---

Gary Trudeau Lampoons IFOR Morale Issue in 'Doonesbury' LOS ANGELES, May 22 (Berserkistan)— Cartoonist Gary Trudeau tackled the issue of lagging morale among soldiers serving in IFOR, NATO's Bosnia Peacekeeping mission in his syndicated cartoon, Doonesbury, today. In the widely-distributed feature, Trudeau lampoons the Pentagon's decision to outlaw alchohol consumption by solders serving in Bosnia and other IFOR support locations. In the four-panel strip, a U.S. Navy lieutenant who serves as an IFOR morale officer resorts to flooding his bored troops with board games as an alternative to liquor. The ban on alcohol consumption—at the front in Bosnia and also at the supply and support bases in Hungary and Croatia—has been the most frequent source of complaint in the letters to Stars and Stripes, the GI newspaper. The ban applies to American troops, but not to their colleagues from other countries in the NATO-led force. The policy is determined by the operation commander based on local conditions, and U.S. commanders in Bosnia have said they don’t want alcohol in Bosnia because of land mines, hostile locals and other factors that could endanger drunk soldiers. The Stars and Stripes reported March 9 that two U.S. sergeants had been given less than honorable discharges for violating the alcohol ban, and several others received administrative punishment, such as reductions in rank, pay cuts or letters of reprimand.

Berserkistan, March 21 · Bored American Soldiers Need A Break and a Brew
The U.S. Air Force in Bosnia
The U.S. Army in Bosnia
United States Marine Corps
Navy Public Affairs
Pentagon's BosniaLINK Home Page
American Red Cross in support of U.S. Military

Berserkistan is a world news service of Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved