This
article is provided courtesy of Stars & Stripes,
which got its start as a newspaper for Union troops during the Civil War, and has been published continuously since 1942 in Europe and 1945 in the Pacific. Stripes reporters have been in the field with American soldiers, sailors and airmen in World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, and are now on assignment in the Middle East.
Stars and Stripes has one of the widest distribution ranges of any newspaper in the world. Between the Pacific and European editions, Stars & Stripes services over 50 countries where there are bases, posts, service members, ships, or embassies.
An AAFES concessionaire displays counterfeit watches and sunglasses
on sale at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq (Photo by Anas
Dulami, Stars and Stripes).
BAGHDAD — Army
and Air Force Exchange Service concessionaires and “haji shops”
are selling counterfeit products on U.S. bases in Iraq,
even though AAFES says the selling of “knockoff” merchandise is not
authorized.
Counterfeit products — ranging from fake watches to bootleg DVDs —
are on sale at U.S. military bases all over Iraq.
At Baghdad International Airport’s gift shop, for example, soldiers
and civilians leaving Iraq could pick up a men’s or women’s “Rolex”
watch for $25, or “Oakley” and “Ray-Ban” sunglasses for a fraction
of what they would cost in the States.
At Camp Warhorse, near Baquoba, north of Baghdad, a large indoor souk
has been established in the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation facility.
There, soldiers can buy fake watches and sunglasses, copies of major
European soccer teams’ shirts, and various other items, including
thousands of illegally copied DVDs.
Many of the same items are on sale at a “bazaar” in the MWR palace
at Camp Danger in Tikrit and near the base exchange in Baghdad’s Green
Zone.
The DVDs, which sell for between $5 and $7, are one of the most popular
knockoff items sold. Soldiers report that the movies are sometimes
low-quality reproductions made by people holding camcorders in theaters.
But most are as good as genuine DVD titles, troops said.
The sale of counterfeit items on U.S. bases in Iraq is happening at
a time when the U.S. government is urging other nations to protect
intellectual property rights. Last month, U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Donald Evans urged a crackdown on what he described as a wholesale
violation of intellectual property rights in China.
In an e-mail response to Stars and Stripes, AAFES services
program manager Silvia Stroudemire said AAFES concessionaires are
not authorized to sell “knockoff” merchandise.
“AAFES and its concessionaires strive to provide quality merchandise
and service,” she said.
“Customers who note any oversight in our strict quality control should
bring that to the attention of the local service business managers
or AAFES team leader on site for immediate resolution,” she said.
Stroudemire said AAFES has noted that some Army units have arranged
for concession operations with local vendors without coordination
through AAFES.
“These vendors would not be governed by the same contractual agreements
that AAFES places on the concessions it brings onto unit sites,” she
said.
However, the cashier at the Baghdad airport gift shop, Leo Cutinho,
said the “Rolex” watches he was selling were fakes.
“We don’t know where they came from but they are not genuine,” he
said.
The hottest selling items at the store are objects with Saddam Hussein’s
face on them, he said. Soldiers returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom
are snapping up Saddam cigarette lighters, watches, bank notes and
T-shirts, Cutinho said.
AAFES could not comment on the legalities of transporting counterfeit
items into the United States, Stroudemire said.
At Q-West base in northern Iraq, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment
commander Lt. Col. Karl Reed said it had not occurred to him that
the sale of counterfeit goods on his base was an issue. He said he
had ejected some Iraqi retailers whose prices were too high.
Reed said his concern was providing his soldiers with things they
needed to survive in Iraq and that worrying about whether products
were genuine was low on his list of priorities.
“The Iraqi economy is full of this stuff after 10 years of sanctions.
They were our enemy so they didn’t care much about protecting U.S.
copyrights,” he said.
Troops have little trouble enjoying pirated CDs,
DVDs
MOSUL, Iraq — At Firebase Aggie, south of Mosul, soldiers
from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment’s Company
B do not have much to do in their spare time.
Most work out in the makeshift gymnasium or shoot targets
at the range next to their barracks.
A mobile post exchange from the Army and Air Force Exchange
Service visited once, but soldiers were disappointed when
they found it did not stock U.S. tobacco products and
sold high-priced DVD players, they said.
Many soldiers said they have resorted to buying bootlegged
DVDs from concessionaires.
Watching pirated DVDs or listening to pirated CDs helps
pass the time.
The soldiers at Firebase Aggie also enjoy “Haji Mountain
Dew” and $10-a-carton “Marlborough” cigarettes — local
products that taste nothing like their U.S. namesakes.
Sgt. Barry McCoy bought a pair of “Nike” sunglasses for
$5 from the “Sergeant Major’s Shop,” which is operated
by Iraqis at the battalion headquarters at Q-West Forward
Operating Base.
“As soon as I bought them the lenses started falling out,”
he said.
Cpl. Sam Heron said he often buys pirated DVDs, which
vary in price from $4 to $8.
“It depends on how much you argue with the salesman,”
he said.
So far his collection includes “Underworld,” “Mothman
Prophesies,” “The Matrix,” “The Last Samurai” and “Barbershop
II.”
“You can hear the audience laughing during ‘Barbershop
II,’ and there is a scene with big robots in legitimate
copies of ‘The Matrix’ that just isn’t there in the pirated
version,” Heron said.
The Company B soldiers have no pangs of guilt over watching
pirated DVDs in Iraq.
“They (entertainment industry workers) are living the
high life and wining and dining right now,” Sgt. Justin
Bliven said. “They are probably eating in 1,000-foot dining
rooms and I am stuck here in haji land.”
