A marine squad was marching north of Basra when they came upon an Iraqi soldier badly injured and unconscious. Nearby but on the opposite side of the road was an American Marine in a similar but less serious state. The Marine was conscious and alert.

As first aid was given to both men, the squad leader anxiously asked the Marine what had happened.

The Marine reported, "I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway, and coming south was a heavily armed Iraqi soldier. Seeing each other we both took cover."

"What happened then?" the corpsman asked. "I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein was a rotten low life slug, and he yelled back, 'George Bush is a miserable slimeball'."

"We were standing there shaking hands when a truck hit us."