Whiskey: check

Sexy: (probably)

Democracy:

It's the last that's trickiest, isn't it? I'd like to see what a democratic Iraq could do, considering what their culture has always been. It would be sad if none of it survived long enough for Iraq to become democratic.

They can have all the american beer they want, but they will never get drunk on that piss water. Give them real democracy, give them Canadian beer, that way they will be much too drunk to ever snipe and hit A USA trooper.

Smuggling? No, no: "border trading" is the term.

And a heck of a lot of booze floating around in a mostly Moslem country. But then, it was pointed out early on that Umm Qasr's occupation caused a lot of Kuwaiti's to apply for a weekend or more there. it serves as an equivalent of Tijuana for them by being awash in beer, wine, and liquor.

Bubba, if you're talking about Budweiser, Coors, etc I understand, but there are lots of good American microbrews--at least here in the Pacific Northwest there are.

In the grocery stores in this town there must be at least 50 different brands of beer. A lot of them I've never seen out of the Northwest.

But what concerns me, Bubba, is that the only beers mentioned in that article were Dutch and Turkish. Did I miss something, or did you take a gratuitous swipe at American beer?

Sad, if true.

John;
That may be true; however, I have heard that Kuwait has an island, which is completly Islam-free! I heard most American troops go there for fun time during their stay there.

#4, yep, there are many fine American beers, but local tastes determine what sells and what don't. In Nigeria the top tipple remains double strength Guinness - nice and sweet and 9% a.b.v. Guinness is now trying to brew it in Dublin to retal to ex-pat Nigerians in Ireland!

Micro-brewing in Iraq (which can't be too far away) is going to be interesting. At least the first breweries will benefit from excellent PR on the ground. "Yes, yes, I triple guarantee you there are no American beers in Bagdad. We have crushed their bottle tops at the gates of the city. Sam Adams a decent beer? I now tell you that you are too far from reallity..."

People keep assuming that because somebody is Moslem, they _don't_ drink (as opposed to _shouldn't_).

I am unacquainted with any Christians that never sin. I'd be surprised if there were many Moslems who never sinned.

Drinking Dutch beer: that means the free market is already working. I assume they import the real stuff, not the sweetened 'export Heineken'. From suppliers of tourist hotels in Greece or on the coast of Turkey I think -- they probably have little else to do.

It would would be very nice if they also imported Dutch cutflowers to make some bouquets for their liberators...

Yes, some Moslems drink. Some Christians (including several Baptists I know), refuse to drink. Heck, I've enjoyed steak dinners with Hindu (by birth) friends. Perhaps one good thing that will come out of this is the liberalization - seen by both Moslem and Western nations, of a Moslem country. If Westerners can look at Iraq in five years and see a place that is no more "radical" than Taiwan or Tokyo, and Arab nations see that, rather than being washed by God in sheets of fire the Iraqis are enjoying an economic and political rebirth, things will indeed start to change.

Dubai in the Gulf is an absolute paradise - sun, sand, booze, clean (mostly), nightclubs - and PROSPERITY.

Yes, it was a swipe at American beers, at least the ones I've tasted. old milwakee, blue ribbon, a few others.
I haven't tasted every american beer, but for the mosat part, they are weak beers.
Canadian brewed beers are just better, try a canadian brewed budwieser, much different than the american counterpart.
I'm sure they make a good beer somewhere in the USA, I just haven't seen it.

I found this quote rather telling. Where are their ethics? I guess if you are brazen about it and admit your pilfering, then you are cleansed of your sins. Albeit: Eason Jordan

"We've all turned into scavengers, whether just pilfering a jerrycan of petrol from an army fuel truck, or ransacking and torching every public building in the capital, or pinching whole racks of Uday Hussein's Elvis-kitschy wardrobe, as was done by a certain British journalist of my acquaintance who pillaged the Number 1 son's Shag Palace. "

Bubba, you've been drinking Old Milwaukee and Pabst Blue Ribbon? If you've had Miller High Life and Schmidt Red you can complete the set of America's Worst Beers.

If that's been your experience I can't blame you for feeling the way you do.

Bubba, you might try Samuel Adams, if you can find it up there. Any of them are pretty good.

They're also serving British beer and Guinness in southern Iraq. That's why the natives seem happier !

None of that US cats' pee LOL

I don't know anything about British beer. But the US doesn't have anything as good as Guinness.

hey...i LIKE PBR!!!!!!

OK, beer is a subject close to my heart. I think the Iraqi people could use a good kegger about now. I agree that really good beer in the US takes hunting for. Personally, I don't trust a beer that I can see through, thus my love of stouts and darker ales, etc.

Cooper's Extra Stout from Australia is one of my favorites, as good or better than the Guiness we get in the US, but I supect we don't get the real deal. Buttwiper has always been the worst American beer. Why it sells so much in the US is a mystery to me. Coors Lite is like sex in a rowboat, it is farging close to water.

There are so many good beers from Europe, it is hard to list them all. There are some pretty good micros in the US, you just have to look a little harder for them.

If you want good beer in Canada, drop by Swans in Victoria. They brew their own. They have a Scotch Ale to die for -- and at 8% you feel like it the next day.

As for Canadian big brewery beer. Yuck.