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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Influx of Polish troops prompts Iraqis to view US in a kinder light |
| 2003-09-23 |
| Colin Freeman in Hillah, IRAQ AS BEFITS a man who lives near the ruins of ancient Babylon, Ahmed Shubah, chief prosecutor for Iraq’s Babel province, reckons he knows a great civilisation when he sees one. As a result, the United States army’s decision to pass military control of the area to a new, multinational force led by the Polish has not left him happy. "The Americans and British bring great civilisations wherever they go, but the Polish? They haven’t even got one of their own yet," he moaned undiplomatically last week, as a group of American officers treated him to a farewell lunch. It is nearly two months since a 21-nation army of nearly 9,000 soldiers, under overall command of a Polish general and 2,000 of his infantry, arrived to help the US police a vast sector south of Baghdad in Babel province. Today, the area is as cosmopolitan as when its fabled Tower of Babel still stood, with Ukrainian, Nicaraguan, Filipino and even Mongolian voices trying to spread the peacekeeping message. Yet, while the force was set up to ease the flak on overstretched US troops, so far it has done so in rather an unexpected way - by allowing Iraqis to compare the American style with that of other nations. Uncle Sam is finding, for the first time, that he is no longer the least popular kid on the block. This is partly because the Americans have had several months to make friends and influence people. But at street level too, the new arrivals are making people feel the Americans weren’t so bad after all. "The Americans used to make jokes with us and laugh together, and we had some kind of close relationship," said Hamid Ahmed, who runs a fruit-juice stall in the centre of Hillah, Babel province’s main city. "The Poles don’t socialise - they just go around on patrol. Perhaps it’s just because they are still frightened of us, although there’s hardly any trouble here any way." ... |
| Posted by:. |
| #7 The Poles are on the steep edge of the learning curve. No one could expect them to be taking to this sort of situation like ducks to water. They'll learn the ropes soon enough, and to begin with it's probably better that they're seen to be erring on the cautious side rather than appearing to be more aggressive than necessary. Frightened Poles?! That dosen't sound very likely to me. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-9-24 7:45:48 AM |
| #6 Super Hose, comparing ballet from one country and a music video from another? apple vs orange... whats wrong with comparing bellet from one country and bellet from another. or a polish rock music video with an american one you know.. apple to apple or better yet, lets compare the world wide market values of various culture icons, a biggest dollar maker wins kinda thing.. culture-dead america is a fabrication... |
| Posted by: Dcreeper 2003-9-23 11:07:26 PM |
| #5 The Poles might be able, in the long run, to relate better to the Iraqis on a personal level given time. After all, they were also repressed for several decades by a brutal, corrupt and backwards system of government that left their infrastructure in tatters. They might be able to apply the lessons learned rebuilding their own country and save the Iraqis the trouble of learning them firsthand. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-9-23 8:24:00 PM |
| #4 "The Poles don’t socialise - they just go around on patrol" Perhaps that mortar attack on their base might have had something to do with it. It's true the Poles are green when it comes to outings like this. They've been a part of NATO for only a short while. That's probably why they are there, to get the experience. Frightened? I don't think so. Hey, I'm glad they see something good in Americans. Now I hope they'll pass this sentiment on to their friends, neighbours, and their kids. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2003-9-23 7:28:02 PM |
| #3 This guy demands to be repressed by the varsity. I never would have anticipated that sentiment. I'll buy the British as a comparitively grat civilization, but when the guy slimes the Poles as culturally inferior to the US. We need to get him a cable package so he can reevaluate that particular misconception. Make him watch a Polish ballet and then the MTV music video awards back to back. He'ld be seeing the light. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-9-23 6:49:56 PM |
| #2 Wait till the Turks get there... they'll long for the Poles and their money. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-9-23 6:32:48 PM |
| #1 "The Americans and British bring great civilisations wherever they go, but the Polish? They haven’t even got one of their own yet" If the Germans, Austrians and Russians had ever left them alone for a while they might have rivaled the ... Germans, Austrians and Russians. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-9-23 6:10:23 PM |