Thumbs up—good or bad?
Soldiers Magazine, August, 2005 by Jose Garcia
The photo on page 8 of the May article "Making a Difference in Iraq" shows a group of young Iraqi boys gathered around a Texas Army Guard Soldier in Baatah, Iraq. One of the boys is making the "thumbs-up" gesture at the camera, and is smiling.
Maybe I heard wrong, but when I was in Iraq I was told several times that the "thumbs up" sign means something very different to Iraqis than it does to us. To them, it is an obscene gesture, and I think the kid is smiling because he's getting away with dissing us.
SPC Jose Garcia via e-mail
COPYRIGHT 2005 Soldiers Magazine
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