was working with this guy for years. He was like 60, but would still get deployed when they asked because he loved it. He had no illusions of being a hero or bringing democracy. He would guard oil fields because Iraqis were just blowing them up to get rid of them.

He definitely never told me anything this bad. He called me a tree hugger, he knew I wouldn’t be amused. He would say little things like he didn’t feel bad about killing hadjis because they were trying to kill him, without a hint feel like a hypocrite at all. He told me that they would drive big MRAPs around the countryside and they wouldn’t stop for anything. He said one of their favorite pastimes was looking for farmers crossing their herds of sheep and goats across a road and just completely run through it with their big truck without stopping. He was shocked that I didn’t think that was cool or funny at all.

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 8 points 3 months ago

I read that too but it's slightly unclear from the register if "this guy" meant the guy in the video or some other person who was being introduced (especially since a lot of these statements are really redundant with what can be inferred about the guy in the video), and the way the guy in the video, who looks much younger than 60, is talking, it sounds like he considers that stuff behind him, though that's pure conjecture. idk, between that and there seeming to be a filter darkening his face (which makes it way easier to sell both a traditional and an AI hoax) and the conversation being so "just so" for the narrative, it just seems really fake.

But again, the general idea is true and we have real people who confessed to crimes that are as bad and worse, I just think we need to be really careful about accepting purported evidence uncritically.

[–] hellinkilla@hexbear.net 6 points 3 months ago

I think what that means is "this guy", an acquaintance of the person who is writing the comment, is like a real hardcore jackass mercenary who has seen and done some horrendous shit. The acquaintance is unrepentant, and fears no consequences, and freely shares accounts of his various crimes. He has been in and out of military work for decades so is presumably a known, trusted element and called in when ruthlessness is expected. This guy liked to tell stories to shock the sheltered sensibilities of the commenter and took some joy in emphasizing the brutality in his own stories.

But even this guy "definitely never told me anything this bad." Referring to the video. As in, the video is making more extreme claims than the commenter's acquaintance ever did.

My reading is that the commenter is not corroborating. Actually it's more like they are having a bit of doubt regarding the veracity because it seems outside the boundaries of even what they have learned about this kind of business from the guy they knew.

[–] Belly_Beanis@hexbear.net 4 points 3 months ago

There was a video circa 2008ish of US troops driving along a road when they pass by an elderly Iraqi man and his goats. One of the troops tosses a grenade into the herd and blows up several of them and the man manages to avoid getting hit. They laugh like it was a silly prank. They thought it was so funny they posted it online for everyone to share.

I remember a lot of people were pissed, but I don't think they were disciplined.