I was in the 133rd combat heavy engineer battalion stationed in Mosul and spent a few months in Kurdistan in 04-05. The Kurds were amazing people and we befriended them very quickly. My squad built a small clinic for the people that live up in the mountains so they have somewhere to go nearby for medical attention. The children in the village brought us chai tea everyday and we would give them snacks and any pork-free meals from our MRE's. I traded Michael Jackson cds for prayer beads with the children. When we would visit the nearby town (named after Princess Diane) we would take our Kevlar off and just carry our unloaded weapons. We were safe there. The people were our friends and still are. I'd love to go back someday.
I served In Iraq too (OIF1 & OIF3 w/ 1-64Armor, 2BCT, 3ID), never got up to Mosul and the Kurdish areas, was always in Baghdad, but really have great memories of the people and places and I too would love to go back and visit. I just wish things turned out for the better in the whole country.
twothreebravo i tought you were saying a bunch of letters and numbers but i saw 3ID and i just recognized 3rd Infantry Division, there's a military roleplaying group on roblox that is based off of the 3rd Infantry Division
Damn, that was a really interesting video. Really didnt expect this kind of on-the-field content from Cracked. Excited about that new side of the site!
FrankieSmileShow ONE THINGist in the West will never think about that is pointed out in the video, is that you can live almost exactly they way you do now (as an average mall-going, light drinking, non-religious citizen) in most of the Muslim world. In Malaysia, you find mosques and Buddhist temples next to one another. In Morocco and Turkey half the women don't wear scarves.
I've been listening to him on worst year ever and BtB since January and this is the first I've seen him talk for a long time too. Weird to match the voice to the face.
This is so weird to me. I have literally spent hours listening to Robert talk on behind the bastards. So weird actually seeing him. Rip cracked videos, I miss you.
Great video. Like he said, it does give you a sense of hope for future generations. These people are doing great work and making some pretty hefty sacrifices.
Because it's an easy target. It so easy to slap current standards on something and judge. I keep saying in the USA in today's era, NONE of our founding fathers would ever get elected because of things they did, or vices they may have had.
Ryan McFarlane And yet we in the west are barely funding them and supporting them. We need to push for recognition of Kurdistan as a country and give them an ambassador to the U.N. In the future we'll look back and see how stupid it is of us to not support them.
Any American that's been to the Middle East for an extended period of time knows the Kurds are a pretty amazing group of people. I'm glad you guys decided to do this and help show off one of the most resilient and US friendly groups in the region.
Hey guys, Im a Iraq army veteran and its so refreshing to hear about the Kurds again and how they kick ass. They are very westernized compared to the region and even before Isis was around the pershmerga were kicking ass and helped the Iraq Kurds peaceably boot out the regular Iraqi army out of their cities through a peaceful demonstration filled with patriotism. All their children were going to schools and everyone was polite and they even invited us to their celebration afterwards.
How the hell did Cracked, as in THAT Cracked, the one that tried to publish a humor magazine to compete with MAD, would become one of the most interesting and reliable news organizations of our day?
Coming back to this, after listening to Robert Evans in behind the bastards, it could happen here, and worst year ever. He just seems so much more positive here, so youthful, and it’s only about 2 years difference. Damn man, I feel for you.
This is eye opening. I had no idea there was a part of Iraq that was like this, its amazing to know that there is decent ppl and not just monsters in the middle east
Jayden Nash i am happy u found it eye opening i live in this region he mentioned and most of my problems are first world like potholes stupid drivers these things
Jayden Nash so you really thought everyone in the middle east was monsters OMG. Look at Iran they are litteraly just like all of us stop looking at fox and Alex Jones humans are humans everywhere.
Jayden Nash Obviously. The vast majority are decent like that until war come a-knocking in their doors. Even then there are plenty of humans on all sides that are just... normal.
@Ben Saber Exactly. Americans have a hard time understanding how their actions have caused their problems. No one does more damage to American than America itself while some enjoy wealth from its deterioration.
It's actually Facebook fault. They lied to media companies about how many views videos can get on Facebook and as a result Cracked and many other media sites invested heavily in video production. Eventually the truth about Facebook video analytics came out and Cracked was left with nothing as a result.
@lemonielala3080 Alternatively, they would have done something similar on cracked as well. But then they wouldn't have ownership, soo. Huh. I guess it's all for the best that Cracked was run into the ground
Kurdistan is the light at the end of the tunnel. A true example of what a muslim society can look like in the modern world, while still not trying to be western.
Why yes: the descendants of genocidal monsters who massacred the Christians of a region, and are trying to claim the lands of those Christians as their own. Can't get more Islamic then that!
NoyzBot they've been doing this journalism stuff on their website for years-they've just been articles, not videos. Cracked hasn't changed at all ya walnut
ItsZara, first of all, such slurs are uncalled for and belittle your character. Second of all, I believe NoyzBot's point was that if ostensible comedy sources become better, more honest portrayers of news than actual news sources, why keep the crappy old ones?
NoyzBot I don't think you should shut down Fox just yet, these are all liberal news sites. I'm no conservative, but that's where they get their jollies.
There's being republican/conservative... Then there's literally just being moronic, same goes for liberal news too. Fox cannot be trusted with anything -.-
I've seen the stuff like the abused and forgotten, like the protected witness and the ex-IRA bomber, but I didn't think they ever sent anyone anywhere. maybe I'm wrong?
how fucking skewed is the average united states citizens world view that they managed to elect Donald Trump. A literal meme of a human. How. Please, tell me. I'm desperate to understand.
He lost the popular vote, won the electoral by 77 thousand people in a few key states, and both candidates were the least popular in recent memory, with Trump being even worse. Many people only voted for him because they hated Clinton more, and many of them didn't believe he would do half the things he was saying.
Thats precisely the thing their elitists political types say. There are no problems. Everything is fine and according to plan. Don't look, don't listen. Just do as we say and accept everything we throw at you while living on our mansions on the hill far removed from the problem we created and will never have to face. I am happy with trump.
Helpertin, Donald Trump played lip-service to a few real problems most politicians don't address, and has done little to actually solve those problems, and most likely will do nothing meaningful to do so. Most of what he preached was horrendous and hate-filled, which is the part of his campaign he is actually keeping the promises of. If you like Donald Trump, you have either bought into lies he has told, or you are prejudice against large groups of people based on the actions of small minorities. I hope for your sake it is the former.
This video might not get as many views as some of your other videos, but I appreciate the effort that was put into this actual piece of journalism. Props to Jack O'Brien and Robert Evans for not sticking with the tried and true.
Thank you. That was the best piece of boots on the ground pieces of modern journalism I've seen in my life and I can remember daily Vietnam news casts. No underlying spin or bias, just the facts.Thank you very much, your way to good for network news!
Cracked, I really enjoyed this video. It did not have your normal snark or kitsch, but given the topic that was appropriate. Thank you for making a video that helped me know the world better.
The overarching theme I'm getting from these guys is that the general ideology they share is pretty much that of ideal humanity. They are relaxed and know how to enjoy life, but at the same time are unafraid of death and selflessly put themselves between the enemy's bullets and their civilians. I'm not saying any individual is perfect, but seriously, 1.8 million refugees? They're not afraid that one of them is a terrorist, or that their comfortable lifestyle could be affected by newcomers like America is. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be an American and support my country through thick and thin. But honestly, I feel like these guys are Americans in spirit if not in name or ancestry. P.S. No cultural appropriation, not trying to brag about American values or anything, just nice learning about people that in spite of imperfections will not only fight evil but not lose themselves to evil in the process, like we unfortunately have to a major extent.
Rasim Valdes Laribi some kinds of socialism isn't a bad thing-I'm not sure if your personality American or not but it constantly surprises me how many Americans recoil at the word-frankly i blame the Cold War for that. We in the U.K have socialism in our healthcare and frankly it's far better than American healthcare-thats just one example. Socialism isn't inherently good or bad in every situation,just like capitalism isn't as well-it's such a shame that socialism is such a dirty word in America,especially when someone is talking about democratic socialism-unfortunately it turns people off just from hearing that word even if they don't understand the concept. Sorry I get up on my soapbox sometimes when I've had a few Guinness's haha
I love the Kurds! GREAT people! And, +Cracked, that was a terrific report! Thanks so much for posting it. I really glad you're continuing your transition also offering actual news in addition to the other terrific content you make.
@@rabbischlomobengoldbergstein Just curious, did you say that because you have a 'better' pick? I know it's kinda pointless saying 'better' as there are a million different things it could mean, paired with personal experiences, etc. And obviously people will disagree, even about specific subjects, let alone such a generality. Anyway, thought I'd see.
I really want to se more of this, like a series just from this trip. It seems like there is so much interesting material and that you can go into much more detail about everything. This is what I really want and need to see
This video is amazing. I didn't expect to come to Cracked and learn valuable information, and witness real journalism. I can't express how this has affected my view of the world, but it has certainly given me much to think on.
The best journalism gives viewers a scene of nuance. So often people paint their pictures of the world with only a few colors and brushstrokes rather than seeking to copy the detailed masterpiece of the world.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! The personal experience articles are my favorite part of Cracked. I am so excited to see you add a video segment as well. I especially love the way you approach every story without judgement and help us see life through someone else's eyes. Can't wait for the next installment!
If he could add a bit of professionalism into the way he speaks when talking about his experiences he honestly could win a Peabody. I havent seen ANYTHING like this from ANY major network since the start of the second gulf war.
fuck the peabody, i respect him for keeping true to himself and speaking the way he does, don't change for anyone or to win any 'peabody award'. awards are for personal ego, i don't think this guy is doing all this for his own personal ego. do you? if you understand this, then why are you telling him to be selfish for himself to win awards? lmao
Professionalism means speaking for the lowest common denominator. A good journalist is able to represent the truth of their story, which he does. The who, what, where, whens and why are what matter, not the syllable length of words. As someone mentioned this is in similar style to how Vice started and their growth to becoming HBO supported content is not to be undervalued.
Never meant to disparage the content. I thought it was rather good, and told a story that most people had probably never heard. My only critique was in the way the story was told. Its exceedingly casual for story that is such a heavy subject. I thought it did disservice to the rest of the content.
Wow! This is my cheeky television commentary channel, and that video was one of the coolest bits of journalism I've seen in a while. Make more of this!
Jews and Kurds have a lot in common. Both are native populations to their respective regions of the Middle East that have fallen under Arab and later Turkic control. The difference is that one regained their own sovereignty, and the other is still fighting. As a Jew, I fully support the Kurdish fight for independence.
The personal experience section is one of my favorite parts of the site, I'm really glad and excited that they're finally bringing it to the RU-vid channel.
Absolutely fascinating and such an amazing bit of journalism. It's so refreshing to see that part of the world in anything other than a negative light. It gives me hope that 20 years from now it will be a well developed area that will be looked upon like Northern Ireland or back home in Latin America is today as a place that is growing into a prosperous society in spite of its troubled past.
NIELS MICHIELS it's because you only see the content that those people want you to see. The same goes for Erdoğan supporters. Don't split up and choose a side, help the citizens instead and make sure they're safe. That's my way to go
NIELS MICHIELS i'm a non supporter but a turk, with a bit of knowledge on the issue so I should tell you that the iraqi kurds (barzani) is allied with the turkish government (erdogan)
Well actually Erdogan's government supports Iraqi Kurdistan and have had good ties with them. Turkey only doesn't want to give a portion of their land.
We were doing convoy ops from Mosul to Turkey, and back to Mosul (2007-2008). The Kurds were F'n Outstanding! Once, a man (a Kurd) with an AK slung over his shoulder stood in the middle of the road, waving at us to stop our convoy. He was very persistent. So, once we had security set, we approached the man. Our terp talked with him, but all I heard the Kurdish man say, over and over, was, "Al Qaeda! Al Qaeda!" So, of course, we were all thinking, "This sh*t's about to get Real, FAST". So the dude walks us around a nearby building (We were clearing corners and using proper security TTPs--all for nothing, as it turned out). There, behind the building, lying on the blood-soaked ground, with two bullet holes in his chest and another in his face, was a former member of al Qaeda, who, apparently, had thought it would be a good idea to go into Kurdistan a bit and begin to shake down the villagers and "lay down the law" regarding who was NOW in charge...Turned out that it wasn't Him, and it wasn't going to be Any AQI (Al-Queda Iraq) associated people, at least not There, in Kurdistan. We all had a good laugh...eventually, once things settled down...and we showed our appreciation for the Kurds' handiwork by giving him several cases of bottled water and a box of MREs. Good Times!!
When I loaded up this video I just wanted to skip to the launcher part but when I realized what the video was about and how serious it was taking the subject I decide to watch it and rewatch. Don't loose your humorous vids but keep up ones like this one too.
Love this video, and the personal insight it provided into a relative unknown of a region. Also glad to have some uplifting news coming out of a shitshow. Well done Cracked!
