Word: scud
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When you've been camped in the Kuwait desert for weeks, even dodging incoming SCUD missiles can become routine. Late Thursday morning air raid sirens blasted the 101st Airborne's Camp Pennsylvania. Seconds later every soldier in camp was wearing a chemical protective mask and scurrying to one of the concrete bunkers scattered around the camp. There they rested, many of them panting after the exertion of a full out sprint in chemical gear, until the all clear siren sounded some fifteen minutes later...
...When the second SCUD alert of the day came a little later in the morning, soldiers still put on their protective masks, but that seemed the only concession they were willing to make to the impending threat. Troops still headed for the bunker, but most now strolled rather then sprinted. Some did not even do that. Soldiers who waited in long lines to use phones to call home were loathe to head for bunkers and lose their position. Other soldiers, who had waited upwards of an hour to get into the post exchange appeared upset that the clerks...
...last SCUD alert of the day came while hundreds of soldiers were eating in the mess tent. About half of the soldiers left on their own, but the rest had to be ushered away from their chicken dinners by the non-commissioned officers. Eventually, most of the soldier left for the nearest bunker, except for one who resisted all entreaties to leave and continued to eat his meal. "Dinner is the one meal of the day that should be eaten in a dignified way," he said, "And I refuse to be rushed...
Similarly, those who support war argue that the removal of Saddam Hussein will increase stability in the Middle East; but this notion is also ill conceived. In January of 1991, following the beginning of the first Gulf War, Iraq responded to attack by launching SCUD missiles into Israel. The United States prevented Israel from retaliating by arguing that doing so would destabilize the careful coalition that then-President George H.W. Bush had assembled to prosecute the war. Convincing Israel and other countries that will suffer from Iraqi attacks not to retaliate will be much more difficult if America is fighting...
...Fuad al-Afghani, a souvenir seller in Amman, made a fortune on Saddam's popularity. He reckons he sold 50,000 items, such as Saddam wristwatches and Scud lapel pins. Last week, as he stood in a shop brimming with copper trays and Bedouin rugs, al-Afghani said he would not be touting Saddam trinkets this time around, not with Jordan's government frowning on the Iraqi President. Al-Afghani still admires the man, but he figures, "Why give myself a headache?" It's the kind of sentiment that signals a romance is breaking up. --With reporting by Amany Radwan/Cairo...