Officer of the Piece

(click image for the better view)

This is the image that accompanied a grim story in Thursday’s NYT titled Police Recruits Among Massacre Victims Found in Iraq.

According to the article, 25 bodies, some with police ID, were found in the desert east of Baghdad. The men were reported to be from Samarra and were studying at the Baghdad Police Academy. Also, another mass grave was discovered north of Baghdad containing the bodies of 11 more police officers and soldiers. Although ethnic affiliation was not provided, it was noted that Sunnis that have joined the security forces have recently been special targets of insurgents.

So, what are we to make of this image depicting Iraqi police in southern Baghdad at the scene of a car bombing?

On the “up” side, we have the reassuring sight of Iraqi police responding to domestic terrorism. On the “down side” — given the wreckage and the “what’s all this” gesture of the cop in the background — we get more of a sense of “too little, too late.” However, the fact the officer closest to us holds a gun behind his back is, pardon the expression, too loaded to escape primary attention.

The caption identifies this partial figure as a member of the force, but how much can we trust the fact? Given the risk to Iraqi policeman from one of their own, does the image offer a new dimension to the term “watch your back?”

Not to complicate things further, but news stories and pictures cannot exist outside the political realm. Given America’s new (and highly publicized) strategy to support and supervise Iraqi police forces, it’s hard not to consider that context. With the premium the U.S. is placing on professional practice, it’s disconcerting to see this gun so accessible in what otherwise seems like an investigation scene. But maybe that’s just one clue to the kind of challenge the Americans are facing. If, in the States, power derives from a show of discipline, in Iraq, it clearly looks like it’s the other way around.

(revised: 1/20/06. 7:27 am PST)

(image: Max Becherer/Polaris for The New York Times. January 19, 2006. Baghdad, Iraq. nyt.com)

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weisseharre

noh witnesses
DonM

Looks a lot like Los Angeles after a police pusuit only more chaotic.
http://ruinsofempire.blogspot.com/ Rafael

Reminds me for some reason of that infamous picture of the Saigon Police Chief blowing the brains off a would be Viet Cong sabateur.
It says to me:
“Don’t you worry buddy, I’m coming for you soon.”
http://areyoudressed.blogspot.com momly

Maybe I’ve been watching too much TV; when I first glanced at this, I thought it might be an episode of CSI or one of those knock-offs. I wondered if I had clicked on the link of BAG or not.
I’m not at all comforted that I am looking at something real. The hair trigger-ness of the picture is justthisside of chaotic. I am not dissuaded that my pessimism regarding Iraqi self rule is justified.
Gasho

What an intriguing picture! The Gun is in the center, but the trigger finger is in the Dead Center. I “feel” this shot as much as I see it.
It is as if view is in the mind’s eye of the gunman, half listening to the police officer, half scanning the scene, but focused on the feel of that trigger.
The uniformed policeman seems like the vulnerable one here. He could get blown to bits if he doesn’t have the right Sunni/Shiite lean, suggests the wrong culprit, or digs too deeply into the case. Solving the case is of minimal importance. Staying alive for a few more paychecks is the job of the police in Iraq.
jt from BC

While I work on this picture I suggest a quick perusal of
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=50043
So many of the pictures and topics discussed over the past months on the BNN find poignant resonance in this article.
Cactus

At first, my impression of this photo was that it was too disorganized to ‘get into.’ But after reading the comments, and the excellent article recommended by jtfromBC, I think I was put off exactly BECAUSE of the in-your-face chaos. Which is, of course, just what is happening in Iraq.
First are the clumps of palm trees, which remind me of California’s deserts; I can almost feel the dry air hitting my face. Then the remains of the car bomb on the left, and all the people on that side are looking/moving out of the frame. Except for the lone man standing back from the curb who appears to be looking at the man with gun.
On the right side is the policeman in vest making a pleading gesture with his hands pointing out of frame on that side.
Exactly in the center is the gun (can someone tell if it is cocked?) held by someone who could be a policeman or not. I think not. Also, what is it that seems to be a large screen over the destroyed car? It seems to be just hanging in mid air – like the tension.
No one in the picture knows all that is going on. From the POV of the gun, all the action is exploding outward, even the arm holding the gun goes upward out of frame.
http://profile.typekey.com/aog/ Annoying Old Guy

Note that the guy with the gun at least has good gun discipline – his finger is near the trigger but not on it. Given what normally passes for gun handling in the Middle East, that’s a good sign.
Rafael;
Your comment gives me deja vu. Further detail on the photograph and what the photographer thought of it is instructive, particularly that the person shot wasn’t a “would-be saboteour” but someone who had already killed men in the shooter’s unit.
http://ruinsofempire.blogspot.com/ Rafael

I forgot, the picture was a street side execution. And I would think that I would not be so quick to kill a captured man, even after he had kill some of my own. In this picture it seems that the police officer is waiting for that chance. If given a chance would he do the same as that South Vietnamese police General? Would we?
jt from BC

Taking a cue from Cactus I can ‘get into’ this picture viscerally but can’t find a way out. With or without a gun, in a car, walking the street, asleep in bed, being “a good or evil person,” the people of Iraq are in the biggest Russian Roulette Game of this or of many decades, the cylinders keep spinning and the triggers keep clicking and the majority who die may not even have time to ask, like me WHY ?
Pops

Let’s just assume that’s an officer holding the gun, the deeper message of the picture editorially lies in the position behind the back, as others have hinted at. The key moment is the posture of the gun-wielder, it’s the position that “perps” should be in once the authorities arrive (in handcuffs). This speaks to both police ineptitude or wolves in sheep’s clothing.
black dog barking

Yes, the trigger finger is on the trigger guard, a sign of wariness but not imminent danger. There are two people moving away to the left, one perhaps looking back at whatever has brought the police. The uniform is motioning to the ground to our right, a gesture I interpret as resignation, what can you do? Another man stands at a safe distance, apparently watching, his right hand behind his back. Another wary handgun perhaps?
(Serendipity, I’m listening to Steve Earle, The Devil’s Right Hand—

So then I went and bought myself a Colt 45
Called a peacemaker but I never knew why
Never knew why, I didn’t understand
Cause Mama said the pistol is the devil’s right hand

)