US Marines posed with Nazi symbol in Afghanistan

Originally posted by sapien82

Originally posted by Flavian


What I'm saying is, that if an American soldier did that, you UK lot would be calling him a war criminal, a facist, and whatever else it is you like to call Our servicemen on this side on the pond.

I'm not American by the way.

Why are you even bothered then ?

Because I support the ISAF. Because I have family serving in Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces. Thats why. Because I love my country and her troops.

reply to post by Monger


Sorry, that wasn't aimed at you specifically, more everyone in general!

I just fail to see how a thread about some idiots posing for a picture they probably regret turns into the usual tribalism.

Originally posted by R3velutionR3quired
Respect to them, theve got serious go nads lol

The last I'd heard, you didn't have to have brains to have balls.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for posting, Corruption Exposed.

I haven't read all the responses yet, so just in case this hasn't been mentioned, the SS symbol is also used by those involved in MK Ultra to symbolize lightning bolts since electric shocks are used to break someone's psyche into multiple personalities.

To answer the question in your second post, NO. I don't believe they didn't know this wasn't representative of the Nazis.

People need to stop posing for pictures. And they really need to stop posting them on the internet.

Folks are stupid. I can buy that they either didnt realize the SS in that font was what it was or that maybe they even have a philosophical perspective that symbolism is what you make it therefore the SS of their flag only has the meaning they intend it to have and it's everyone else's problem for interpreting it incorrectly.

Which is perfectly rational. The swastika isnt what it used to be. The confederate flag means different things to different people. Even a capriote isnt necessarily a symbol of hate.

Symbolism is not absolute. To have a knee-jerk reaction to a thing based on your interpretation of that thing is absurd.

And of course there always is the possibility that they did in fact intend some Nazi connection.

The point is you dont know. I dont know. Only they know. There's a good chance maybe not all of them even know. There could be a neo-nazi i nthe bunch who sold the symbol as "sniper scouts" and the others just happily went along oblivious.

To claim this incident is anything more is foolish.

Originally posted by KaelemJames

Originally posted by Carseller4
Do Nazi's have a copyright on this?

We kicked their arses and if someone (especially Marines) want to use the SS symbol they should go right ahead and do so.

Some people just go out of their way to be offended.

edit on 9-2-2012 by Carseller4 because: (no reason given)

The Americans arrived too late and in too few numbers to play the dominant role.

Since 75%-80% of all German losses were inflicted on the eastern front it follows that the efforts of the western allies accounted for only 20%-25%.

The attack on the Third Reich was a joint effort ,but, it is clear that the Red Army played the dominant role in the defeat of the Reich, demoting the Anglo-American war effort to secondary or tertiary importance.

It is always a bit sad to see the claim that the U.S did all of the work in WWII. They entered the war last and they invaded last and when they did invade germany and the surounding countries the first priority was to grab as much German science and scientist as possible before the russians before U.S soldiers were to liberate anyone. It was indeed the russians that did most of the work which explains why the russians did not capture most of the german tech and scientists.

a act that landed the U.S on the moon, but that is a different story.

It is things like this why people outside of the U.S make a face when seeing or hearing all this arrogant and unjustified chest pounding.


This of course does not go for every american but it is the most popular view to put it mildly.

The SS symbol is a piece of cloth, nothing more. You guys are getting all hyped up over something stupid.

Everything is a symbol, so every piece of cloth someone wipes their butt with or uses halfway across the world upsets a million other idiots on the other side. Why? No reason really. There is no rational reason why someone should be upset because of a symbol... NONE!

If you look around you and think for a second it probably won't be long until you see some form of a symbol or culture that was utter blasphemy 100s of years ago, 50 years ago or even 20 years ago. There are masonic symbols on our money here in America, does anyone care? No, are we all masons? No.

The whole point of a marine sniper, or any number of other military fields, is to kill people. They like to wear very aggressive and threatening symbolism sometimes, its on uniforms, helicopters and bombs all the same, this is a tradition of psychological warfare.

At the end of the day it's just two letter S on a piece of cloth, so calm down geez.

Originally posted by Corruption Exposed


However, it was a naive mistake made by Marines who believed the SS symbol was meant to represent sniper scouts and never intended to associate themselves with a racist organization, said Maj. Gabrielle Chapin, a spokeswoman at Camp Pendleton.

(visit the link for the full news article)



What a stupid excuse... That's the exact same symbol. These guys shouldn't be just kept from using the SS symbol, they should be fired altogether. Plus, they look like the typical ultra-violent, macho neonazi nuts.

Products of Fascist America, who grew up with Call of Duty as their education.

I wonder how the Israelis here feel about having Nazis among their allies ranks...

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


I do not buy that they didn't know what the symbols were. Squaddies get carried away easily, regardless of nation. Talk to squaddies and you hear the same sort of stories, regardless of location. They probably thought they were being funny and it has backfired on them.

That is why i keep calling them stupid - i don't think it was malicious, simply badly thought through.

I think they are all, the Marines intelligent enough to have known the subliminal effects this pic would cause. Does this help us military in various parts of the world 1 is not sure.

Originally posted by RSF77
The SS symbol is a piece of cloth, nothing more. You guys are getting all hyped up over something stupid.

Yeah riiight... But a Nazi symbol on a piece of cloth is still a Nazi symbol on a piece of cloth. Meaning that these guys intentionally made this SS symbol on a piece of cloth. It just didn't appear like that, out of nowhere.

Yeah, a symbol is a symbol... what's you point, Einstein? What if you see a protester with a hammer & sickle on his T-shirt, is it still gonna be just a stupid symbol for you? I think not, you hypocrite.

And what about burning your 100$ bills? A "symbol is a symbol", right? Let's put your brilliant claims to the test, if you dare!

reply to post by thisguyrighthere

A perfect closing to the thread. Your comment sums it up entirely.

It's all about how you interpret it and clearly it's the older generations who have a problem with this kind of thing. Ask anyone born in the 1980's what that flag represents and I'd wager that only a tiny fraction could associate that flag with the SS in old Nazi Germany.

Don't you think it's about time the pathetic, whining child like behaviour towards these kinds of things stop? After all, your opinion is just that, an opinion from somebody who won’t make a difference by just sitting in their armchair moaning.

If this really bothers you, go do something about it.

If this doesn’t bother you, kudos. You live in the real world!

reply to post by Echtelion


Regarding the "peace" symbol everyone knows:

This same symbol was used by Hitler's 3rd Panzer Division from 1941 to 1945. The image on the left is the regimental 3rd Panzer Division symbol. Soviet, Polish, and Hungarian citizens, having suffered from the Nazi massacres, undoubtedly struggled with Holtom’s use of the symbol as a thoughtful way to communicate peace. The symbol can also be found on some of Hitler's SS soldiers' tombstones.8

www.teachpeace.com...

You dont know their intentions. You're having a emotional reaction loaded with assumption.

I've just done some digging on the SS symbol.

The rune it is based off of has meant strength and dominance for over a thousand years. Just a tad longer than it has meant nazi jew hate or whatever it is supposed to mean now.

Im sure this will fall really well with Ben Nethenyahu and the US's Isreali friends.
Or maybe its just something the Bush family found in grandaddy Bush's attic and have sent it to the boy's to keep their spirit¡s up.

Originally posted by TrixXxtaR
reply to post by thisguyrighthere

 

A perfect closing to the thread. Your comment sums it up entirely.

It's all about how you interpret it and clearly it's the older generations who have a problem with this kind of thing. Ask anyone born in the 1980's what that flag represents and I'd wager that only a tiny fraction could associate that flag with the SS in old Nazi Germany.

Don't you think it's about time the pathetic, whining child like behaviour towards these kinds of things stop? After all, your opinion is just that, an opinion from somebody who won’t make a difference by just sitting in their armchair moaning.

If this really bothers you, go do something about it.

If this doesn’t bother you, kudos. You live in the real world!

No it's not, and that's not enough to end that thread.

Like I said to the

Yeah, I live in the real world, same real world where there are real neonazis shooting real people who don't shoot back. Nazi Germany and the SS were REAL as well.

I'm pretty sure you'll have a "pathetic, childish" behavior when you'll see a bunch of "commies" with red hammer & sickle T-shirts. You just aren't enough honest to admit your own affinities.

american Nazi's ..yet still they get defended ..only in a america

Originally posted by Echtelion
I'm pretty sure you'll have a "pathetic, childish" behavior when you'll see a bunch of "commies" with red hammer & sickle T-shirts. You just aren't enough honest to admit your own affinities.

Since you keep bringing this up......

Having been a college boy and been surrounded by the communist newspaper peddlers and the weekly random protesting of things I can tell you I have not seen that hammer and sickle and just assumed "commie."

I have however heard chanting and seen flyer posting that has me concluded "commie."

Actions and words. Not symbols.

A symbol only has meaning once paired with actions or words.

I dont see any of these snipers throwing the nazi salute (which alone is another symbol) or distributing pamphlets full of hate speech or stomping on some ethnic caricature.

I a court of a law a symbol is worthless. If you want that symbol to have some meaning you'll have to back it up with more than your emotional hysteria.

Originally posted by RSF77
The SS symbol is a piece of cloth, nothing more. You guys are getting all hyped up over something stupid.

Everything is a symbol, so every piece of cloth someone wipes their butt with or uses halfway across the world upsets a million other idiots on the other side. Why? No reason really. There is no rational reason why someone should be upset because of a symbol... NONE!

If you look around you and think for a second it probably won't be long until you see some form of a symbol or culture that was utter blasphemy 100s of years ago, 50 years ago or even 20 years ago. There are masonic symbols on our money here in America, does anyone care? No, are we all masons? No.

The whole point of a marine sniper, or any number of other military fields, is to kill people. They like to wear very aggressive and threatening symbolism sometimes, its on uniforms, helicopters and bombs all the same, this is a tradition of psychological warfare.

At the end of the day it's just two letter S on a piece of cloth, so calm down geez.

Take a good, hard look at this picture. This is an SS officer standing beside prisoners who are being tortured.

The SS were elite German soldiers who ended up conducting the "Final Solution". They were harbingers of genocide.

There is absolutely no goddamn excuse in stating ignorance to not knowing what the SS symbols are or what they mean. Germans didn't earn their SS badge from simple military service- they have to prove their Aryan ancestry AND the aggression of their nationalism.

It's pretty scary to see American soldiers promoting themselves as the modern SS, especially considering the fact that the Americans are a white-dominated army crusading through brown land.

Perhaps it's "just a piece of cloth" to you. Is the American flag just a piece of cloth too with no meaning? Would you be complaining if these guys had the hammer and sickle flag up instead of the SS flag, because they claim "it looks cool"?

Flags are extremely important in war and politics. They donote territory. When soldiers start waving around Nazi flags on a warzone, then they're fighting for the Nazi cause.

Originally posted by Echtelion

Originally posted by RSF77
The SS symbol is a piece of cloth, nothing more. You guys are getting all hyped up over something stupid.

Yeah riiight... But a Nazi symbol on a piece of cloth is still a Nazi symbol on a piece of cloth. Meaning that these guys intentionally made this SS symbol on a piece of cloth. It just didn't appear like that, out of nowhere.

Yeah, a symbol is a symbol... what's you point, Einstein? What if you see a protester with a hammer & sickle on his T-shirt, is it still gonna be just a stupid symbol for you? I think not, you hypocrite.

And what about burning your 100$ bills? A "symbol is a symbol", right? Let's put your brilliant claims to the test, if you dare!

edit on 10/2/12 by Echtelion because: (no reason given)

edit on 10/2/12 by Echtelion because: (no reason given)

Yep, all the same to me. Just another idiot running his mouth/preaching his loyalty to something/burning paper.

You obviously don't think the same way. This stuff must be important to you.

reply to post by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi


Like I said, calm down. People will do stupid things, so now here 60 years later we can't talk about the fact it's just a piece of cloth without you plastering pictures of dead bodies all over the thread.

I wasn't defending these soldiers using whatever symbolism they want to, just telling the rest of you maniacs what it is in reality: A piece of cloth, that's it. I'm not going to follow you into an argument about the holocaust.

Basically what I am saying is there are a lot more important things to worry about than this, things that are real and not symbols.

reply to post by Flavian



Thanks. Believe it or not, you and I agree on a lot of things. Ive read your posts on the falklands issue and couldnt agree more. I also have the utmost respect for the UK armed forces.

Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi
Perhaps it's "just a piece of cloth" to you. Is the American flag just a piece of cloth too with no meaning? Would you be complaining if these guys had the hammer and sickle flag up instead of the SS flag, because they claim "it looks cool"?

The American is flag is just a piece of cloth. Every flag is. Burn it, stomp it, use it to wipe your ass. What do I care?