Good to see that Germany, despite the EU, hasn't lost its national identity or its traditions

April 15, 2007 | BERLIN -- A Germany army instructor who ordered a soldier to envision himself facing hostile blacks in New York while firing his machine gun is still on duty, the army said Sunday.

A video of the army instructor telling the soldier to shoot and yell obscenities while thinking of African-Americans in the Bronx aired on German national television Saturday and prompted calls for an apology by the New York City borough's president.

When asked Sunday if the army would apologize, spokesman Florian Naggies said, "The German Army takes the incident very serious and is interested in quickly resolving it."

Naggies said that the case is under investigation, and the instructor "is still working for the army."

The video shows an instructor and a soldier in camouflage uniforms in a forest. The instructor tells the soldier, "You are in the Bronx. A black van is stopping in front of you. Three African-Americans are getting out and they are insulting your mother in the worst ways. ... Act."

The soldier fires his machine gun several times and yells an obscenity several times in English. The instructor then tells the soldier to curse even louder.

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And they ask me, at the store, why I buy Philips instead of Braun.

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