Britons watch backs
British marines in Afghanistan came under a different kind of fire during operations in a remote region of the country two months ago.
The correspondent for the Scotsman newspaper reported from Bagram that the Britons were alarmed by propositions from groups of homosexual Afghan farmers after one operation deep in the Afghan mountains.
"They were more terrifying than the al Qaeda," said one marine, James Fletcher. "One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to paint ours. They go about hand in hand, mincing around the village."
The marines were propositioned by dozens of men in villages that were being searched in the hunt for al Qaeda terrorists.
"We were pretty shocked," said Mr. Fletcher, whose rank was not given. "We discovered from the Afghan soldiers we had with us that a lot of men in this country have the same philosophy as ancient Greeks: 'A woman for babies, a man for pleasure.'"
In some villages near Khost, Afghan homosexuals sought to stroke the marines' hair. "Every village we went into we got a group of men wearing makeup coming up, stroking our hair and cheeks, and making kissing noises," said Cpl. Paul Richard, 20.
At one village, homosexual Afghans invited the troops into a house. "They put some music on and ask us to dance. I told them where to go," said Cpl. Richard. "Some of the guys turned tail and fled. It was hideous."
Another marine, Vaz Pickles, told the newspaper that the hill tribes in Afghanistan appeared to be very isolated. "I think a lot of the problem is that they don't have the women around a lot," he said. "We only saw about two women in the whole six days. It was all very disconcerting."
