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I was looking through my pictures from Iraq in 2004 and ran across this one I thought I would share. The focus of the picture is the Iraqi National Police guy with the beret. We took the picture because of the way he was wearing it. We nicknamed him Pizza Guy and would occasionally run into him during the rest of my tour and he always wore his beret like that. He thought we liked him because he was so cool and none of us had the heart to tell him it was because he looked so stupid with his beret like that. Needless to say, I did not look super cool with all my battle rattle and ballistic eye-wear on either.
Cool picture -and I don't know what you mean, I wear my beret like that – as a matter of fact, I'm wearing it that way right now!!Seriously, any signficance to the fact that both Iraqis are making the thumb and forefinger circle with their free hands? I know that in some areas I've been deployed to it bore some cultural significance as an insult.
Why is the top of your helmet flat or does it just blend in with the background?"Patrick: the Nerd Who Can Kick Ass"
I never noticed the hand gestures. If I remember right it is not an insulting one in Iraq, Iraqis hold there hands like that when they are making a point. The day the picture was taking we were driving through our sector handing out toys and school supplies and the IP's were going along with us. It could be an insult though I guess. My driver was busy trying to get people to sell him one and only one of their shoes. He had a pretty good collection and would drop one on the face of insurgents after we killed them. Now that is an insult, almost akin to putting the Ace of Spades on a VC.
My driver was busy trying to get people to sell him one and only one of their shoes. He had a pretty good collection and would drop one on the face of insurgents after we killed them. Now that is an insult, almost akin to putting the Ace of Spades on a VC.
I like it.My exposure to Iraqi culture is, uh, less than minimal. I dealt with Muslim cultures in East Africa, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Of course, I spent plenty of time in Central America, Korea, and Japan as well, and it has been more than a few years, but somewhere that Uncle Sam sent me, that's the "A**hole" symbol.
