British Troops Say Saudis Are Hypocrites About Sex, Alcohol
British troops are grumbling about religious and recreational restrictions imposed in Saudi Arabia and regard their hosts as hypocrites, it was reported today.
“Anti-Saudi sentiment is deeply ingrained among most of the Western troops serving in Operation Desert Storm,” reporter Christopher Walker wrote from eastern Saudi Arabia for The Times of London.
“Resentment among the British troops increased when, on the first Sunday after the air war began, the Saudi authorities banned a mass Christian church service for members of the 4th Armored Brigade,” Walker wrote in a report that was subject to allied media restrictions.
He quoted Cpl. Stephen Quairby as accusing the Saudis of hypocrisy on issues such as alcohol and sex.
“We know that they go over the causeway to drink in Bahrain. Everyone knows that they are hypocrites, so why won’t they at least let us have a beer when we are fighting, and maybe dying, to defend their country?” Quairby was quoted as saying.
Walker said British troops have been promised they will be allowed alcohol when they reach Kuwait City.
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