End to Baghdad's 'dark era': Nightclubs reopen

[Mugu]

By Sudarsan Raghavan, msnbc.msn.com

BAGHDAD - The American soldier stepped out of the Baghdad nightclub. In one hand, he clutched his weapon. In the other, a green can of Tuborg beer. He took a sip and walked over to two comrades, dressed as he was in camouflage and combat gear.

Inside the club Thursday night, U.S. soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division ogled young Iraqi women who appeared to be prostitutes gyrating to Arabic pop music. A singer crooned soulfully through scratchy speakers to the raucous, pulsating beat — an action that Islamic extremists have deemed punishable by beheading.

Twenty minutes later, several drunk men coaxed an American soldier to dance. He awkwardly shuffled his feet, wearing night-vision equipment and a radio, joining the women and boisterous young men in an Arabic chain dance around tables covered with empty beer bottles.

snip

The soldiers on Abu Nawas Street said they were visiting the club to talk to the manager about security, but they were socializing publicly with Iraqis in a way that was unimaginable even a few months ago. The scene reflected the increasing sense of security in the capital and many parts of Iraq, but it was impossible to know how many U.S. soldiers in Baghdad have the opportunity or the inclination to drink a beer while on patrol, apparently in violation of rules banning alcohol consumption in combat zones.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29439989/">Complete article

[msongs]

1. american occupiers need to stay away from places like this nt

[acmavm]

2. You're absolutely right. Because sooner or later the hardline fundie

fruitcakes will be stroking out over this. I can just see al Sistani now, flailing all over the place, calling out a fatwa.

[onethatcares]

3. that's just wonderful,

fully automatic firearms, bigass explosives, beer, mortars, nightvision goggles, more beer and someone sitting in a corner with a hardon about that guy dancing with his prostitute.

For some reason this doesn't bode well.

:popcorn:

[NNN0LHI]

4. Saigon had some of the nicest nightclubs too

Who do these people think they are kidding?

Don