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Originally Posted by Jacky Fisher
This is the kind of thing that wins Al-Qaida about a hundred new recruits a day.
Was this soldier briefed at all on the nuances of the local culture.
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Obviously not. When I joined the USAF in 1971, one of the things they mentioned in Basic Training is that
you represent the USA. (As George Carlin once put it, "Remember: You represent your row."*)
You are a diplomat, whether or not you want to be. Your actions reflect either good or bad on our country, our flag, and what it stands for. Embarrass your country while in the service of the military, and your ass is ours.
Apparently, someone was just not going to let that little bit of info sink in.
* For those not familiar with the concept, in schools years ago (don't know if they still do this), the person at the head of each row of students "represented" that row of students. They were the first to get pages handed to them by the teacher for passing out to the students behind them, and were the ones that received the pages handed up from the rear for retrieval by the teacher.