A crowd of angry ex-Iraqi soldiers swarmed a convoy of coalition troops in Baghdad protesting the fact that they haven’t been paid in over three months. This is despite the fact that L. Paul Bremer III, the authority in the reconstruction, disbanded the Iraqi military almost immediately upon taking his position there. What is evident is that there is a culture clash that is resulting in deaths on the Iraqi side. Perhaps they should stop for a moment and realize it isn’t business as usual anymore.

Iraqi’s, both civilian and ex-military, have to come to the realization that the coalition forces in control of their country during this time of reconstruction are not going to react kindly to their quaint custom of swarming authorities while hurling rocks, breaking windows and setting fire to flags for hours on end. This is a custom unique to the Middle East and extreme left-wing protest factions of the free world. Where as these hectic and seemingly unorganized displays of affection are understood in the Middle Eastern world as simple displays of "free speech” peppered with frustration, the Western world sees them as offensive actions. In the worst case scenario Westerners could misconstrue these simple "embraces” as acts of violence against them. That’s when the bad stuff starts.

So, with that in mind, here are a few things that the Iraqi’s can do to make sure that their hectic and seemingly unorganized displays of affection are not misunderstood.

Don’t throw rocks. In fact, don’t throw anything. Throwing things at people can get you into a lot of trouble. In fact, when you hit a man with an M-16 in the face with a rock you could get shot. It’s a natural response to want to throw something back when you get hit with something. The coalition forces just throw their things back out of the ends of gun barrels.

When you get together in small groups of a thousand or more try not to rush and swarm armed convoys of people who are trying to help your country along toward a better way of life. As strange as it may be that Westerners do not understand that all you might want to do is talk in a rational and coherent manner about the issues at hand, we see it a bit differently. Call us paranoid but when a group of a thousand people come running down the street toward us pumping their fists in the air and screaming angrily, well, it is quite disconcerting. I know it may seem ridiculous to many Middle Easterners and seasoned left-wing protesters but the running and the punching of the air, well, it can make you look like you are going to do something bad. In Iraq these days it can get you shot.

Don’t break windows to buildings or vehicles and whatever you do don’t set them on fire. I know that most likely it is just the Middle Eastern way of ending a sentence with an exclamation point but you have to remember that Westerners don’t read Arabic as a rule. Perhaps it is a communication problem between the two languages but until all of us speak fluent Farsi perhaps you shouldn’t break or set-fire to anything. In the West that is called vandalism and in some cities, counties, and states throughout the U.S. it can once again, get you shot.

Try not to set fire to our flags. We just don’t view this practice as being all that friendly. It may be that your intensions are to convert the symbols of our countries into smoke so that they can rise to Allah in order to be closer to The Almighty but if that is the case no one has ever explained it to us. In the West this is viewed as hating the people the flag represents. In fact, it really goes a long way to turn our compassionate nature rather jaded. This combined with any of the above can once again, get you shot.

Now I know this seems like a lot to take into consideration and perhaps the members of the coalition forces are a bit wary of your intentions. But you have to keep in mind that there are still some people scattered among the newly freed people of Iraq that for some strange reason still want to help the guy who was having your women raped, your sons tortured and everyone else in your family that didn’t agree with him completely murdered. They are still trying to kill the soldiers who liberated you. I know it seems hard to understand, we don’t understand it either.

So, as Dennis Miller would say, "Work with me, babe.”

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.