I think the tapes will prove or disprove the soldier's claim that the beating was warranted or unwarranted.
I agree with you that showing disrespect or being a jerk is certainly no green-light for a beating-- and so far, we only have one side of the story.
Where I have a problem with the guy's story is: not only did he push the issue at the checkpoint, to the point where he missed his flight, but he then went back and re-engaged.
From his own statements, it's fairly clear to me that he went into the situation with a military vs. civilian attitude about authority, and refused to do anything but attempt to escalate an already deteriorating situation. Certainly not the leadership qualities I looked for in an NCO when I was in.
Tape in post 16.
I'd cut the guy a little slack on that. It's hard to transition from Iraq back to the real world, especially in situations like this. You're used to being an equal with the guards, and heated talk like that isn't unusual when something is dicked up. I know of an NCO that started screaming obscenities at a gate guard and gave him a 5 minute red-faced tirade after the guard had mistakenly shot at him.
So, the idea that you can get your ribs broken for talking back to a guard about a soda can can be a hard thing to wrap your head around. Until you're reacclimated to civilization, that is. ;-)
I completely agree that this guy was being an arrogant jerk and showed poor judgement. I just haven’t heard anything yet that would convince me that he deserved the beating he got. I’ve seen too many instances of people supposedly “resisting arrest” where the cops went way overboard on the application of force. Maybe this isn’t one of these cases. I’m reserving judgement.
I don’t care what he said, he didn’t fight them and shouldn’t have been beaten and broken up. This is just wrong, unless I’ve moved to a police state and don’t know it.