So I stumbled upon these pics of Women of the Israel Defense Forces by photogragher Ashkan Sahihi.

I'm not quite sure what sort of social commentary can be inferred from Sahihi's photos, but I'm inclined to think that he's trying to say more than just, "Chicks with guns... sweet."

Then again, his another of his photo projects, Armpits, seem to be aiming for juvenile reactions or shock value. For his Drug Series, he got his portrait subjects high on various drugs (Crack, Cocaine, Heroin, Marijauna, LSD, Psilocybin, Ketamine, Ectasy, Amphetamine, Hashish, and Mescaline) and then photographed their lit faces.

I found the Women of the Israel Defense Forces photos after reading about his Cumshot Series at Nerve.com (read the archived article HERE). I starting reading Nerve back in 1999 after seeing it listed as a favorite site of one of the Kids In The Hall (I think it was Kevin McDonald). Nerve isn't quite what it used to be ever since they restricted almost all of their content to a pay-only "Premium Service," and I don't pay for anything anymore except CDs, DVDs, and food.

As for my reactions to Sahihis photos, I defintely thought, Sweet, chicks with guns, but I also find myself frustrated that these women a forced by their government to take arms and serve in the military. At least I think that's why they're in the army. I know Israeli men are automatically conscripted when they reach a certain age. Kurt, Greg Zetsche and I hung out with a couple Israeli guys at the Red Rock bar on New Years 2001. They'd come to America as students and had already graduated, but didn't want to return to Israel because they'd be forced to join the Army. Even through a beery haze they were clearly scared of what the American government would do when it discovered that their student visas had expired and of what their native government would do if they were ever to return home.