ANTHOLOGY AND ANNOTATED fflBLlOGRAPHY                                     21S

have given Saddam fuel to ridicule the Keeper of the Two Holy Mosques in the
eyes of the rest of the Arab world.
   Disregard of other host nation sensitivities could cause similar repercussions
in Arab eyes.   We'd permitted media coverage of intramural touch football
games at the King Abdul Aziz military facility soccer field with positive
feedback.  But when one of those games pitted the Wrecking Crew against the
Desert Foxes, the CNN report, though a light-hearted account, created a public
affairs nightmare.  Those were all-women teams.     The spectacle of females
grappling in gym attire in a country that normally drapes its women in black
from head to toe shocked and offended the Saudis. "Televising such matters on
an international TV broadcast has negative results," advised the Saudi Eastern
Area Commander in a letter to the Marine Central (MarCent) commander,
"which might be utilized by the enemy to accompany opposing propaganda
against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "   There were,    in fact, reports that
Saddam had obtained a copy of the CNN segment and showed it repeatedly on
Iraqi television to illustrate the decadent depths to which the guardians of Mecca
had plummeted.    About a month later the BBC reported an address by Saddam
in which he belittled American forces by telling his troops that they would be
fighting "women in shorts."   We can only surmise as to the psychological
impact of that statement on the morale of the Iraqi soldiers.
   In spite of our best efforts to educate our troops, a minute percentage of our
people failed to understand or appreciate Arab sensitivities.  Unfortunately,
some Americans chose to demonstrate their ignorance or intolerance around
reporters, who sometimes printed their off-hand derogatory comments.  A spate
of such reports (based on remarks by U.S. troops) compelled LtGen Boomer to
send another message to his commanders in early November 1990 emphasizing
the importance of leadership in averting such comments:

                  In the absence of significant developments in the
            deployment, news media will tend to report derogatory
            comments   by  individual U.S. Service   members    as
            indicators of negative trends that do not exist.  Such
            reports mislead the American public, play into the hands
            of vocal opponents of U.S. foreign policy, and provide
            a source of potentially damaging propaganda for Iraq.
               I want to encourage commanders to continue to host
            news media and allow their access to troops, and I do
            not wish to constrain the right of Marines and Sailors to
            speak their minds. However, if they choose the news
            media to air their gripes, it indicates to me that problems
            exist that are not being adequately addressed through the
            chain of command. Your Marines and Sailors are aware
            that this is not a perfect world, that this deployment will
            never feature all the comforts of home, that sacrifices
            will have to be made. They need to be aware that off-
            hand derogatory  comments  can impact U.S.      public