the soldier and the kitten

On 8/15, I this posted a photo of, supposedly, a US solider in Iraq petting a kitten.


I subsequently received an email from ex-Marine (and, in an unrelated incident, ex-potential-boyfriend) M.U., who expatiates:

This might not be of any interest to you whatsoever, but while catching up on your blog, I couldn't help but see the soldier petting the kitten and wonder if it isn't doctored. Not that we combat vets don't love kittens, because they sure are adorable. No, it's because I don't think that soldier is anywhere near Iraq. Although PFC John Doe has what appears to be an up-to-date military version of the AR-15 assault rifle (whether it's the M-4, M-16A2, or M-16A4 I don't know because it's tricked out with all sorts of crap I never had), his uniform is suspect.

1. Notice the shiny brown shoes. Today's American troops wear rough-side-out leather boots (called, appropriately enough, "desert boots") because sandy regions SUCK for preserving a shine on leather.
   
   
2. Nice green uniform, Joe. Where'd you get it, Vietnam? Tell me, when was the last time you saw a picture of an American deployed to Iraq not wearing some sort of desert camouflage? The same thing goes for his sun-faded forest-pattern helmet cover.
   
   
3. Also -- and this is the most heinous crime of all -- the vast right-wing conspiracy has obviously not included the other photos in this series, where the soldier picks the kitten up by the scruff of the neck and then bites its head off. They're monsters, I tell you.

So, there's one more maudlin email forward debunked!

Regarding desert camouflage...

If you wouldn't send a solider to Iraq in forest greens, why are the National Guardsmen wearing this same uniform in the subway? A person is more likely to run into a patch of trees in Baghdad than on the NRW platform. What, exactly, do the soldiers think they are blending in with?

Since the National Guard has been appearing periodically in the subway for four years now (since 9/11), I think it's time to get them some proper uniforms! I want to see National Guardsmen in subway camo -- a dull gray background covered in pictures of trains*, with illustrations of rats down near the ankles**. They would blend right in!

* Like a five-year-old's pajamas!

** Not like a five-year-old's pajamas.