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From: packer@amarna.gsfc.nasa.gov (Charles Packer)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Marines build log cabin in desert?
Message-ID: <1991Jan19.033732.922@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 19 Jan 91 03:37:32 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: Dept. of Independence
Lines: 20
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From: packer@amarna.gsfc.nasa.gov (Charles Packer)
In the NY Times of Tuesday (Jan. 15) there is a photo of three
U.S. soldiers in the Saudi desert building a square enclosure
about twenty feet on a side. It is made of what appear to be
sections of telephone poles laid down as if building a log
cabin. One wall is 5 logs or about four feet high, for example.
But the corner that is visible is not constructed in the
expected way with notches, etc. In fact one log sticks out
longer than the rest and has what appear to be a couple of
sandbags stuffed under it. The adjacent wall has what seems
to be a crate of some kind included as a structural element.
Then there is a row of sandbags sitting atop another of the
walls. And that's it. The caption says "Marines constructed a
radio control post in the Saudi desert." 

There is something vaguely unsettling about this, but
I can't put my finger on it. Can somebody put this into
a rational, modern warfare context?