Over at Intel Dump, Phil Carter has some concerns about CPA taverns in Baghdad. Frankly, he's understating the problem; but then, he's just an Army puke. If he really wants to see alcohol-fueled misconduct, he needs to go to an O-club bar on Thursday or Friday night at a fighter base (Air Force, Navy, or Marines). I can guarantee that a significant proportion of them are drinking in Iraq despite the prohibition thereon. As a group, pilots too often forget that they're officers who fly airplanes, not pilots with metal bars and oak leaves—especially those of single- and dual-crew fixed-wing aircraft.
And, if anything, he's understating the disciplinary problems alcohol encourages. But then, since whoever came up with the plan over there was probably drunk at best and intellectually challenged at worst, maybe it's just a foolish consistency.