Mark Hertling

These guys are not generating pride.

They are being sent on the street to create havoc and to violate rights.

So it just infuriated me.

And that's even starting to get hot talking about it.

That's why I wrote the piece.

And by the way, that idea for the billboard campaign was generated by the Iraqi minister of the interior, the guy who was in charge of police forces, kind of the equivalent of the Homeland Security secretary.

And it just was fascinating to us that they had come such a long way.

I was first there in 2003 and 2004, and the next time was 2007 and eight.

And what we saw was a taking a pride.

And even if you see pictures of me in the second tour, I'm wearing the American flag on one shoulder and the Iraqi flag on the other because I wanted to be associated with their security forces.

And they were constantly out with our troops doing combined operations with both our military police and also our infantry and armor and artillery guys as well.

So it just showed a change of attitude.

And one of the things I didn't put in the article, you know, you go to any American city and on the side of police cars, there is the equivalent of something like to protect and to serve or, you know, any kind of motto like that in a local police.

That's not what these guys are doing.

That's not what these ICE people are doing.

They're intimidating and being thugs.

It's...

anathema to what we believe in in terms of security forces.

The thing that bothers me, though, Tim, is they don't seem to care what their favorability rating is.

And this is what's troubling, because I think we are at an inflection point after last week's killing where it could go one way or another.