Posted on 02/06/2005 6:45:18 AM PST by presidio9
In front of a cheering male audience, two young women wearing only bras and panties throw themselves into a mud-filled plastic kiddie pool and roll around in a wild wrestling match.
At one point a man in the audience raises a water bottle and douses the entwined pair.
At another, a "referee" moves in to break up the scantily clad grapplers.
A young blond lifts her T-shirt to expose her breasts. A brunette turns her back to the camera and exposes her thong undies.
These scenes, taken from 30 photos leaked to the Daily News, could have been snapped at an out-of-control frat party.
But this happened a world away from any American college.
The photos were taken in Camp Bucca, the military prison at Umm Qasr in the hot sands of southern Iraq near the Kuwaiti border.
The women are not coeds but military policewomen who had left their uniforms in a pile not far off.
The men are soldiers, too. Most of them wore T-shirts emblazoned with Army logos, but at least one was still wearing his uniform.
Some were sergeants, including the referee, and some allegedly were drunk.
The photos were taken last Oct. 30, in the same period when enemy detainees were being transferred to Camp Bucca from Abu Ghraib, the prison made notorious by photos of Americans torturing naked Iraqis.
The Camp Bucca pictures document no such abuses.
But they do show what experts called a disconcerting lapse in discipline at a time when Army brass was touting the camp as a model of reform.
"It was basically a goodbye party for those of us who were leaving and a welcome party for those coming in," the alleged referee, Sgt. Emil Ganim of the 160th Military Police Battalion, told The News. "It was a chance for people to blow off some steam before coming home after spending a year in a combat zone."
But one participant described less-benign behavior.
Two sergeants, she said, told her "they had been lending out their room for soldiers to have sex" - a serious infraction of military regulations.
One female soldier, a prison guard with the 160th Military Police Battalion, was photographed baring her breast and showing off her thong panties.
The picture apparently was taken in the room of one of those sergeants, an investigator reported.
The witness told investigators that two high-ranking noncommissioned officers, a first sergeant and a master sergeant, were present. She "noted that these NCOs had been drinking and were noticeably drunk," the report said.
Ganim said American civilians at the camp also participated in the party, and "if anybody had liquor, it was them."
Ganim has since returned to his civilian job as a deputy sheriff in Leon County, Fla.
"It appears that this event was allegedly coordinated by NCOs [sergeants] of the 160th," according to the initial investigation.
One of the soldiers told investigators the mud-wrestling match was underway when she arrived.
"She took off her uniform and joined the other female soldiers that were wrestling," the report says. But "once soldiers started asking for the females to expose themselves [she and two of the other wrestlers] put their uniforms back on and left the area."
But at least one woman was not deterred.
Deanna Allen, a 19-year-old prison guard with the 105th MP Battalion, smiled and lifted her T-shirt. Photos show a man standing close to her and leering at her breasts while another G.I. snaps pictures.
"From what I understand they dared her to do it," said Allen's grandmother, Luci Tomlin, in Black Mountain, N.C. "It was a loose moment. She is a strong-headed young lady. Sometimes she can be a little irrational."
Allen, who is still stationed in Iraq, did not respond to E-mailed questions from The News. She was demoted in rank to private first class.
"A sex party with alcohol that is prohibited would suggest a serious breakdown of military discipline," said Washington-based lawyer Eugene Fidell, a military-justice expert. "Just how it would be handled would be determined by the commander, who has very broad discretion in situations like this.
Fidell said punishments could range from "a good chewing out to loss of rank" for enlisted personnel and "a letter or career-killing transfer" for officers who allowed it to happen.
Mario Vargas Llosa beat you to it with that idea:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0374522367/qid=1107716047/sr=1-33/ref=sr_1_33/103-1131051-1399032?v=glance&s=books
Like maintaining good order and discipline in a war zone--which they failed to do.
If you can't perform your mission to spec, you don't rate a party.
Sane and stable people would never have voted for John (F'in) Kerry either. Cut them a break..
So you are shocked the men and women that need to be prepared daily to KILL PEOPLE would run around in the underwear, or enjoy a drink?
By the way, Footloose Boy, I hugged my brother good bye as he was getting ready for his deployment to Iraq-don't tell me what it's like to be in a military family-my brother didn't get his Captains bars by being some salivating idiot who defends bad behavior amoung the men and women that he leads every day.
WTF is 'not up to spec' about this party?
All I see is a bunch of man & women WHO DEFINATELY EARNED WHATEVER THE HELL KIND OF PARTY THEY WANT, having a 'going away party'
A few girls thought it would be fun mud wrestle in their underwear and of course the men enjoyed this (who got hurt?)
And finally some poor guy and poor girl had sex in a tent
Lordy Lordy... this CANNOT BE. The HORRORS!!! The debauchery!!! Why this isn't christian actions at all... I say we lock them all up forever... its the only way we can save the children -- think of the children!!!
Oh wait... nevermind... I declair this thread a DU 'Sunday Project'.... I'm out.
Coming from a Freeper yes but I wouldn't put it past Swimmer, HIC! Kennedy or Sissy Chrissy Math-SPEWS to come up with it.
This type of behavior will never be stopped; as long as they don't start humping while in a fire fight.
There's nothing wrong with doing what men and women do, when they are together ~ as long as they are off duty.
It's one of the benefits of having men and women serving together. ;)
WWII: Everywhere the U.S. Army went local women would appear with the "hey Joe, show you good time for Cigarretes" routine." My grandfather told me that even in England, many locals complained about U.S. soldiers "corrupting" the local women. He also told me that the many of the WACS simply joined to get men, and they got MANY men.
Like I said, I don't care what my family thinks of me. My parents were more of a hinderance than a help to my growing up. I grew up in the Navy. I do not take kindly to people calling for the dishonorable discharge for a bunch of soldiers blowing off a little steam when they are just about to get out of a tour in a war zone.
Deal with it. Or don't. I could care less.
Have it on VHS in black and white.
Colorised, it looks funny.
What if I told you I have friends in Iraq too?
What if I told you they have the complete opposte view that you or your relation does on this subject (that they deserve to blow off some steam at a party -- yes *gasp* that might even mean having sex with a female at a 'party')
See -- I fully respect the sacrifice those that you know are willing to make -- BUT just because you are in that situaion hardly makes you some kind of 'definitive' atuthority.
Sane and stable people would never have voted for John (F'in) Kerry either. Cut them a break..
It's not up to me to give them a break. The military that they serve in will decide what comes next. I'm not their CO.
Reminds me of when we had the debate on Gays in the military and Gore Vidal stated that it was a good thing as it would ensure true "foxhole solidarity" among the troops. He used the example of the Greek Imperial forces who regularly engaged in sexual activity with eachother.
I'm sorry you had a hard life. Mine was probably harder but we're both adults now and responsible for our own behavior and words. You took the easy way out in your response. Reading the other posts, it seems a lot of other posters agree that what the soldiers did was wrong. I respect others' opinions even when I disagree. And I wouldn't resort to insulting people I disagreed with. I try to show respect to everyone.
It seems to me that something crucial in this situation is that men and women in the armed forces need to respect each other. If I was a man in this situation, I *think* that I would be looking at these women quite differently after this event. Heck, if I were there, as a woman I know I'd look at that like they were trashy. Double standards still live.
Of course, they aren't doing anything that other soldiers haven't done, but I think it's different if there had been female entertainment that wasn't of a military origin.
One of the primary arguments against women in combat/military is that men would be distracted by them. It appears that mud wrestling would make things even more distracting.
In the Army something such as an E-5 or an O-1 is a rank. There are Specialists E-5s and Sargent E-5s. A Sargent is an NCO!
I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you. Single 18-24 year olds are having sex while overseas. There must be an investigation. </sarcasm>
Regards,
GtG
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