Video of Soldiers in Iraq Gains Attention (Soldiers duct tape a woman to a pole)

[Left Coast Lynn]

...At first glance, it looks like a snap shot of the kind of treatment some Iraqi prisoners were subject to Abu Ghrabe prison.

And, that was the image displayed on the "Drudge Report" website.

But that was just one still shot taken from a much longer video, a video that shows a group of male soldiers using a large roll of rigging tape to incapacitate a female soldier.

The shoulder patches appear to be those of the 256th, but their actual identities are unknown.

A spokesman for the military's Central Command says it's also unclear when or where the video was filmed.

But, judging from the scenery in the background, the location is most likely somewhere in Iraq.

A spokesman for the Central Command can't confirm that, but says it appears the female soldier was a willing participant in what it calls a prank and that there was no malicious intent.

Judging from the demeanor of those involved in taping up and tickling the female soldier and the laughing coming from everyone, including the female soldier, the military says it views the video as service members capturing a few minutes of amusement with fellow members of their unit...

http://www.klfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=5674952

[Judi Lynn]

1. Here's an article with video link from a North Dakota tv station.

http://www.kxmb.com/getARticle.asp?ArticleId=66225

On edit: Sorry, I finally saw the original post DOES have a video link. Missed it the first time.

[Left Coast Lynn]

4. Looks like kidding around

Anyone see a problem with it?

[Judi Lynn]

5. I couldn't see any reason for Drudge to call the world's attention to it, either!

It would be a problem if they walked off and left her there, but I doubt it's the case. I also imagine they would have as gladly taped a guy to the pole, had the occassion arisen.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

10. He' fulfilling his primary role, Distracting from the real news.

[BluGrl]

16. Exactly.

If Drudge wants to see some messed up stuff, I dare him to take a cruise to the Equator and stand before the Royal Order of the Shellbacks!

[lvx35]

6. Doesn't seem messed up to me.

I mean, you gotta watch that kind of play because lines can get crossed, but I didn't see any getting crossed here.

[Little Wing]

2. Those are Desert Storm 1 cammies, and the Stone Temple Pilots

song further makes me think it was from back then.

I'm not defending it, btw.

[Renegade Six]

3. I don't know...

i wore those exact same cammies in 03-04 in baghdad..and the one radio station played some old stuff there so by those points id say its hard to say...but the vid quality looks recent not 91

[Infinite Hope]

7. She seems complacent...

but as it goes on she seems to tire of it and almost be trying to go with the flow. Either way, it's pathetic that that's all they have to do. I know most of the other troops are busy with 16 hour shifts. It seems like these fools have too much spare time and perhaps need reassignment.

[w4rma]

8. The video was funny. There is *nothing* wrong with it. Drudge is a jerk for

making a big deal about it.

[sandnsea]

9. I hope she hasn't just conceded

If it's all in fun and an occasional thing, then that's fine. But if she's constantly the butt of jokes and can't fight back, so concedes to it because she feels she's got no choice, then that's a different thing. Sometimes working around men it seems you either have to accept the sexist horseplay or be a cold-hearted bitch - middle grounds can be hard if you have even one guy that keeps pushing the limits. I hope women don't have to put up with this sort of thing all the time. I bet a lot of guys would see this as classic 'hazing' style bullying if they were doing this to some scrawny geeky guy.

[Klapaucius]

11. Taping is fairly common in the service....

At least it was when I was in a number of years ago... However it can easily go too far. I recall that there was a discussion regarding that and all commanders in the squadron were called in when yard security found an officer taped to an office chair and left in a parking lot. He was essentially mummified and couldn't move, they'd left him spaces to breathe through, but had otherwise encapsulated him. They also apparently didn't have a very high opinion of him, there was a placard around his neck stating that the crew and officers of the command wouldn't put up with 'that kind of dirtbag'. Didn't hear much else about it, though. Hazing became a very hot topic for a while. A few years later, we had some folks tape up one of the new members of their division in one of the frames. Division got in trouble, but other than giving a talk about how it wasn't the right thing to do. New guy thought it was fun/funny, so there was no real harm done.

One of the folks in my division came from another boat, the one that started the whole congressional investigation into hazing. Seems someone played a trick on someone who was a bit more well-connected than your average sailor. To say he was a bit sensitive about that sort of thing might be an understatement.

K.

[Nickster]

14. I remember waking up after a long night out to find myself securely taped into

my bunk and I mean securely. I guess they were just looking out for me to make sure that I didn't roll out of bed or anything.:-)

[coffeenap]

12. Sorry, fellow DUers, I found my stomach making that OMG reaction-

she was made helpless, it was a long time, and it was extremely unsettling to me. She was being tickled with no ability to fight it off; that makes you laugh, but really it is painful. Also, she seemed to trust them at the beginning, but look at her expressions change along the way, It scares me because of the other stories of the danger women in the military in Iraq and Afgh. have found themselves in due to fellow, male, soldeirs. I AM NOT impuning all male soldiers, btw. (Flame away..)

[FlaGranny]

13. I agree. I would not

even watch it. My greatest fear is being unable to move. I have nightmares about it. I get frantic if my clothes are too tight. I can't put on a pullover unless it is very loose. If I were ever handcuffed I think I'd lose it and the cops that handcuffed this grandma would probably taser me for my reaciton to the handcuffs. My worst nightmare. I won't watch that film. No sir.

[Judi Lynn]

18. If that event alarmed you, you can be sure you'd be traumatized by the

experiences many female DU'ers have been forced to endure during their lifetimes, from a far more serious zone than that one: with no "kidding around" pretense anywhere in sight, events which have altered their lives forever, and left them suddenly far, FAR unhappier, and very much angrier.

I

[MGD]

15. We did the same thing to a staff sergeant who was a complete ass. He got a hood too.

I won't even say what they did to me and a small group of individuals when we became NCOs. It involved mud, blood, and pain though.

[Fierce]

17. It seemed to me she wasn't having fun about 3/4 of the way through.

And the way that guy with the cigarette was tickling her told me all I need to know about what he thinks about women.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. Violation of the Geneva conventions.

You can't humiliate and degrade pows.

Imagine if it was some Iraqi insurgent tickling your captured daughter.