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Viral: Eerie photo of French soldier in Mali upsets military officials (Getty Photo, view at link)
NBC News ^ | 1/27/13 | Isolde Raftery

Posted on 01/27/2013 1:06:18 PM PST by MinorityRepublican

The image was taken innocently enough: A landing helicopter kicked up a dust storm as French soldiers moved toward Niono, in northern Mali, an area held by al-Qaida-linked militant groups.

The soldiers pulled on their goggles to protect their eyes from the dust. One soldier pulled up a black bandana -- with a white skeleton face printed on it -- over his nose. Behind him, light beamed through tree branches, creating an otherworldly image -- the soldier looked like a skeleton in French military fatigues.

Photographer Issouf Sanogo of the Agence France-Presse news agency and Yann Foreix of Le Parisien were drawn to the soldier, whom they photographed. The bandana is an accessory sold for fans of the violent military game “Call of Duty.” At first glance, the soldier bears eerie resemblance to the character Ghost from the video game.

Two days after the images were published in newspapers and news sites across Europe, French military officials have announced that they aren’t pleased with the image, according to newspaper Liberation in Paris.

(Excerpt) Read more at photoblog.nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: france; frenchtroops; gwot; mali
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To: BCW

You mean, ballerinas on the battlefield isn’t an effective psy ops strategy?


21 posted on 01/27/2013 1:22:24 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: BCW
This is the closest pic I could find - I'm not posting my own personal ones of my team members...
22 posted on 01/27/2013 1:23:36 PM PST by BCW (http://babylonscovertwar.com/index.html)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Even the photo credit states that it was a mask ~ and it isn’t ~ !!
By virtue of flying dust caused by a helicopter , one soldier pulled up a bandana to cover his breathing .
This makes it a ‘health and safety’ issue , not a terror issue.
Maybe the French officials would have preferred he be wearing a French ‘tri-color’ bandana ,... but he wasn’t issued one.
The solder is armed and is there to eliminate an armed murderous faction of terrorists ,
and they want him to be dressed like he was going to the “French Open” (tennis match) ?
This is much ado about nothing !


23 posted on 01/27/2013 1:23:39 PM PST by Tilted Irish Kilt (To conquer a nation , first disarm it's citizens ~ Adolf Hitler)
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To: MinorityRepublican
Geezz...

I've worn a similar bandana I've had since the early 80's on cold or dusty rides on my Hardly Dangerous sled...

where's the beef?

24 posted on 01/27/2013 1:24:02 PM PST by JDoutrider
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To: cripplecreek

What’s the BFD?

I have a couple of those masks, myself.

I wear them on the Harley when it’s chilly.

Are they gonna be banned, now?

I like the photo.


25 posted on 01/27/2013 1:27:13 PM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: cripplecreek
Did You missed this -- I was over there when this happened -- the Iraq guards who caught the two insurgents trying to slide through their check point -- they taunted this guy big time -- had a local interp watch it with us...he got red faced and wouldn't fully disclosed exactly what they were saying to this idiot...
26 posted on 01/27/2013 1:28:28 PM PST by BCW (http://babylonscovertwar.com/index.html)
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Comment #27 Removed by Moderator

To: JDoutrider

28 posted on 01/27/2013 1:31:15 PM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: BCW

Allen West understands the need to put fear into the heart of an enemy.


29 posted on 01/27/2013 1:31:53 PM PST by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: cripplecreek
A handout photo released by the Iraqi Defence Ministry in Baghdad November 27, 2007 shows suspected insurgents dressed as a bride and groom shortly after they were caught with two others in Taji, Iraq. Iraqi soldiers arrested four suspected insurgents, two of them dressed as a bride and groom, during what they said was a fake wedding procession in Taji, north of Baghdad, the Defence Ministry said. They did not say when the arrests took place. (Handout/Reuters)
30 posted on 01/27/2013 1:33:03 PM PST by BCW (http://babylonscovertwar.com/index.html)
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To: BipolarBob

eBay is lousy with them as are all motorcycle apparel sites.

Google “skull bandana” or “skull mask”.

There’s a zillion variations.


31 posted on 01/27/2013 1:34:40 PM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: cripplecreek

I remember when that happened - I was in country and a MP Col told me about it - and I thought to myself - outstanding! Then I heard they slammed for it...but he did what a good commander does - Troops First - no matter what!...

That incident makes him qualified to be President - he’s more about the safety of his men when given a chaotic situation and will do what is necessary...hell of guy and leader!!!


32 posted on 01/27/2013 1:37:23 PM PST by BCW (http://babylonscovertwar.com/index.html)
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Comment #33 Removed by Moderator

To: Salamander
I like this one! Should be common issue in Moslem Land to any Christian soldier
34 posted on 01/27/2013 1:40:00 PM PST by BCW (http://babylonscovertwar.com/index.html)
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To: Salamander
I like this one! Should be common issue in Moslem Land to any Christian soldier
35 posted on 01/27/2013 1:40:13 PM PST by BCW (http://babylonscovertwar.com/index.html)
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I like it. Where can I get one?


36 posted on 01/27/2013 1:41:06 PM PST by Venturer
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To: BCW

Re the person sitting on the ground in the wedding gown...are you positive that isn’t Sasquatch on her wedding day? Arms are a dead-ringer.


37 posted on 01/27/2013 1:45:15 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: SevenofNine

NBC has defamed the Call of Duty franchise, I’d expect the lawyers for Treyarch and Activision to post an open letter calling for a retraction of this article, and a public apology. Or not, but the entire article is built on false premise and is full of shit.

The Hell’s Angels have been wearing these bandanas since at least 1973, West Coast, Berdoo, LA, and East Coast in East Village, NYC. There is pretty extensive photography of the East Village Hell’s Angels riding with most of the members wearing this bandana.

The most iconic image of the Berdoo Hells Angels has them wearing these bandanas, photo was taken in ~1972ish.

Even the groupies of the band The Misfits have been wearing them since 1980’s.

The CoD publishers copied the look from the biker gangs, not the other way around.


38 posted on 01/27/2013 1:47:16 PM PST by JerseyHighlander
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To: Venturer

” I like it. Where can I get one? “

RATS !!
Now I have bandana envy !!


39 posted on 01/27/2013 1:48:22 PM PST by Tilted Irish Kilt (To conquer a nation , first disarm it's citizens ~ Adolf Hitler)
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To: Salamander

Thanks


40 posted on 01/27/2013 2:17:51 PM PST by BipolarBob (Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor.)
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