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After this photo (below) was published in this
month's Airman's Quarterly magazine, an astute reader remembered a
little nugget of information the magazine published not long
before ... |
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A young Jundi [Iraqi Recruit] gives a thumbs up to a passerby
as he marches back to his living quarters. |
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Airman's Quarterly (Spring 2006): Ah, those happy, loyal
Iraqi recruits. But wait ... what's this? Less than a year
earlier, Airman's Quarterly magazine was singing a different tune
... the following information was published as part of the magazine's
cultural protocol
tips ... |
Thumbs up, like the OK symbol, is a
positive symbol in American culture, but this same gesture is an
offensive Iraqi insult, equivalent to using the middle finger in the
Western world. Some media savvy Iraqis may understand the Western
meaning of an upturned thumb as “all is OK,” but other Iraqis may see
the gesture in its traditional sense. |
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So ... was the Iraqi recruit pictured
above giving two thumbs up -- in the traditional American sense -- or
was he telling the photographer to shove his tripod where the sun
don't shine? Honestly, we don't care, but it's still kind of
funny. Maybe in the next issue the magazine can run the top
10 reasons why deploying really, really sucks (yeah, that last sentence isn't funny
unless you read this months magazine). |
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