Tobacco Shortage Makes Marines Irritable

GOUPSTATE.COM ^ | April 01, 2003 | RAVI NESSMAN

[Reagan is King]

the irony is that the mideast is the world's biggest ashtray

LOL! Good one.

[ET(end tyranny)]

The logistics people should take care of cigarettes.

Doesn't seem to be happening.

[Cicero]

It reminds me of the plight of the Hobbits in the Lord of the Rings. No Longbottom Leaf.

[ET(end tyranny)]

Doesn't seem to be an immediate answer either:

"We are slowing down our shipments to Operation Iraqi Freedom land forces until the mail backlog is cleared and we can find out where our service members are located...."

[dennisw]

We would have lost WW2 if we didn't have tobacco. Nicotein has it's upside. Sharper thinking and more. (I don't smoke)

[FrankR]

"Hmmmm. . . . the road to tobacco goes through Baghdad, I guess. "

Golly, you're so right.
We should keep our boys from the tobacco demon...tobacco kills.

On the other hand, if I was out there with bullets and bombs whizzing by, putting up with no showering for weeks on end, eating MRE's, and having to poop in the sand...do you really think anyone of them gives a sh*t what anyone thinks of tobacco in all of their PC grandeur?

Qitting cigarettes is hard enough, without adding the pressure of suicide bombers and the chance of never seeing your loved ones again.

I finally quit last year, but it took a cerebral hemmorage to get the job done.

Let them tackle the demon when they get home, and SAFE...meanwhile, send them some smokes.

[cyborg]

If Phillip Morris wasn't being sued left and right, I'd say they can show some patriotism and donate boxes of smokes. Wouldn't that be great? Or some nice cigars. However, the military does have to consider health care costs in caring for the deliterous effects of smoking.

[southernnorthcarolina]

7th Infantry are getting desperate - for tobacco. They are rationing their precious supplies, and even begging smokes from local farmers... getting antsy... "It just crushes morale"... It's hard to overestimate the importance of tobacco to the Marines... "It keeps your sanity"... there's yet to be a mail delivery and there's little hope for one soon... a serial dipper who ran out days ago... With smokers and dippers becoming more desperate... He offered to trade the entire contents of his day pack, except his sleeping bag, for one more tin... But the four cans and six packs he brought from Kuwait ran out about a week ago and now he has to beg... nicotine rage...irritable and uncomfortable... you'll see people getting real edgy... Desperate, he managed to bum two packs of local Sumer cigarettes - stronger than his preferred Marlboros - off Iraqi farmers...

This is tremendously sad on at least two levels.

First, of course, because our young people risking their lives for us should be supplied with anything within reason which they need or want.

But second -- I've got to say it even though I'll be flamed for it -- isn't it sad that people in any circumstances, trying or otherwise, get themselves to the point that they are "desperate" for a substance which will shorten their lives?

If it were up to me, I'd get the troops all the tobacco they want; war is no time to go on a behavior modification binge. But at the same time, I would hope that some 10-to-16 year olds will read this story, and ponder whether they really want to take up a habit which will take over their lives to such an extent.

[AmericanMade1776]

I DO NOT KNOW, I just emailed the article to the USO and asked them what should be done to get cigarettes to the front lines.

[Beck_isright]

Phillip Morris is about to eliminate all of their problems. I can see a Chapter 11 leaving all of these lawsuits in the dust. But I hope that we can generate a few thousand box of smokes for the boys over there.

V

[AmericanMade1776]

I do not smoke either, but if I was on the front lines in Iraq, I would feel compelled to light one up :-)

[Constitutional Patriot]

We should get Phillip Morris to ship a boatload of cigs to the distribution centers over there so that they can be included in the resupply. If our boys (and girls) want smokes, they damn well should have them!!

[wasp69]

Lemme know and I'll contribute.

[AmericanMade1776]

Thanks Beck, I know that somewhere in the Free Republic Format, there is a back smokers room, I wandered in there once, and said something like , it sure is smokey in here, and got my hat handed to me. Maybe if you know those Freeper folks you can get them on this.

[AmericanMade1776]

now there is a plan, we should get the cigarette industry involved.

[No Truce With Kings]

"On the other hand, if I was out there with bullets and bombs whizzing by, putting up with no showering for weeks on end, eating MRE's, and having to poop in the sand...do you really think anyone of them gives a sh*t what anyone thinks of tobacco in all of their PC grandeur?"

I do not smoke, but as long as it is legal people have the right to smoke. To troops on the battlefield worrying about the potential consequences of smoking years later is pretty silly when you can die from lead (or steel) poisoning in a matter of seconds.

I do not favor the government shoving smokes to soldiers, but I do feel that troops on the battlefield should get access to tobacco, if they want it. After all, they *are* big boys and girls. So let them buy smokes, even if the canteen is in an APC.

[wasp69]

Well said. I don't agree with all of it but, well said.

[Protagoras]

Note to Mayor Bloomberg and the nico-nazis, These brave men are dying for the right to make their own decisions about what they ingest.

NO SMOKING IN THE WAR ZONE, IT'S BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH.

[Protagoras]

I think our logistics people should supply the troops with cigarettes.

But they don't, so maybe it would be a good idea to wait til the war is over and make the change. They will really appreciate your opinion.

[Protagoras]

I do not smoke, but as long as it is legal people have the right to smoke.

Correction, people have the right to smoke whether or not their rights are being violated.