VIDEO: How not to make friends in Iraq while driving a HUMVEE
This video is pretty shocking to watch, as it's difficult to imagine anyone being able to get away with driving like that in the U.S., even the military. But then again, Baghdad isn't Boston and slowing down a HUMVEE for a traffic jam creates a target that's much easier to attack. Nevertheless, it's not difficult to understand why some Iraqis have a distaste for the U.S. military's presence in their country after watching this video, especially if they're car nuts. As we said earlier, though, we wouldn't want to see a video of what might have happened if the HUMVEE had stopped.
If you have a comment, please keep it respectful of the members of the U.S. miltary and the citizens of Iraq.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
British_Rover @ Jan 31st 2007 3:48PM
At least he slowed down before he tapped them. You can tell who the smart drivers are because they pulled over to the side of the road right away.
SSBR @ Jan 31st 2007 3:53PM
Are they test driving the Victory Red Edition?
http://www.rolesor.com
vectorbug @ Jan 31st 2007 3:53PM
To be fair, we don't know what the context of this video is. Let say, for instance, there is a wounded soldier in this particular humvee (or they just got a call that there is one on the other side of this town that they need to find), I'm all for them doing whatever it takes to get to where they're going.
I am disappointed that autoblog is getting into the world of politics though and I'm not exactly pro-war (I life in SF, where no one is pro-war). I hope you guys stick with awesome spy shots of new cars coming out rather than lame commentary like this.
jscro @ Jan 31st 2007 3:53PM
That's just it, they can't stop. If they do, they are are a target. As disrespectful as it looks, wtf are they supposed to do?
trevor2k @ Jan 31st 2007 3:54PM
Sometimes I wish we could do that here in the states to all the 55mph drivers in the left lane of a 65.
In all seriousness, we don't know the context of the video. They could have been en route to assist soldiers under fire, or it could be a medical humvee. I doubt they just drive like that for shlts and giggles.
Steve Miller @ Jan 31st 2007 3:54PM
Does anyone else find this disturbing? If they were going some where with purpose, they should have lights and siren... but just to get somewhere faster, just because they can. Lack of respect is being shown.
The old saying comes to mind... "do as I say, not as I do"
Steve
Evotec @ Jan 31st 2007 3:55PM
agreed on no.5 comment
scenturion @ Jan 31st 2007 3:56PM
i agree, its impossible to tell without context whether or not is was justified. they were laying on the horn, and i doubt those hummers have sirens, so who knows. id prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt
Homero @ Jan 31st 2007 3:58PM
Is that the people they went there to protect and liberate? It doesn't look like.
James @ Jan 31st 2007 3:58PM
"Use the bumper, that's what it's for!"
-from Goldeneye.
Further on context, we also don't know if using the bumpers in Iraq is an acceptable practice. For all we know, every driver in Iraq might drive that way--in which case, it makes all the more sense for the Army to do that considering stopping is tantamount to suicide in some areas.
John Neff @ Jan 31st 2007 3:59PM
I think it's great you're all recognizing that we have no context for this video. We posted it because it shocked us, and that's it. As far as Autoblog getting into politics, we talk about cars and trucks, which in this country often overlap with politics of some sort or another. We're also bloggers, so our biases bleed through often and for that we don't apologize because a lot of good discussions are sparked. With this video, we tried to walk the center line as much as possible obviously and present a reasonably theory on why a HUMVEE might be driving like that, but also how that looks from the perspective of someone being tapped in the back by a HUMVEE. Anyway, good discussion here, thanks.
Mike @ Jan 31st 2007 4:00PM
Our troops are dying in that country every day. A lot of them in vehicles because of IEDs on the side of the road or because of ambushes. That driver was driving that humvee in a manner consistent with the current situation and in a way to minimize danger to the occupants and damage to the Iraqi vehicles.
If a looming AM General grill and .50 caliber machine gun (not to mention the constant horn) doesn't encourage you to move out of the way in a combat zone, then you deserve a slight tap.
paul34 @ Jan 31st 2007 4:01PM
I like how people aren't even reading the article or comments at all. They do this so that they don't end up on the nightly news as yet another RPG attack.
It's so comforting to know that some of the people who are commenting to this entry are the same people who live in this country. If we had more common sense and not be so quick to make judgements (as in, if we actually thought for ourselves), maybe our country wouldn't be headed for destruction like it is now. Congratulations, folks, you destroyed your own country.
I hope when your kids' primary language is Chinese.
Adam @ Jan 31st 2007 4:06PM
With a brother and a brother-in-law in the military I know for a fact that they are not suppose to stop and put themselves at risk.
Autoblog please do not post videos like this because some people don't understand the what it is like to be in a war zone.
When you have to put a disclaimer on the video maybe you should just not post someting that will turn one another against each other.
Non-Bizarro Adam @ Jan 31st 2007 4:07PM
Steve (#6), they are driving along in a friggin H1 honking their horn for everyone to hear. And someone else commented that they slowed down before tapping the cars in front of them. Now, my Dad was a Drill Instructor for many years and I grew up on Parris Island Marin Corps Recruit Depot, and I know that some Marines would be capable of doing some pretty dick-headed things, but I am giving them the benefit of the doubt here. The fact that the American comments about the other dude "not having a care in the world" tells me they weren't on a normal patrol, they had somewhere to be.
taipeileviathan @ Jan 31st 2007 4:15PM
i too agree with most of the above posters, and i will go one step further to say that the posting and commentary on this clip is extremely insensitive/disrespectful of neff. i am myself anti-war, but american soldiers are deployed all around the world at the whims of politicians at the risk of their own lives because they believe they are doing the right thing in trying to keep you safe. it's downright offensive that the first line in this posting belies a comparison between military maneuvers in iraq with driving in the states, even if that comparison is then retroactively qualified in the next sentence. and that comment about iraqis being especially pissed off "if they're car nuts" i find particularly distasteful. i'd imagine that mayhaps the bulk of the resentment against american presence in iraq has more to do with the death toll, civil unrest, and general mayhem than with dented rear bumpers.
i can understand slow news days, and i can tolerate a certain level of inconsequential postings on this site for the sake of maintaining interest, but this... this really crosses the line.
Alex K @ Jan 31st 2007 4:18PM
The only part I find "shocking" is that all they have is that pansy sounding horn! How about a real truck air horn, or a siren?!?! Other than going the wrong way around the roundabout, the driving wasn't shocking at all... I was shocked that the other cars didn't pull over the second he appeared in their mirrors!
ETMC @ Jan 31st 2007 4:19PM
Man, does that transmission whine. Makes my (rebuilt) GM 4T60-E junker sound whisper-quiet in comparison.
IraqiGeek @ Jan 31st 2007 4:21PM
Not sure which city this was filmed in, but its somewhere in the north, most probably in the kurdish provinces (check the sign at 2:22) where the security situation is quite good.
As for those commenting about IEDs, well IEDs aren't put in such crowded streets simply because there are too many people going through such streets and both the IEDs and the people planting them would be caught on the spot.
Doug Rixmann @ Jan 31st 2007 4:22PM
I agree 100% Jeff, although I don't think it's as shocking as you might think. It's not like they're bashing into folks. You're obviously clueless to what's going on over there #6 and #9.