New Year Comes in with a Slam in Iraq

[maxrandb]

I'm sorry, but I can't seem to find a link. I'll work on it. This was from the electronic version of the Virginia Pilot. I think they use AP, so if anyone can get linkage, please do.

When I first read this all I could think of was "skin-heads" and how this must really endear us to the Iraqi people. I mean, I'm sure that "Haji" is just a harmless term of endearment to these people, kind of like "coon", or "spearchucker". Well, like Rush said, "just some frat kids blowing off steam".

I'm posting some of the article below, including the great "Haji" quote. Support the troops? Sure!

BAGHDAD, Iraq — For one hour on New Year’s Eve, slam-dancing soldiers put the war in Iraq and the progress and pitfalls of the last year on hold during a punk rock concert on a downtown military base.
The Vandals and a guest drummer from Pennywise rocked soldiers stationed in Baghdad with the 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, during an evening concert in the secured enclave known as the Green Zone.
"Haji was a punk just like any other boy! ... Oy!" lead singer David Quackenbush screamed into the microphone, using a nickname soldiers commonly use for Iraqis.
Scores of soldiers nodded their heads, pumped their fists in the air, and danced at an auditorium at Forward Operating Base Union III, or Trojan. But one soldier plugged his ears at the thunder of their first racing riffs.
Before the show, Quackenbush likened it to a comment by Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld: "You rock out to the band you have, not the band you wish you had."

[Bok_Tukalo]

1. "Haji"

I heard that one awhile back. I remember thinking at the time it was a bad sign and that we had been there too long when the grunt has named their enemy; or at least the people he's shooting at.

It's not like "coon" or "spearchucker." More like "Charlie" or "Jerry."

[Name removed]

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[nine23]

3. Obviously, I didn't get to link to the whole story...

...but I really don't see much wrong with a punk New Years bash. (I'm also not familiar with The Vandals. The "Oy" is either poseur-speak, or it's not a good sign...)

At any rate, it couldn't be nearly as bad as when the WWF (or whatever the fuck they're calling it) visited your troops a few weeks back. That was just plain obscene, not to mention totally surreal...