Canadian flag tattoos popular among Afghan insurgents

Even as Afghan insurgents do their best to kill Canadian soldiers with roadside bombs, they are increasingly choosing Canadian flags for their new tattoos, reports Newsweek. Counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen says he began to notice the maple leaf tattooed on Afghan insurgents and set to find out why. Kilcullen learned that the flag has become linked to the Toyata Hilux pick-up truck, which is the vehicle of choice for those fighting the coalition. It turns out that a flood of counterfeit pick-ups had disappointed insurgents, until they learned to distinguish genuine Hiluxes by the Canadian flag on the back. (Those with the Canadian flag had been sent by the Canadian government.) As a result, the flag now symbolizes “high quality” to Afghan insurgents, says Kilcullen.

Newsweek