US gang graffiti in Iraq
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US Gang graffiti in Iraq is graffiti produced by members of street gangs from the United States. These gang members were recruited by the US military as soldiers, likely without knowledge of their gang membership and deployed to Iraq to fight in the Iraq war, which began in 2003.
Among the largest American street gangs represented in Iraq are the Gangster Disciples, Black Disciples, Latin Kings, Vice Lords, and Black P. Stones, which originated in some of Chicago's most violent and impoverished neighborhoods. [1][2][3] There are also reports of Aryan Nations, Aryan Brotherhood and Ku Klux Klan gang graffiti in Iraq. [4].
The Christian Science Monitor reports that there has been a flowering of graffiti from Iraqi citizens since the fall of Saddam.[5] During Saddam's administration graffiti writers were severely punished.
[edit] References
- ^ Gangs claim their turf in Iraq, Chicago Sun-Times, May 1, 2006
- ^ Military-Trained Gang Members Worry Police, ABC News, May 3, 2006
- ^ US troops lose their morale, sanity in Iraq and live on antidepressants, Pravda, May 16, 2006
- ^ [[1]]Racist extremists active in U.S. military
- ^ Once forbidden, graffiti flowers in Baghdad, Christian Science Monitor, February 8, 2004