US Marines fight for Playboy spirit in Iraqi desert
CENTRAL IRAQ (AFP) Apr 01, 2003
After two months in Kuwait and two weeks in Iraq, many US Marines are grousing about why they are here -- they hate the desert and the gas masks they wear.
They just want to "clobber Saddam" and go home.There is too much time to think. Days, hours drag between the hard pumping action of a firefight and the next adrenaline rush.Often they find themselves logjammed on Iraqi highways, bumper to bumper with hardback and highback Humvees, M1-A1 Abrams tanks and seven-tonne trucks.
They speed by abandoned picnic reststops where yellow umbrella stands have blown off the tables.They broil in their camouflage-green chemical suits and yawn on highways that resemble their home country's famed Route 66 and hope to see American gas stations and convenience stores selling beer around the bend.Bored, they christen their vehicles "The Redneck Rampage", "Disposable Heroes" and "Boyz Gone Wild".They draw pictures of topless women and flash their sketches at the next car and hoot.
One Humvee plays the singalong game called "Vietnam", where they take turns belting out 1960s pop tunes. A mechanic's truck down the way cranks out heavy metal.
The marines thumb copies of Maxim, a magazine of skimpily-clad models that is a thin step up from porn and as such is banned by a US military sensitive to Muslim customs.One marine writes letters to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner
."Dear Mr Hefner, old copies of your magazine have raised morale and inspired many marines and sailors here."Your example of the American can-do spirit and innovation is what we're fighting for in Iraq. It would be a great if a couple of marines could meet you after the war."
Rumours spread.Some are charming ... Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez are coming out on tour, some say.Others rattle the mind and morale: US soldiers are said to have been executed on Iraqi television.
Conversations turn to the anti-war protests unfolding around the world. They call the demonstrators "dumb", complain the troops had more support in the 1991 Gulf War and say the protesters have no idea what the marines are really doing on the ground.Others badmouth the BBC news which they receive off shortwave radio, their main source of information. They call it negative, liberal "horseshit".
People talk of hamburger joints and strip clubs, punk rock and Country and Western singer Hank Williams, Filipino curry, God and college basketball.
They wear their patriotism proudly and wrestle with their doubts.An infantryman boasts that he is ready to be part of a modern-day Roman legion to rid the world of terrorists, while a medic wonders how many countries the White House will ask him to invade before the world is safe.A young missile expert says the war is worthwhile, if it eases the suffering of the Iraqi children he has seen clutching their bellies and begging for food.
Nineteen-year-olds from big cities, away from home for the first time, struggle to find strength. They attend impromptu religious services on Sundays if a chaplain turns up, and tell the chaplain they did not believe in God until they arrived in Iraq.
US Marines fight for Playboy spirit in Iraqi desert
CENTRAL IRAQ (AFP) Apr 01, 2003
After two months in Kuwait and two weeks in Iraq, many US Marines are grousing about why they are here -- they hate the desert and the gas masks they wear.
They just want to "clobber Saddam" and go home.There is too much time to think. Days, hours drag between the hard pumping action of a firefight and the next adrenaline rush.Often they find themselves logjammed on Iraqi highways, bumper to bumper with hardback and highback Humvees, M1-A1 Abrams tanks and seven-tonne trucks.
They speed by abandoned picnic reststops where yellow umbrella stands have blown off the tables.They broil in their camouflage-green chemical suits and yawn on highways that resemble their home country's famed Route 66 and hope to see American gas stations and convenience stores selling beer around the bend.Bored, they christen their vehicles "The Redneck Rampage", "Disposable Heroes" and "Boyz Gone Wild".They draw pictures of topless women and flash their sketches at the next car and hoot.
One Humvee plays the singalong game called "Vietnam", where they take turns belting out 1960s pop tunes. A mechanic's truck down the way cranks out heavy metal.
The marines thumb copies of Maxim, a magazine of skimpily-clad models that is a thin step up from porn and as such is banned by a US military sensitive to Muslim customs.One marine writes letters to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner
."Dear Mr Hefner, old copies of your magazine have raised morale and inspired many marines and sailors here."Your example of the American can-do spirit and innovation is what we're fighting for in Iraq. It would be a great if a couple of marines could meet you after the war."
Rumours spread.Some are charming ... Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez are coming out on tour, some say.Others rattle the mind and morale: US soldiers are said to have been executed on Iraqi television.
Conversations turn to the anti-war protests unfolding around the world. They call the demonstrators "dumb", complain the troops had more support in the 1991 Gulf War and say the protesters have no idea what the marines are really doing on the ground.Others badmouth the BBC news which they receive off shortwave radio, their main source of information. They call it negative, liberal "horseshit".
People talk of hamburger joints and strip clubs, punk rock and Country and Western singer Hank Williams, Filipino curry, God and college basketball.
They wear their patriotism proudly and wrestle with their doubts.An infantryman boasts that he is ready to be part of a modern-day Roman legion to rid the world of terrorists, while a medic wonders how many countries the White House will ask him to invade before the world is safe.A young missile expert says the war is worthwhile, if it eases the suffering of the Iraqi children he has seen clutching their bellies and begging for food.
Nineteen-year-olds from big cities, away from home for the first time, struggle to find strength. They attend impromptu religious services on Sundays if a chaplain turns up, and tell the chaplain they did not believe in God until they arrived in Iraq.
