make it sound as though all Arabs are alike, and as if interacting with them is a matter of learning a simple and invariable set of rules. It would be a lot more accurate, and more helpful, to talk about Arab culture instead of saying "Arabs do this," "Arabs believe that," etc.

FlyOnTheWall wrote on June 14, 2007 8:37 PM:

Ackerman's off base here. Petraeus made a good-faith effort to educate the grunts on the ground. The language in the excerpt he posted is plain and direct, and it makes its points.

Sure, this'd get laughed out of a cultural anthropology seminar on an Ivy League campus. But the goal isn't to offer a detailed and nuanced exploration of Arab culture - it's to explain why, for example, an Iraqi cop might be reluctant to personally assume responsibility for a specific goal. Or why a seemingly friendly Iraqi soldier expects you to do him a favor in return for his doing his job. Or, my favorite example, why an American engaging in the blunt speech for which we are justifiably notorious might make an Iraqi uncomfortable, and why an Iraqi might not give anything resembling a direct answer to an uncomfortable question.

Any guidebook is going to have to engage in sweeping stereotypes and overly broad generalizations. Sure, this isn't all flattering. But I happen to think that what we needed - back in 2003 - was more blunt speech and less mincing of words. If everyone had been this direct about the extent of the cultural differences that we'd find on the ground, we might never have gone.

Rodney Lamprey, jr. wrote on June 14, 2007 9:16 PM:

Funny, Iraq under Saddam Hussein had frank exchanges, palaces were built on schedule, and Saddam was certainly upwardly mobile. Maybe it has something to do with Bush only choosing to deal with incompetent lackies, and avoiding any truely frank exchanges.

P J Evans wrote on June 15, 2007 12:08 AM:

Maybe they should simply have reprinted the relevant parts of Edward Hall's books. They say the same general things, but much more politely, and in ways that make it very clear that there isn't a single world-wide standard for polite behavior.

But that would require that they not want to offend people, which is pretty clearly not the goal of this administration.

Waltc wrote on June 15, 2007 1:45 AM:

Well Mr.Lamprey, Hussein got things built because he ran a bloody handed dictatorship where you do what you're told or you got shot. Motivation by gun works wonders.

That said, given all the ridicule our military takes from liberals. Maybe its time all these self-proclaimed liberal Mid-East warfare and civil afair experts sign up and show Patreaus and company how to do their jobs right.

After all you folks are the real experts on the region.

bobh wrote on June 15, 2007 2:56 AM:

much adoo about nothing - arab culture is different - the manual reflects exactly their culture as i experienced it int he 1980s.

please lets not get stupid about this.

eyeball wrote on June 15, 2007 6:46 AM:

yes, walt, liberuls are disrespecting the military by wanting to get them out of an unfriendly country where they are being killed and maimed and led by pass-the-buck generals and a president who thinks they deserve cruddy hospital conditions when they get home, if that. thats why most of the ex-military in congress now are democrats. yes walt, the conservatives have jusr done wonders for our military. good work. keep it up. hope you are planning a nice vacation in baghdad, land of friendly talking unicorns and lollipop trees.

please wrote on June 15, 2007 7:44 AM:

I don't see what all the fuss is. The intended audience for this manual is the junior officers, Non-coms and privates who have been trained as elite COMBAT soldiers. They are not, by and large, trained to attend a state department dinner with foreign dignitaries. However, with that said, they were going to find themselves in life or death situation while in Iraq. They required some basic tools to allow them to better understand that a reaction by an Iraqi may not necessarily be a hostile act and therefore, decide that...maybe, they shouldn't shoot him, before wondering if the Iraqi wasn't belligerent after all.

No disrespect meant to the military, but would you expect *every* US soldier to understand and retain the information in a more refined pamphlet.

I think it would be helpful if the author expanded further in this article *why* they feel that some of these cultural understanding bullet points are offensive. You the author should be mindful of your own audience, and their ignorance on the subject, considering most have not been to Iraq, nor submersed in an Arab culture.

I hate saying it, but you don't send the military on a diplomatic mission (which Iraq should have stayed as).

Acanthus wrote on June 15, 2007 8:58 AM:

"much adoo about nothing - arab culture is different - the manual reflects exactly their culture as i experienced it int he 1980s.

please lets not get stupid about this"

Posted by: bobh

That's why your asses are losing this war, fool. But hey...don't change, please.

PeaceDude wrote on June 15, 2007 9:45 AM:

As some one who has spent my adult life living & working around people from nearly everyplace... and as a former resident of an Arab country... I have to agree that, although these generalizations could have been phrased a little more diplomatically, they are useful for a soldier with little to no international experience.

dee illuminati wrote on June 15, 2007 10:24 AM:

Well after reading the 'tips' I would say that there is definetly cultural differences and that that is not disputed. What I find curious is the 'interpretation' of these differences and how one might imagine that this culture would endorse the idea that 'all people are equal' and that 'all votes are equal' and that their cultural bias wouild be subordinate to that proposition. So Ok.. you go ahead with a plan to ship 200K rather young people from one culture to another nation with guns, where the overwhelming majority do not speak the language, and then you confront a society of 'predominantly young' people whom do not also have the educational skills to communicate, and then you provide this one sided talking points for discussion?

Much of what is in these tips is appropo.. but the explanation from the other perspective would be illuminating.

CD wrote on June 15, 2007 10:27 AM:

Jane,

Yes, you can have your long-held belief that the election was stolen. But I suggest you are not quite as informed. I was living in TN at the time. We as a state didn’t vote the internet developer for Pres, and we knew him best.

Lighten up. I’ll use the old SNL quote for some levity, “Jane, you ignorant….”, but it’s just that levity. I respect your beliefs, but your posting, as are many here, broadens off topic.

However, carrying that, and I’ll use venom, again, to slam the Pres for an election you felt stolen THE YEAR AFTER THE TOPIC OF THE BLOG, A 2003 MANUAL, shows your bias.

The manual was well written and informative for the audience.

bobh wrote on June 15, 2007 11:23 AM:

Acanthus

I'm a democrat and you can go fuck yourself.

And if your an American you can go double fuck yourself for believing that we not ALL losing this conflict in Iraq.

The wider war against Terrorists that want to kill us will NOT go away after we pull out from Iraq.

I swear...some liberals need to pull their large heads out fo their very tiny asses.

Ron Hurst wrote on June 15, 2007 6:33 PM:

So????
All you need to do is look at Gaza and Iraq to see the depths to which Arab "culture" has degenerated.
Take away Sadaam?...murder and mayhem.
Take away Israel?..murder and mayhem.
Not another drop of American blood or money should be wasted on these backwards religious gang bangers.
FINISH THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN!!!

jakeo wrote on June 17, 2007 5:56 AM:

This pamphlet is designed to be read *and understood* by a typical 21 year old high school graduate from a lower-class background.

Which is better - boiling down Iraqi culture to a handful of crude bullet comments that might be used by a young NCO on the streets of Baghdad, or some nuanced and intricate manual, full of qualifications and references, that would have been read by few and used by none?

jakeo wrote on June 17, 2007 5:57 AM:

This pamphlet is designed to be read *and understood* by a typical 21 year old high school graduate from a lower-class background.

Which is better - boiling down Iraqi culture to a handful of crude bullet comments that might be used by a young NCO on the streets of Baghdad, or some nuanced and intricate manual, full of qualifications and references, that would have been read by few and used by none?

Dean wrote on June 18, 2007 2:28 PM:

By comparison, sixty years the Army seems to have gotten it right in Instructions for American Servicemen in Iraq during World War II. See a piece from WSJ Online: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/06/18/the-more-things-change/

Jib wrote on July 6, 2007 2:36 PM:

Except for how close we stand to each other, what's written here is not "stupid" - it's universally true of all human beings.

This is just what's true of all cultures, certainly our own. The moment you step outside of one culture, you see all of them clearly, and what you see isn't all that attractive - no surprise to anyone who's ever picked up a history book.

True, in this culture we SAY we respect opportunity, but we really kowtow to connections.