It comes as no surprise to those of us in other nations that the United States needs professional help.
They have recently begun advertising for it.
Unfortunately, while the advertising gives every indication that this is a good old-fashioned show business audition in that great Hollywood Baby-I-Can-Make-You-A-Star tradition, the bait and switch factor here is of a standard of viciousness that would give even CAA pause.
They’re actually looking for “Arabic-looking people” to play the enemy in live war games. Oops, did we not mention that? Sowee!
They came with dreams of working on a movie set, or at the very least of earning some respectable cash as a walk-on extra, encouraged by a mysterious advertisement printed recently in a Berlin tabloid.
But the reality was different for dozens of Arab-speaking applicants at a supposed casting session, only to be told they were wanted to play Iraqis and Afghans in a US wargame planned for later this month.
I can certainly see the War Games Marketing Manager vetoing a “apply here to get treated like Iraqis by the US Army” format, but a little more disclosure and, perhaps, a lot more cash, might have resulted in an uptake ratio greater than the reported four out of dozens.
…many turned back at the door when asked: “Do you have anything against working for Americans?” …One Moroccan man refused to take part, saying: “I will not help the Americans hurt my brothers…”
“We’re looking for more realism,” said Reggie Bourgeois, executive officer of the US Army’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Bavaria. “The more actual culture we can inject into the exercise the better it is for our soldiers.”
“After all, we’re in the business of dealing with the culture.”
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raincoaster 
“After all, we’re in the business of dealing with the culture.”
Now THERE’s a better slogan than “An Army of One”
And they say the news doesn’t have anything new in it. I certainly never heard that line before!
I wonder what else was not disclosed? “Please supply own wound dressings” perhaps?
They certainly have a policy of ‘open engagement’ with the culture. I mean, they ask questions first and shoot second, like, every third or fourth time. Right?
I’m loving the fact that they did this in Germany, to keep it off the media radar. Because nobody in Germany would be cautious about vague, ethno-specific requests for registration and transportation, no way.
The US Army: Dealing with the culture since 1890
And again the VoordPress ate my comment!
If this one vanishes, I’m posting another below saying “You see?”
You see?
WP comment filter sucks.
Next time a comment vanishes, send an email directly to support at wordpress dot com with a link to the thread. This is an ongoing problem and I can’t do a damn thing about it. Only they can.