Patrolling Iraq For Bad Guys And Girls

The skies of Baghdad are dotted with Goodyear-blimp-style balloons, or aerostats, that track the movements of militia thugs near U.S. bases. Lately, though, some have run into a spate of bad luck. One of the tethered blimps was blown away earlier this month by harsh winds, requiring jets to shoot it down. And despite the Kevlar coating, others have been picked off by the lucky potshots of rocket-toting insurgents.

But some GIs suspect that even the good guys may want to pop them. Whispers hears that one blimp camera recently caught two sweethearts, both American soldiers, lip locked and more on the roof of a base building, resulting in disciplinary action for both.

By Paul Bedard