Senior British officer brands US soldiers 'racist' in Iraq

scotsman: A senior British officer has launched a scathing attack on the United States army and its operations in Iraq.

Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster accused the Americans of "cultural insensitivity" that amounted to institutional racism and "moral righteousness" which led in extreme cases to distorted military judgments.

Writing in the US army-published Military Review magazine, Brigadier Aylwin-Foster, who was the deputy commander of a programme training the Iraqi military, said the failings may have spurred the growth of the insurgency.

The Washington Post, which reported the article, said his comments had already provoked an intense reaction among US officers.

Brigadier Aylwin-Foster said of his US colleagues: "While they were almost unfailingly courteous and considerate, at times their cultural insensitivity, almost certainly inadvertent, arguably amounted to institutional racism."

The US army's approach during the early occupation "exacerbated the task it now faces by alienating significant sections of the population", he said.

While the US army had an "unparalleled sense of patriotism, duty, passion, commitment, and determination" US forces seemed "weighed down by bureaucracy, a stiflingly hierarchical outlook, a pre- disposition to offensive operations, and a sense that duty required all issues to be confronted head-on". Read more