Iraq’s Toy Story

This article is a contribution from the students of the
Sciences-Po Journalism School.

__

Are you crying because our anti-terrorist operation scared you? Here, have this doll. Ah, we killed your dog during the same operation. Take this Lego kit, it will help you to get over it.

Toys are coming to Iraq. In order to gain more acceptance from the local population, U.S. soldiers have been distributing stuffed animals and dolls to Iraqi children. A surprising but effective method that does not conflict with religious traditions.

Between charity and opportunism, giving out plush and toys is one of the American unit of psychological operations’s (PSYOPS) methods to win the hearts of young Iraqis.

And it works. Once, while U.S. soldiers were searching houses looking for weapons, the PSYOP were distributing toys on the fly. In the end, this resulted in much less animosity and dirty looks from the Iraqis. A report of a brigade published by Wikileaks – and anonymized by the site – confirms “that giving toys remains an effective way to influence people” during the searches.

Playing Father Christmas is also handy when moving in dangerous neighborhoods. Surrounded by a swarm of children, American soldiers strolled quietly through the streets towards a building “they said was abandoned”. Inside – surprise! – they discovered two “foreign rebels”, dressed with the perfect bomber outfit.

In just one expedition, American soldiers killed three birds with one toy: they not only won the heart of Iraqi children – and their parents, charmed by such generosity – but they also managed to move safely in the streets, before making a handsome anti-terrorist haul.

Operation Give

PSYOPS’s distributions of toys has been emulated in other regiments of the U.S. Army. After offering a toy to a little girl whose “eyes lit up with such joy,” private Paul decided to start his own NGO, Operation Give. He gets toys sent from across the United States, and then redistributes them on the ground. “We want to help American soldiers win the hearts and minds of the people of this region,” said Paul.

Some hearts and minds are far from being conquered by soldiers disguised as Mother Teresa. Sometimes even the children feel the nice Americans are guilty of “propaganda” and so they to refuse their gifts. Other times, the distribution of toys is interrupted by a car heading straight towards them.

American toys and Islam

Are these toys as important to adults? The Americans are careful to avoid offering “naked Barbies” in order not to excite the religious zeal of some Iraqis: the voluptuous shapes of the figure don’t fit well with Islam’s precepts. But the soldiers have been giving out cars, Legos and dolls without hesitation; true “symbols of the infidels,” according to the extremists.

What the insurgents fear the most is that these toys are part of an American tactic to expand their influence, a bit like when, after World War II, GIs were offering chewing gum and chocolate to children in Europe and Japan. Today, it’s little stuffed animals and dolls, but according to insurgents, the same strategy is at work. Behind the apparent generosity of the American soldiers, there isn’t so much a desire to be accepted by local people, but most of all to offer children a taste of the American Way of Life .

The NGO Operation Give does not hide it. If it decided to teach the Iraqis baseball and football, “the American tradition of great games,” it is not just for the pleasure of exchanging them balls more than bullets – but so that these children “learn much more than these games.” Understand: we’ll be glad if the became acquainted with our beautiful culture and American language.

Playing with stuffed animals is good, weapons are better

Where are the children in all this? Surely they’re happy to receive gifts from U.S. soldiers, even if they never leave their bulletprook jacket. However, if Iraqi children could choose, they’d rather have AK-47s, not fluff. Made of plastic and with rubber bullets, but still pretty close to the real thing. Quoted by the newspaper Al-Arabiya , Dr. Nahed Abdul Karim, a sociologist at the Univerisity of Baghdad , says children love to emulate what they see “and hence they wish to have their own weapons.” Mortars, mini-bombs, rocket launchers … as they are (fake) weapons of war, Iraqi children will be happy, reports Al-Arabiya.

For American soldiers, these “toys” are a real headache. In the streets, children walk in groups, AK-47 in hand. We call them “fake gangs”. But sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish them from the real deal, which has threatened the lives of more than one child . Blame it on a war so ubiquitous it has become a game of choice for small Iraqis.

This article was originally published on the website of the Sciences-Po Journalism School

__

Photo Credits: Flickr CC The U.S. Army