The Chicago Tribune is doing some nice articles lately - some in-depth, well-thought-out reporting of everything from the Texas death penalty to Iraq. This article about Scrounging in Iraq and soldiers going to jail and being discharged over it is fascinating, in part because I know that when a Marine friend of mine was in Desert Storm, he had particular problems getting good radios, and though he didn't use the word scrounging, it was obvious they had had to make due by cannibalizing certain pieces of equipment. The article doesn't even discuss the fact that many soldiers scrounge items from the other side, including AKs and the like, anything that runs better in the sand then their own equipment. Given Rumsfeld's recent comments about soldiers being reduced to using hillbilly armor, it's just really worth a read.
(By the way, I don't see any books about the history of scrounging on line, so if someone is looking for a good thesis or next book, there's your idea. Pooteewheet and I did watch The Gleaners and I (89% on RottenTomatoes) earlier this year, which is about French people picking up waste and food for reuse, but that's not quite the same).
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