FACEBOOK: Soldier investigated for taunting Iraqi children as ‘future gay terrorists’

[26 May 2010] - A Fort Wainwright soldier who posted a video mocking Iraqi children on Facebook is being investigated by the Army.

An American voice can be heard in the background of the video asking two young Iraqi boys, "Are you going to grow up to be a terrorist? Yeah! All right! Cool! Yeah, terrorists! Woo!"

Apparently not understanding, both boys give thumbs-up signs and nod.

"Are you going to plant IEDs? Yeah, awesome," the soldier's voice continues. At this point the older boy seems to understand that they are being taunted and prompts the younger boy to put down his hand.

The boys are also asked if they engage in homosexual acts and they appear to nod and smile.

WRAL first broke the story of the video posted on Spc. Robert A. Rodriguez's Facebook page. The video was titled "future gay terrorists."

Reportedly, Rodriquez wrote in the posting, "I was bored in Iraq. So I kept myself entertained."

Rodriguez has since made his Facebook page private and been ordered to remove the video.

According to details on Facebook, Rodriquez serves as a soldier in Fairbanks, Alaska. WRAL was able to confirm that there is a Robert Rodriguez stationed at Fort Wainwright, just outside of Fairbanks.

U.S. Army Maj. Bill Coppernoll wouldn't confirm the name of the soldier but told ABC News that the actions were "disgraceful." He called the video "not representative of our soldiers."

"The incident is currently under investigation, and the Army will take appropriate action based on the findings of the investigation," said Coppernoll.

The Associated Press spoke to Tim Stallard, a spokesman for Alaskans Together for Equality, about the video. "For anybody to be so cruel and disrespectful to children of any country but especially a country that we are occupying is really disgraceful and repugnant," he said.

Stallard also decried the anti-gay bias seen in the video. "It’s ugly, as well, and it’s sorry to see anybody expressing such unfortunate and strong bias against gay people," said Stallard.

This isn't the first time a video of US troops taunting Iraqi children surfaced on the Internet. In 2006, a YouTube video showed soldiers teasing children with a water bottle.

Further information

pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/Soldier investigated for taunting Iraqi children as ‘future gay terrorists’ | Raw StoryAssociation: The raw story

Country: 

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.