Air conditioned body armour
Been a few days since I dropped in to Michael Totten's. Missed this, an interview with a certain Lieutenant Colonel Mike Silverman in Ramadi, and the concluding part of Anbar Awakens. No new info there, but the photos are great (especially the kids) and there's lots of the local colour that distinguishes the citizen journalists in Iraq.
I liked this one.
Other strange conspiracy theories abound. I never saw an American wearing a red beret, but apparently some Iraqis believe red berets are dyed in human blood. Perhaps the most amusing theory, which I know many Iraqis believe to this day, is that American Soldiers and Marines have what they call “cold pills” so they can’t feel the blistering heat of the summer.
“I demand cold pills!” an Iraqi officer said when he barged into the office of Colonel John Steele at Camp Taji.
“Listen,” the colonel said to the Iraqi and pointed at his own forehead. “You see these beads of sweat on my forehead that are running down toward my nose? That’s because I feel just as hot as you do.”
One American soldier told me about a time he was having tea in a friendly Iraqi civilian’s house.
“It’s hot today,” said the Iraqi, “but at least you have your air conditioner on.”
“What do you mean?” said the Soldier.
“Your air conditioner,” the Iraqi said and pointed at the Soldier’s bulky body armor.
The Soldier laughed out loud.
“That’s body armor,” he said. “Not an air conditioner!”
“Come on,” the Iraqi said. “We all know those are air conditioners.”
The Soldier took off his body armor and handed it to the Iraqi. “Here,” he said. “Put it on and see for yourself.”
The Iraqi donned the armor and suddenly felt even hotter.
“Hmm,” he said. “It is pretty hot. But I’m sure it will get cold after a while.”
And when the soldier goes away, the Iraqi guy will be left wondering where the switch was, and why the yank wouldn't tell him.
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