It's only a wargame! Arabs reject US army bit-part (Guardian)

[Eugene]

It's only a wargame! Arabs reject US army bit-part


Kate Connolly in Berlin
Monday March 5, 2007
The Guardian

They came with dreams of working on a movie set, or at the very least of earning
some respectable cash as a walk-on extra, encouraged by a mysterious advertisement
printed recently in a Berlin tabloid.

But the reality was different for dozens of Arab-speaking applicants at a supposed
casting session, only to be told they were wanted to play Iraqis and Afghans in a
US wargame planned for later this month.

For between £61 and £88 a day, 600 German-based Arab speakers are being offered
work with the US military, pretending to be mayors, shopkeepers, terrorists or
even brothel owners. The Americans call them COBs or Civilians on the Battlefield.
The idea is to set them in a landscape simulating Afghanistan or Iraq, in Bavaria.

At a recent recruitment session in Berlin run by the casting agency b.o.r.k.
Dienstleistungen, many turned back at the door when asked: "Do you have anything
against working for Americans?" Der Spiegel magazine said only four out of dozens
decided to stay after hearing what the job entailed. One Moroccan man refused
to take part, saying: "I will not help the Americans hurt my brothers."

The US military admits recruiting was a challenge, but says it is confident it will
get the numbers needed to enact the war game.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2026512,00.html