A former U.S. Marine who works as a private security contractor in Iraq had to flee the country after his Facebook post warning of the dangers Americans face in the tumultuous country went viral.
Steven Gern’s video, which was posted from Iraq and has been viewed more than 44 million times, came just a few days after President Trump’s executive order triggered massive protests at U.S. airports.
The order temporarily banned travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Gern relayed a short message about conversations he had about the controversial order with Iraqis. He said he asked them what would happen if he, an American, “went out in town.”
He asked the group, “would I be welcome? And they replied, ‘Absolutely not. You would not be welcome,'” Gern recalled.
“They said the locals would snatch me up and kill me within an hour,” said Gern. “I’d be tortured first, and after they were done torturing me, I’d probably be beheaded. It would go on video for everyone to see as an example.”
“This is the local populace that would do this,” Gern pointed out. “This isn’t ISIS, this isn’t al Qaeda.”
He said his question to them was pretty simple: “If you would do this to me in your country, why would I let you in my country?”
Gern went on to say that Americans need to understand that this is the way some of these cultures feel about them.
“Why would you be so ‘naive’ to believe that if they came to the United States they would do anything different that they would do right here in their own country?” Gern asked.
He was on Fox News’ Hannity Friday night to discuss his video, which had been posted on Facebook one recent evening at 11:00 pm. He told Sean that he was surprised that at 5:00 a.m. the next morning it had garnered over a million views.
Gern said after it hit over five million views he was called into his company’s office where he was told he would have to be removed due to “safety issues.”
Ominously, Gern warned that there’s really no good way to vet some of these people.
“What I have learned over the years of working in Iraq and Afghanistan is, they are very good at manipulation. They can manipulate just about anyone. They’re really good at it. They can tell you what they want you to hear. They can keep that up for many, many years, and then eventually when it’s time, they’ll do what they believe is right. And if that is to hurt an American or hurt many of us at one time, they’re going to do it,” he said.
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