Kandahar Air Field can be terribly colourless. Sometimes there just isn't any chromatic variation: When a dust storm rolls in from the flatlands and coats every surface, people blend like dun chameleons into the background of beige tents, beige fences and beige razor-wire.
The colourlessness can be figurative, too. Some soldiers say they prefer to live a rougher life in forward bases rather than endure KAF's blandness and strict adherence to many rules.
Maybe that's why the troops reacted enthusiastically to a small change in janitorial policy this summer, when NATO contractors took the maintenance job from a U.S. company. The previous janitors had regularly painted over the graffiti in the bathroom stalls, leaving them as blank as everything else in this featureless landscape.
The new cleaners have shown more tolerance, allowing months' worth of scribbles to accumulate on the walls. This resulted in a kind of raucous creativity never witnessed since Canadian troops arrived at KAF. Some of the graffiti is the kind of crude stuff you might expect from thousands of young men who spend months inside a dirty ring of fences, but other bits of commentary and artwork go far beyond the usual bathroom humour.
The postings reflect the misgivings about American troops among other NATO allies.
One contributor laments U.S. friendly fire and another writer adds, "Identify your fucking target before you kill."
A rebuttal comes from a posting signed "U.S. Rangers," saying, "Canadians, first learn how to fight and stop getting your ass kicked every time you go outside the wire."
An apparently Canadian scribbler responds: "You guys forgetting 1812.
We burnt down your fucking White House."
In another stall, the debate shifts to the language wars in Quebec.
Some writers accuse the Royal 22nd Regiment, based in Valcartier, Que., of guarding bases instead of attacking Taliban strongholds.
The latest rotation of troops, led by the Van Doos, has suffered only seven killed since they arrived in July; the previous rotation had 22 deaths.
"Van Doos are cowards," says a statement in dark ink, highlighted with yellow marker. "Bosnia is a perfect example of this."
Several others reply: "Your ass was kicked in Drvar," says one, referring to the riot in the Bosnian town of Drvar in 1998, in which a primarily English-speaking Royal Canadian Regiment group faced an angry mob.
Some try to intervene in the French-English debate. "We are all on the same team, people," somebody writes. "Grow up."
Such squabbles are not the most common kind of graffiti. Many soldiers simply mark their time overseas, writing the number of days remaining in their tour or calculating their pay.
Occasionally, the writing reflects a wistful desire to stop fighting.
"Love stops terror," says a note in blue ink, with a tiny peace symbol drawn into the first word.
A cynic answers: "Only in a bathroom stall, my friend."
