"...Mike ( LTC shinners) is a student of soccer - the beautiful game - and along with his military comrades he believes that sports is a human right , as essential as electricity.....  They feel that a  culture unable to provide such service is not intrinsically stable, and unstable cultures tend to breed insurgency and violence.

They have been aided in their mission by London based group FC Unity and the Kick for Nick Foundation, a CT based organization set up by the family of Pvt. Nick Madaras to give out soccer balls, as a way of breaking down cultural barriers.

All are convinced that on-field competition can sow seeds of unity in the soccer mad, but highly sectarian and ethnically mixed communities, of Iraq. Get Shia, Sunni, Christian, Turkemen, and Kurdish children kicking a ball around a pitch and they'll ultimately learn to respect each other."

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