US Marines Serving In Afghanistan Warned Not To Fart So Audibly

Battle Rattle, a Military Times blog, has an important dispatch from the front lines, which they wanted us to share with you. So often we forget about the sacrifices our troops abroad make to protect this nation's freedom. Sacrifices like sphincter clenching.

So here's the news: audible farting has been banned for some Marines downrange because it offends the Afghans. I know there are many things in the Afghan culture that don't seem normal to Americans and it's hard to spend seven months working in someone else's back yard. Still, the Marines I saw downrange are doing a pretty good job at trying to do the right thing around the Afghans. [...] But farting? That's practically a sport. Ok, it's not soccer, but a good contest could open the door for cross-cultural exchanges, jokes and other gallows humor.

Now you know the hell of war.

For Marines in Afghanistan: be careful where you fart [Military Times]