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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Picture of the Day - 3
















U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Tony Mallett, of Orange, Massachusetts, smokes flavored tobacco from a traditional Arab water pipe in Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 3, 2006. More than 125,000 U.S. troops will spend Independence Day in Iraq. (AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg)

posted by mikevotes at 5:06 PM

6 Comments:

  • You would have had the same picture out of Vietnam, but something else would have been in the pipe.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 6:02 PM  

  • Exactly. That's why it caught my eye.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 6:34 PM  

  • I was thinking flavored tobacco was a euphenism...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:31 PM  

  • Yeah, that crossed my mind as well, but in absence of proof, I give the benefit of the doubt.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 8:30 AM  

  • Sometimes flavored tobacco is just flavored tobacco.

    My understanding is that the in-theatre military has a very strict no alcohol policy (which presumably extends to all intoxicants). I imagine lessons of the past have been learned and I'd be surprised if the young corporal was tokin' on anything but the aforementioned water pipe tobacco -- which, after all, is a cultural staple of the region.

    But the Vietnam flashback is valid, nonetheless.

    By Blogger -epm, at 3:59 PM  

  • I think you're right. There is a rule against drinking in theater, but I have seen pictures of soldiers drinking or drunk. Also I have read a fair number of reports of amphetamine use.

    But generally, I think you're right. And I don't think this guy would've let a wire reporter take that picture if it was anything that would get him in trouble.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:19 PM  

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