This sort of sheds some light on the following item which might have appeared a couple days ago:
"BLUE MEN" represent unnamed country's hopes
JAN BARKOVAC, Associated Press
March 23, near AN-NAJAF: Out here in the dust-whipped desert and the 95-degree heat, the 19 members of "Special Unit Z" are easy to recognize: they are the ones who are wearing polyester ski masks, rubber gloves, and plastic ponchos.
Under the edges of the masks, around their eyes, and at every exposed point, the skin of each man is covered with opaque blue makeup. That, of course, is why the personnel of the US 3rd Infantry Division refer to them as the "Blue Man Group".
But they have nothing to do with the multi-city performance ensemble of that name. They represent their unnamed government's commitment to freedom for the Iraqi people - and, more mundanely, their hopes for aid and support from the United States.
"I don't know myself what country they're from," says Corporal Terry Suggs, of Mobile, AL, who serves as liaison to the group. "But it's one of the members of the coalition. They are doing a lot more for us than some."
The names, ethnicities, and even the language or languages of the "Blue Men" are secrets, not known even to Suggs., who was chosen for the job because of his command of American Sign Language (ASL). "The ponchos are so nobody can recognize their body build and start making guesses."
Suggs was chosen for the job because of his command of American Sign Language (ASL). "I don't know their captain's name," he says. "I hold my hand up when I want to talk to him, and he holds his hand up when he wants to talk to me."
A staff source, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that the government of the country wants very much to show its loyalty to the United States, but the population is very much opposed to the war.
"It's tough on them," says Private Jason Ferraro, of Pontiac, MI, who shares a Bradley with 6 of the Blue Men. "They can't ever talk with anyone. If they get captured I don't what they do. I hope the government buys whatever their country is selling, because these guys have earned something."