Iraqis Are Drifting BMWs Through Mosul In Defiance Of ISIS

Mosul, Iraq, is the last place you would expect to see drifting. The Iraqi military is currently fighting to retake the city from ISIS, those nasty folks who like to train the sights of their snipers on civilians and send suicide bombers into soccer games. Mosul isn't the ideal location for a drifting event, but don't tell that to the people behind Riot Gear. The car-loving Iraqis in the Riot Gear crew recently visited Mosul to put on a little drifting exhibition. BuzzFeed News correspondent Mike Giglio and photographer Warzer Jaff were there to capture the action.

Unfortunately the day didn't go completely as planned. The driveshaft of the BMW 3 Series the Riot Gear team was drifting ended up breaking. Also, ISIS began dropping bombs from drones nearby.

For some reason the reaction to the video on YouTube has been overwhelmingly negative. Many are criticizing the lack of drifting and the ugliness of the car. First off, yeah, the BMW E36 Compact is butt ugly and the drifts in this video leave a lot to be desired. According to a commenter, who it sounds like is with Riot Gear, the scenes captured by Jaff were of a prep day. The real action is said to have gone down the next day when the BuzzFeed crew had moved on. Regardless, these guys tried to put a smile on the face of war-wrecked Iraqis by putting on a little drift show in an active war zone! That's pretty damn cool if you ask us.