By Steve Hynd
There's something basically unsettling about this story from McClatchy (h/t Tina). Fight Club without the subversive, border-line revolutionary philosophy but with an undertow of 300 Spartans warrior elitism entirely out of synch with what a democracy expects citizen soldiers (free men and women who serve subordinated to civil authority) to be.
"Let's get ready to ruuuumble!" the emcee bellowed, kicking off Contingency Operating Base Adder's first Friday Night Fights, where American servicemen, special forces and private contractors beat each other bloody in mixed martial arts bouts that are spreading fast on U.S. installations throughout Iraq.
...One by one, shirtless, barefoot and heavily tattooed fighters entered the ring at COB Adder to face flying kicks and the dreaded "rear naked choke." Soldiers in the audience egged them on with calls of "Beat up that rib cage!" and "Take him to the ground!"
Once a winner was announced, the fighters stumbled over to a team of waiting medics who iced down golfball-size knots, purplish bruises and bloody noses.
"They're going to look real pretty tomorrow," the emcee quipped after a particularly brutal round.
The testosterone-fueled fight nights may be the closest that many U.S. soldiers get now to combat in Iraq. The effort to halt the country's vicious sectarian warfare has given way to rocky nation-building efforts, and December was the first month in which no American troops were killed in action since the U.S. and a coalition of allies invaded Iraq almost seven years ago.
...Regulated fights are good for keeping up "that warrior spirit," said Col. Peter Newell, who leads the 4th Brigade of the Army's 1st Armored Division, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, and a pioneer of the Advise and Assist model.
And there's also another unsettling angle - the very fact that so many US troops are still in Iraq to need to be entertained like this in the first place. If the troops are so bored in Iraq, then bring them home. Odierno has convinced the Obama administration to keep the bulk there "just in case" the next elections go badly off the rails, and has advocated for rewriting the SOFA, but that's just a recipe for continual rewrites and continual occupation - there's always going to be a "next big hurdle". If the Iraqis want a civil war instead of a civil process, why should US troops stay to play referees at a further massive cost in lives and dollars?
If the Iraqis want a civil war instead of a civil process, why should US troops stay to play referees at a further massive cost in lives and dollars?
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this has been another edition of simple answers to simple questions. thank you for playing. would you like a large orange drink with that? please drive through.