In this dry desert world near Najaf, where the Army V Corps combat support system sprawls across miles of scabrous dust, there's an oasis of sorts: a 500-gallon pool of pristine, cool water.

It belongs to Army chaplain Josh Llano of Houston, who sees the water shortage, which has kept thousands of filthy soldiers from bathing for weeks, as an opportunity.

''It's simple. They want water. I have it, as long as they agree to get baptized,'' he said.

And agree they do. Every day, soldiers take the plunge for the Lord and come up clean for the first time in weeks.

''They do appear physically and spiritually cleansed,'' Llano said.

First, though, the soldiers have to go to one of Llano's hour-and-a-half sermons in his dirt-floor tent. Then the baptism takes an hour of quoting from the Bible.

''Regardless of their motives,'' Llano said, ``I get the chance to take them closer to the Lord.''

A blue-eyed 32-year-old with an abundance of energy, Llano goes out every day to drum up grimy soldiers for his pool.

He talks to truck drivers, tank drivers, computer specialists -- anyone and everyone. He goes out to the combat zone to the fighting soldiers and the combat support soldiers who keep them in supplies.

''You have to be aggressive to help people find themselves in God,'' he said.

He calls himself a ''Southern Baptist evangelist,'' and justifies the war and killing with a verse from the Gospel of Matthew, which he often recites: ``Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's.

''This means we are called upon by our government to fight and that is giving unto Caesar, as the Bible tells us,'' he said.

Earlier this week, word went out that portable showers might be installed here soon, but Llano was undaunted.

''There is no fruit out here, and I have a stash of raisins, juice boxes and fruit rolls to pull out,'' the chaplain said optimistically.




                                  BIBLE BRIGADE IS READY TO ROLL
                                             Ed Helmore in New York

[The Observer - 6 April 2003]:   President Bush is under pressure to clarify his position on the role evangelical Christian aid groups are set to play in post-war Iraq.

Responding to criticism that workers from at least two evangelical groups whose leaders have denounced Islam are massing in Jordan to bring a Gospel message to Iraq's Muslims, the White House attempted to distance itself from the idea that the war is a crusade to convert the nation to Christianity.

Ari Fleischer, the White House press spokesman, said: 'The President knows Islam is a religion of peace.'

The Southern Baptist Convention and Samaritan's Purse, which is run by the Rev Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, have run into trouble over the views of their leadership and their efforts to proselytise. A past leader of the Southern Baptists, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, he offended Muslims last year when he described the Prophet Muhammad as a 'paedophile' and a 'terrorist'.

Last week Graham said: 'I love the Arab world. I just disagree with their religion, and they disagree with me.'

In the past,Samaritan's Purse, a recipient of US government funding, has been warned not to mix religious and relief activities. After the Gulf war of 1991 it was accused of putting preaching before aid after distributing missionary tracts in Saudi Arabia.

Christian conservatives are among Bush's staunchest supporters, but at a time when much of the Muslim world perceives America as anti-Islam Bush cannot afford the impression that the war is indeed a crusade. US Muslim leaders say that, while Iraqis need aid, the US government should bar groups critical of the faith from working in the region.

'It would be inappropriate for these people to have any kind of American government support at a time when the entire Muslim world suspects that there is a war against Islam,' said Ibrahim Hooper, who is the spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations.

But Christian groups are concerned that a new regime in Iraq may outlaw all forms of non-Islamic worship. Iraq has 500,000 Christians who have been allowed to worship freely under Saddam Hussein. Bishop Shlemon Warduni in Baghdad warned: 'The fanatics in Iraq are using the war as an excuse to act against the Christians.'