DU techies: Is this photo from Iraq (published by CRG) real?

[bobthedrummer]

I posted this in another thread yesterday and there was no consensus on authenticity-some people claimed it is photoshopped, other people say it is unretouched.

I don't have the tools or skills to make any determination one way or another. I've found CRG/Center for Research on Globalization to be generally quite good as a resource on the Internet, they have published many well researched and documented articles by well respected authors from all over the world.

So now I appeal to those of you with the skills and tools required to make an analysis of photos to weigh-in with your opinion of this pic.

Thanks in advance for your help on this.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BOU403A.html

[AlecBGreen]

1. looks real to me

[LittleApple81]

2. If the guy did it as a joke, it shows such a disrespect for

Iraqis... what can I say. It is stupid, embarrassing and totally repulsive.

[Robin Hood]

3. No, The sign was photoshopped.

nt

[Rick Myers]

4. I'm NOT an expert on doctored photographs, but...

I am a beta tester for Adobe and have used Photoshop for years. A quick examination of the photo gives up NO clue that it's been doctored. Shadows fall correctly and the text on the card appears authentic, not replaced. There are no irregularities as a result of superimposition.

If it is a fake, it was done by a very good professional...

IMHO

on edit: A JPG file is NOT a great piece of evidence, but if that text is doctored, it's done by hand at the pixel level.

[roguevalley]

5. It might be useful for this picture to go to his commanding officer or

unit or the pentagon with a request to kick his ass for humiliating children and his country or it would be circulated throughout the world on the web by mass email. He is making a joke that is offensive beyond belief. If I knew his mother's email I would send it to her.
Those poor little boys.

[w13rd0]

6. looks real...

...imo...

[IronLionZion]

7. If he did all that

then they wouldn't be smiling now would they?

It's not hard to believe the sign is real because those kids don't know what it says.

[laura888]

8. the line up of the 3 people look real

by looking at the shadows - obviously, these 3 people all stood together for this photo. This is probably the hardest thing to fake - the light source is shared.

On the other hand, the writing on the cardboard could easily have been added later.

That said - being at war, means that certain common, law-abiding conducts go out the window. This is the nature of war. Foreign soldiers raping civilians is a universal part of war. I'm sure its happening today.

[blondeatlast]

9. It would be VERY easy for a skilled Photoshopper

to fake the sign. I'm an adequate one, and I could do it in a few minutes.

IMHO, a fake. This kind of stuff we don't need.

[starroute]

10. The finger partly covering the word "then" would be hard to fake

I'm not an expert -- just someone who's messed around with photos. I did a Zoom In on the sign (love those Firefox plugins!) and couldn't see a single pixel that looked out of place.

I suspect that anybody creating a false text would probably try to avoid doing anything as tricky as having a finger covering part of it.

However, the picture was showing a lot of jpg artifacts, especially around the letters on the sign, meaning that's there's been a certain amount of loss of information compared to the original. It would be nice to have a higher-quality version to check.

[mmm]

11. There is no way to know

I have been working with this stuff for years.
The resolution is poor enough to make it impossible to
tell for certain one way or the other. Apparent fragmentation
could be the result of poor resolution or could have been caused by
photo shop attempts to improve the picture. Or it could be
fake. But it also could be real. I see nothing that is
grossly inconsistent with it being a real photo.

[Bucky]

12. Looks real. This is tacky, gallows humor, but certainly not a war crime

The guy's being a jerk, but you do want to have troops w/ good morale, which among marines like Lance Corporal Boudreaux means a certain cockiness about his killing a sexual prowess. How's this any different than a rapbragging about "getting bitches" and killing cops when the artist obviously has done little to none of either? How's this different from latest liberal darling Howard Stern's humor? This is your First Amendment in action, baby.

It's tacky, but it is less than an atrocity.

[Bucky]

13. Here's yet another picture of the same Marine, same old tricks

Can you believe this guy? Well, at least he's teaching those kids some grammar skills.

[bobthedrummer]

14. Now that photoshopped pic you did Bucky is obvious to me

because of the differences in the cardboard sign, hand placement and the shadows-but there are still questions about the original.

I am inclined to think it is real, I would think that the guy really did pull a disgusting trick on those non-English speaking kids-to the shame of the USMC imo.

[Deb]

15. Where is his US military insignia?

I'm no expert but believe it to be photoshopped.