Not all Americans support the 09 Limas. "There were lots of turncoats in the American Revolution. These people are no better," said Hasan Newash, director of the Palestine Office, a U.S.-based Palestinian rights group.
Even some 09 Limas have their doubts.
"I'm a Muslim, and going to fight this war doesn't go with Islam," one 32-year-old Morocco native said as he took part in basic training drills at Ft. Jackson. "But I'm also an American."
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Their faces painted an inky camouflage, the soldiers whisper in accented English as they crawl across the clay-colored Carolina soil toward a would-be enemy post.
"Wait! Wait! Go back!" Tommy Woolen shouts in a drawl. The fiery young drill sergeant is unhappy with his trainees. "Daggone! We've practiced this drill 800 daggone times and y'all are still jackin' it up. Y'all are in such a hurry to go in there and get killed."
Shouldering heavy rucksacks, their M-16s handled gingerly, the dozen soldiers shrug silently and trudge away. Nobody has a response. Nobody tries to explain.
It hasn't always been like that with the 09 Limas. Soon after the first 20 recruits arrived at Ft. Jackson on a bleak winter morning 18 months ago, disputes erupted with their military handlers.
Rather than simply follow orders, many tried to explain mistakes to fuming drill sergeants.
Many clung to Arabic customs. One recruit said Muslim culture forbade him from fighting an older U.S. soldier. When Woolen barked at a recruit in his 30s, the man told the drill sergeant to respect his elders.
"He said, 'You will not talk to me in this fashion,' " recalled Woolen, who is 27 but looks younger.
Woolen told the recruit: "I'm not your elder. I'm your superior."
Many 09 Limas say they weren't told they were going to Iraq. Tarik says his recruiter promised him a cushy desk job translating news from Al Jazeera, an Arabic channel: "No way would I have joined to go to Iraq."
Others complained that the military did not deliver promised signing bonuses or foreign language-proficiency pay. At night, hushed complaints were uttered in the darkened barracks. Some soldiers went on a hunger strike. Others wanted to talk to lawyers.
Lt. Carol Stahl, a trained Arabic-speaker, built the 09 Lima pilot program from the ground up. The former social studies teacher immediately became fiercely protective of her recruits.
