some light-hearted moments from the war
November 29, 2006 2:52 AM   Subscribe

A different perspective on the war in Iraq: herein, a small collection of juvenile yet amusing clips of bored soldiers entertaining themselves by singing, dancing, interacting with animals, engaged in sport, using a rocket launcher as a bong, and all sorts of intentional and unintentional screwing around.
posted by sergeant sandwich (26 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Iraq looks totally fun! I want to go.
posted by mullingitover at 3:05 AM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


Ahah the british "invasion" one really made me laugh. On a second tought, what are these overgrown slightly retarded kids doing into an hostile warzone ?

It is like the stupid went to wa.....ahaha oohh I get it I get it now ! WAHAHAH the joke isn't on..ooopps I should shut up :)
posted by elpapacito at 3:58 AM on November 29, 2006


Looks like everyone owes John Kerry an apology.
posted by Optamystic at 3:58 AM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


Nice post. You missed One. (pNSFW) Humor like water finds its own level. Cuz napalm sticks to... who said column right? Twinkie! As you were. Dress Riiight, Dress. - 91A,97B,29Y1CL(31S),11B.
posted by MapGuy at 4:08 AM on November 29, 2006


That's actually quite humanising. I have heard that much of a soldier's life is just passing time...
posted by The Salaryman at 4:14 AM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


I find it really hard to believe that the rocket launcher was really being used as a bong.

"Hey dudes, let's do a film like in apocalypse now, has anyone got any cigarrettes? It'll look way rad."
posted by Meatbomb at 4:14 AM on November 29, 2006


I once saw a load of photos of Vietnam R and R - this is more MTV than Tiki Bar that but is still culturally interesting
posted by The Salaryman at 4:15 AM on November 29, 2006


...and using their infrared cameras to tape Iraqis fucking donkeys.

video looks like what a Predator-voyeur would see and therefore not explicit. Commentary NSFW.
posted by Mayor Curley at 4:28 AM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


Those Brits singing the Amarillo song always get to me. They seem like such a good bunch of guys.
My nephew is shipping out soon and looking at this stuff and knowing him... It's almost more painful to see these specific idle moments, because I can imagine him being one of these goofballs. I want to imagine him out of the fucking army.
posted by maryh at 4:49 AM on November 29, 2006


When I was in Nam we used to smoke hash through a shotgun while we waited for Charlie to come out of the bush.

Actually I was never in Nam.
posted by grytpype at 5:23 AM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


mayor curley,

between that donkey video, the couple having sex in the last link and this surveillance video of iraqis flogging the dolphin in the broad daylight, i debated putting together a post on people-doing-the-nasty-in-iraq-caught-on-military-surveillance-tapes, but i liked these ones more. still, good stuff.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 5:45 AM on November 29, 2006


Well that is not as fun as the full experience , but surely beats making war !
posted by elpapacito at 5:59 AM on November 29, 2006


elpapacito, the army is made up of kids. Don't get down on them for having a bit of a laugh when they're stuck in a desert, surrounded by a few friends and a country who hates them. I came from a rural, midwestern, small town, and those who didn't find jobs or head off to college after high school went into the military. Most of 'em aren't bad kids, but a lot of them ARE kids, and just because they're 18 year olds in uniform doesn't mean that they can't act like 18 year olds once in a while.
posted by craven_morhead at 6:19 AM on November 29, 2006


What's with the projector noise on the donkey one? Surely they aren't using film?
posted by Joeforking at 6:35 AM on November 29, 2006


'Zackly, craven. As I've heard in more than one convo, "The United States Navy is comprised largely of nineteen-year-olds, frequently without meaningful adult supervision."

maryh, the "Amarillo" video was great; reminding me of it made me forget about Abu Ghraib, Haditha, and whole bunch of other bad stuff for a few moments. TYVM.
posted by pax digita at 7:13 AM on November 29, 2006


Thirding kudos for the "Amarillo" video. That took a hell of a lot of preparation, and it came off without a hitch. The director has real talent. A nice counterpoint to the video of dickheads taunting kids with bottled water.
posted by gigawhat? at 8:43 AM on November 29, 2006


just because they're 18 year olds in uniform doesn't mean that they can't act like 18 year olds once in a while.

Of course they can ! And if they can they probably also handle dangerous weapons and interact with a civilization that is extremely different, in a language they don't know , with the intellectual flexibility they don't have with them "sandniggas", on the wrong religious side.

It is not like they were kids sent to the terrestial equivalent of moon, nops ! It's a formative experience like that Jesus Camp bullshit, they'll man up or die in the process or get lifelong psycological scars.
posted by elpapacito at 9:45 AM on November 29, 2006


Hey don't knock us just for getting bored. Most time over here is spent sitting around on our asses doing nothing, or the most mundane tasks (hours and hours of cleaning sand (now mud) out of weapons). Granted this doesn't make horseplay excusable, but it certainly creates a breeding ground.


Most people in the videos are not "soldiers". Many are Marines, some are Brits, not Army Soldiers. I realize to the civilian types they all mean the same thing, but not to us. I'm a Soldier, not a Marine, please don't lump them in with me.


Funny videos though.
posted by Logboy at 11:38 AM on November 29, 2006


I find it really hard to believe that the rocket launcher was really being used as a bong.

Why?

"Get really stoned... then, you know, we're like... who cares about the war?"

The more things change...
posted by prostyle at 12:26 PM on November 29, 2006


prostyle : "The more things change..."

The more they are no longer the same as they were. That's what "change" means.
posted by Bugbread at 12:46 PM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


What a quaint, pejorative dissertation, bugbread. Any other nuggets of wisdom you'd like to bequeath to me while I'm basking in your divine presence? I'm clamoring at your feet here, you better be quick. As you know, my fundamental grasp on the English language is strenuous at best. The fact that I can even manage to compose a coherent thought and express it through this plastic interface is a wonder in and of itself considering I'm so fucking retarded.
posted by prostyle at 1:05 PM on November 29, 2006


I hate this war, but regardless 'Amarillo' always leaves a lump in my throat.
posted by moonbird at 8:17 PM on November 29, 2006


Whoa, and prostyle turns up the sarcasm meter to 11...
posted by craven_morhead at 9:02 PM on November 29, 2006


To clarify: the drafted and low morale army of the early 1970s had a lot of dope smoking in it.

I don't know, but I am guessing, that the kids who've grown up with the war on drugs, urine testing, etc., and who joined a volunteer force, probably aren't toking up much if at all.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:16 PM on November 29, 2006


I find it really hard to believe that the rocket launcher was really being used as a bong.

Why?


Among other things, modern soldiers are volunteers, and a drug charge would be a serious step towards a dishonorable. (Now, in Vietnam, a draftee would see that as an advantage.) They know that if anything gets back to their company commander, they're in for shit, so posting that is likely to have more direct repercussions than an earlier era.

I'm not saying it's impossible to imagine troops in Iraq indulging in weed, but I am saying it's nearly impossible to imagine someone committing it to video and posting it. Besides, the black market in Vietnam was sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll, but in Iraq those things practically don't exist because of Islam.

Besides, there are plenty of attestations to soldiers enjoying the hookah.
posted by dhartung at 9:22 PM on November 29, 2006


Don't be so hard on yourself, prostyle.
posted by Bugbread at 10:43 PM on November 29, 2006


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