Private Mo'allem, 26, is having difficulty with the push-ups, but he is proud nevertheless. "Two weeks ago, I could hardly do five," the Pashtun says with a grin. "Now I'm up to 25." But he had better not bad-mouth privates from other Afghan ethnic groups as they all train together under U.S. Green Berets commissioned to create the new Afghan national army. The penalty for ethnic slurs is 50 push-ups. But it's still possible to get away with a sniping remark now and then. The Americans need a troop of translators to tell what insults are being lobbed in the various...
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