HUFFINGTON POST – Afghanistan Base ‘Aryan’ Raises Objections From Soldiers Over Name

Published On: February 13, 2012|Categories: News|4 Comments on HUFFINGTON POST – Afghanistan Base ‘Aryan’ Raises Objections From Soldiers Over Name|

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Selected Article Excerpts:

  • According to MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein, his organization was contacted on Sunday night by a group of Americans and Afghans outraged by the base’s name but afraid to take the matter to their superiors. “The ANA [Afghan National Army] folks did not believe they could go to the Americans, and our own members of the military didn’t think they could go up the chain [of command],” he said.
  • The naming of Combat Outpost Aryan is the second incident involving Nazi symbolism in the military in four days. On Friday, pictures surfaced of Marines in Afghanistan holding what appeared to be the flag of the SS, an infamous paramilitary unit within the Nazi party. The Marine Corps apologized for the incident and Panetta has called for an investigation, but none of the individual Marines in the picture were punished.
  • The MRFF dismissed the military’s reaction to the flag as inadequate, saying it ignores a wider issue in military culture. “These two things could not have occurred outside an environment that is apparently tolerating, if not encouraging,” they said in their letter to Panetta. “Surely your office does not condone such wretched behavior. Given the lack of any meaningful response last week from the Marine Corps, apparently only your office can do something of merit about it.”
  • Despite his disdain for the depth of the military’s response, however, Weinstein said the SS flag incident had allowed concerned soldiers the freedom to inform him about Combat Outpost Aryan. “When it rains, it pours, and they felt that now they had more cover,” he said of the soldiers who contacted him. “The ANA members were particularly terrified.”

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4 Comments

  1. Jim February 13, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    I have a very difficult time believing you were contacted by ANA Soldiers, I suppose it makes this typo over a COP name seem more scandalous, but a blog that touts “religion” in its title should, perhaps, try to be a bit more honest instead of sensational. Regarding the Marines, that symbol has been around for years, it isn’t new. Ask any Scout Sniper (“SS”) about the font. Improper in todays overly judgmental and PC society? Probably. Racist? Doubt it … but Americans love to slander the military and they love to accuse military members of all sorts of atrocities, guilty or not. Americans have no love for their military, but when a war comes to our home front, they’ll change their tune.

    I’ve seen a lot of things in the military during my service, some positive, some negative. The military is a microcosm of society, it happens. Some of you need to get over something you weren’t even around for … the Nazis are not coming for you in the night, and regardless of your hyper sensitive emotions and sense of entitlement, you are not guaranteed freedom from offense. If there was a photo of Marines sporting a real SS symbol while hold their hand out high for Hitler, maybe you would have a complaint. As it stands, it seems you’re more focused on justifying your hurt feelings because you PERCEIVED something to be more than it was. Those Marines, as many before them, are simply proud of being Scout-Snipers and are using a flag with a symbol that’s been around long before they earned their hogs-tooth. Advocating punishment for them shows how simple and petty you truly are.

  2. JJ February 14, 2012 at 2:24 am

    Jim: you weave an interesting story, namely that none of the snipers knew that the flag was from a Nazi militaria site . . . . and they seemingly didn’t know because that purchased flag had been around long before they qualified as snipers. If any of those snipers were of African-American ethnicity, or of Jewish ethnicity, or of Polish ethnicity, they likely would have known about the historical SS symbol, i.e., the lightning flashes as representing “SS”. There are many different fonts to represent “SS” — including this very font that displays while I type. “SS” of course represents other things than the Nazi application — for example, in this country it’s an abbreviation for “Social Security”, although of course the Nazi font is not used in that regard.

  3. MG February 14, 2012 at 8:34 am

    I find it ironic that an organization touting religious freedom, or freedom of any sort, would raise such an issue. In this country we can burn the American Flag as an expression of freedom, yet not use a symbol (SS) because some civilian may not understand what it stands for.
    IT STANDS FOR SCOUT SNIPER, NOT YOUR MISCONCEPTION!
    Is this the same as the N word? OK when black people use it, but not ok for people of other color. Before you hollar bigot, check the mirror, look for intent. Your protest of this could be called bigotry. When I was in the military, our unit patches and mottos were meant to be shocking and intimidating. Last I looked, “Ayran” is an Afganistan term describing Afganistan people. Check your facts before screaming for political correctness, and leave our troops alone so they can do their job, OR join the military and change the system from within.

  4. JLJ February 15, 2012 at 9:00 am

    You guys are ridiculous. Big frigging deal if they call it arayan. I don’t give a crap if they call it your mama. Those men are dying out there everyday. And all you care about is the name of the base. Bunch of hypocrites. Just another reason PEOPLE TURN AWAY FROM THE CHURCH. You want to control everyone’s thoughts. No one can have a belief other than your own. You religious zealots scare the rest of us normal people. You need to be shut down.

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