MUSIC NEWS AND MORE, PLAYED AT FULL BLAST
Tours
of Duty
As public support for the
Iraq war wanes, rock bands
fight an uphill battle to keep
the troops entertained
BY PETER GASTON

Hordes of young people gather in the middle of nowhere, raising devil horns and pumping fists along to a rock-radio staple. Laser lights penetrate the deep night sky and catch dust particles launched by the stomping of boots on desert ground. But these are not Doc Martens in the Coachella mosh pit; they’re the combat boots of ⁵,⁰⁰⁰ men and women who are mostly wrapped in the sandstone camouflage of the U.S. Army, and strapped with M¹⁶ rifles.

On this March evening, MySpace, Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE), and the Department of Defense have transformed Camp Buehring, a military base in Kuwait ¹⁵ miles south of the Iraqi border, into a giant concert venue. Featuring sets from Filter, Disturbed, the Pussycat Dolls, Jessica Simpson, and comedian Carlos Mencia, Operation MySpace is meant to offer a much-needed night of mindless diversion to the troops, the majority of whom have just arrived in the Middle East for active duty in Iraq, and is being simulcast via its namesake website to an estimated