- NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq
(AFP) - With US forces massing outside Fallujah, 35 marines swayed to Christian
rock music and asked Jesus Christ to protect them in what could be the
biggest battle since American troops invaded Iraq last year.
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- Men with buzzcuts and clad in their camouflage waved
their hands in the air, M-16 assault rifles laying beside them, and chanted
heavy metal-flavoured lyrics in praise of Christ late Friday in a yellow-brick
chapel.
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- They counted among thousands of troops surrounding the
city of Fallujah, seeking solace as they awaited Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi's decision on whether or not to invade Fallujah.
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- "You are the sovereign. You're name is holy. You
are the pure spotless lamb," a female voice cried out on the loudspeakers
as the marines clapped their hands and closed their eyes, reflecting on
what lay ahead for them.
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- The US military, with many soldiers coming from the conservative
American south and midwest, has deep Christian roots.
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- In times that fighting looms, many soldiers draw on their
evangelical or born-again heritage to help them face the battle.
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- "It's always comforting. Church attendance is always
up before the big push," said First Sergeant Miles Thatford.
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- "Sometimes, all you've got is God."
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- Between the service's electric guitar religious tunes,
marines stepped up on the chapel's small stage and recited a verse of scripture,
meant to fortify them for war.
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- One spoke of their Old Testament hero, a shepherd who
would become Israel's king, battling the Philistines some 3,000 years ago.
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- "Thus David prevailed over the Philistines,"
the marine said, reading from scripture, and the marines shouted back "Hoorah,
King David," using their signature grunt of approval.
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- The marines drew parallels from the verse with their
present situation, where they perceive themselves as warriors fighting
barbaric men opposed to all that is good in the world.
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- "Victory belongs to the Lord," another young
marine read.
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- Their chaplain, named Horne, told the worshippers they
were stationed outside Fallujah to bring the Iraqis "freedom from
oppression, rape, torture and murder ... We ask you God to bless us in
that effort."
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- The marines then lined up and their chaplain blessed
them with holy oil to protect them.
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- "God's people would be annointed with oil,"
the chaplain said, as he lightly dabbed oil on the marines' foreheads.
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- The crowd then followed him outside their small auditorium
for a baptism of about a half-dozen marines who had just found Christ.
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- The young men lined up and at least three of them stripped
down to their shorts.
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- The three laid down in a rubber dinghy filled with water
and the chaplain's assistant, Navy corpsman Richard Vaughn, plunged their
heads beneath the surface.
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- Smiling, Vaughn baptised them "in the name of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
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- Dripping wet, Corporal Keith Arguelles beamed after his
baptism.
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- "I just wanted to make sure I did this before I
headed into the fight," he said on the military base not far from
the city of Fallujah.
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