Iraqi Vendors Do Roaring Trade with U.S. Marines
Sat April 12, 2003 08:49 AM ET
reuters.com
By Matthew Green
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Hovering at a safe distance from a collection of U.S. Marine tanks, Kassim opened a bag to reveal five dusty bottles.
"Whisky?" he asked, pointing to a cheaply-printed label that claimed the contents was 12 years old and "Bottled in Scotland."
"Twenty dollars," he said -- which, had the label's claims been true, might have been considered a bargain.
Kassim, 30, and other Iraqis like him are making a quick buck selling items like bottles of dubious whisky, cigarettes and even fruit to Marines fresh from the invasion trail.
Many of the Marines have long since run out of nicotine and none of them are supposed to drink while on combat operations, leaving them happy to hand over their dollars.
Wearing a conspiratorial grin, Kassim revealed a bottle of 1986 Chateau Varennes Beaujolais Villages and a 1979 Torres Coronas Dry Red Wine alongside the "De Luxe Scotch Whisky."
"This from house of Saddam Hussein," said a fellow vendor, Leon, 27, although the contraband's precise origin was unclear.
While Marines have squirreled the odd bottle away in their rucksacks, cigarettes are the most popular buy.
"It's been over two weeks since we've seen a Marlboro," said Lance-Corporal Shane Wiley, 21, relaxing at a temporary Marine camp set up near Baghdad's Martyrs' Monument. "It was definitely a relief to see people up here selling them."
Marines have snapped up cartons of Iraqi-made Sumer King Size cigarettes, along with Caesar, Dorchester and Kithara brands offered by young men hawking them from plastic bags.
"I bought about three packets for four dollars," said Lance-Corporal Jason Herring, 21, gesturing at a green-and-white packet of 20 Business Club Executive Blend cigarettes.
The trade is done strictly in dollars -- vendors have little time for Iraqi's dinar currency.
"Even the people out here, they'll see dinars, they'll spit on it," said Herring. "They were like chewing it up and spitting it out."
Some Marines said they suspected they may have created a unique business opportunity for the hawkers. Their goods appear to have been looted during the chaos caused by the invasion in the past few days, then sold to the invaders.
Marines said one man was offering them apples and oranges at $1 a piece -- a welcome sight for troops who have lived off pre-packaged rations since the war began.
Some Iraqis have even sold their money -- trading Iraqi notes for a few dollars to Marines hunting souvenirs.
"We don't see this money back home, it's unique," said Miroslav Spacek, 22, a Naval hospital man working with U.S. Marines.
"This type of money's not going to be printed any more," he said, examining a pair of 250 dinar notes. Saddam Hussein's portrait stared from the freshly-minted bills.
Some of the creature comforts are handed over for free. Marines say they have mostly received a warm welcome from the Iraqis they meet on their patrols, who might offer them anything from sweets and cookies to bread and mineral water.
"They gave us hot tea and hot coffee in these, like, golden cups. It was really nice," said Seth Miller, 20, a Private First Class, describing a foot patrol through a wealthier suburb.
"They give you flowers all the time, they say Saddam killed all the flowers."
While the commerce provides a chance for an exchange between the U.S. forces and Iraqis, there are limits.
The vendors lurk outside their camps where guards, wary of suicide bombers or other "terrorists," shoo them away if they get too close.
"We tell them to back off," said Miller, crouching behind sand bags and holding a belt-fed weapon. "They could come up here, pull a gun on somebody and shoot one of us." |
