Awhile ago, some soldiers were criticizing the administration policy and were told to shut up. In some newspapers, it was said that their careers were effectively over. Now, we have the opposite. While I consider a good thing that solders writing what great accomplishment they made. Newspaper are mostly emphasizing the negative aspect of the war. These letter pointed out the positive aspect of this war. It provides a more balanced coverage. But still, is it unfair to the solders who criticized the administration policy? Anyway, the link: http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031011/frontpage/121390_Printer.shtml LEDYARD KING GANNETT NEWS SERVICE The Olympian Online IRAQ: Latest developments Your thoughts about war with Iraq. WASHINGTON -- Letters from hometown soldiers describing their successes rebuilding Iraq have been appearing in newspapers across the country as U.S. public opinion on the mission sours. And all the letters are the same. A Gannett News Service search found identical letters from different soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, also known as "The Rock," in 11 newspapers, including Snohomish, Wash. The Olympian received two identical letters signed by different hometown soldiers: Spc. Joshua Ackler and Spc. Alex Marois, who is now a sergeant. The paper declined to run either because of a policy not to publish form letters. The five-paragraph letter talks about the soldiers' efforts to re-establish police and fire departments, and build water and sewer plants in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, where the unit is based. "The quality of life and security for the citizens has been largely restored, and we are a large part of why that has happened," the letter reads. It describes people waving at passing troops and children running up to shake their hands and say thank you. It's not clear who wrote the letter or organized sending it to soldiers' hometown papers. Six soldiers reached by GNS directly or through their families said they agreed with the letter's thrust. But none of the soldiers said he wrote it, and one said he didn't even sign it. Marois, 23, told his family he signed the letter, said Moya Marois, his stepmother. But she said he was puzzled why it was sent to the newspaper in Olympia. He attended high school in Olympia but no longer considers the city home, she said. Moya Marois and Alex's father, Les, now live near Kooskia, Idaho. A seventh soldier didn't know about the letter until his father congratulated him for getting it published in the local newspaper in Beckley, W.Va. "When I told him he wrote such a good letter, he said: 'What letter?' " Timothy Deaconson said Friday, recalling the phone conversation he had with his son, Nick. "This is just not his (writing) style." He spoke to his son, Pfc. Nick Deaconson, at a hospital where he was recovering from a grenade explosion that left shrapnel in both his legs. Sgt. Christopher Shelton, who signed a letter that ran in the Snohomish Herald, said Friday that his platoon sergeant had distributed the letter and asked soldiers for the names of their hometown newspapers. Soldiers were asked to sign the letter if they agreed with it, said Shelton, whose shoulder was wounded during an ambush earlier this year. "Everything it said is dead accurate. We've done a really good job," he said by phone from Italy, where he was preparing to return to Iraq. Sgt. Todd Oliver, a spokesman for the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which counts the 503rd as one of its units, said he was told a soldier wrote the letter, but he didn't know who. He said the brigade's public affairs unit was not involved. "When he asked other soldiers in his unit to sign it, they did," Oliver explained in an e-mail response to a GNS inquiry. "Someone, somewhere along the way, took it upon themselves to mail it to the various editors of newspapers across the country." Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald, a spokesman for the 4th infantry Division that is heading operations in north-central Iraq, said he had not heard about the letter-writing campaign. Neither had Lt. Cmdr. Nick Balice, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla. A recent poll suggests that Americans are increasingly skeptical of America's prolonged involvement in Iraq. A USA Today-CNN-Gallup Poll released Sept. 23 found 50 percent believe that the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over, down from 73 percent in April. The letter talks about the soldiers' mission, saying, "one thousand of my fellow soldiers and I parachuted from ten jumbo jets." It describes Kirkuk as "a hot and dusty city of just over a million people." It tells about the progress they have made. "The fruits of all our soldiers' efforts are clearly visible in the streets of Kirkuk today. There is very little trash in the streets, many more people in the markets and shops, and children have returned to school," the letter reads. "I am proud of the work we are doing here in Iraq and I hope all of your readers are as well." Sgt. Shawn Grueser of Poca, W.Va., said he spoke to a military public affairs officer whose name he couldn't remember about his accomplishments in Iraq for what he thought was a news release to be sent to his hometown paper in Charleston, W.Va. But the 2nd Battalion soldier said he did not sign any letter. Although Grueser said he agrees with the letter's sentiments, he was uncomfortable that a letter with his signature did not contain his own words or spell out his own accomplishments. "It makes it look like you cheated on a test, and everybody got the same grade," Grueser said by phone from a base in Italy where he had just arrived from Iraq. Moya Marois said she is proud of her stepson Alex, the former Olympia resident. But she worries that the letter tries to give legitimacy to a war she doesn't think was justified. "We're going to support our son," she said. But "there are a lot of Americans that are not in support of this war that would like to see them returned home, and think it's going to get worse."
I guess it is what the White House meant by a PR offensive to increase the popularity of the occupation of Iraq. After all there is just so often you can have the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell characters say all is going well. I guess it is understandable that they would have some fake grass roots support from the troops. Especially when you have days like today where there were 7 different attacks and three GI's killed and 11 wounded per NBC. ************* NBC NEWS AND NEWS SERVICES Oct. 13 — Faceless attackers appeared to be escalating their campaign of violence in Iraq, with military officials reporting Monday that seven attacks had killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded 11 other coalition troops. more
I was just about to post this same story when I saw that this thread. Talk about a propaganda machine. There has been so much talk about the negative press, that I guess they decided to just manufacture their own good stuff.
Like the proverbial baseball team owner who extends a vote of confidence to the manager, you know things are really bad when an administration tries to claim that it is really going well. Putting Condi, who is WH staff, in charge of the Reconstruction is one of the lamest managerial moves in recent presidential history. The whole reason you have a WH staff is to coordinate and look at the big picture. Now we have a WH that will become consumed with the minutiae of the effort. Not that other administrations haven't fallen prey to a similar dynamic, but this is the first one to do it intentionally. But what choice do they have? If Rummy is failing and nobody trusts State because they might try to upset the neo-con applecart, you're left with the NSC or, I guess, maybe Transportation or Education. At least both of those are good at routing money to cronies, so that part of the mission wouldn't fall apart. Dark times.
Yeah its a regular Vietnam out there. I will never believe anything the media says 100%, recanting the truth is not their goal. I know one thing... America was attacted by terrorists on September 11th, 2001. 5000+ Americans died. You guys honestly would rather see thousands of more American lives gone just so the Bush administration will fall flat on its face? NEWSFLASH : If Bush had said "We're not going to Attack Anyone"... the media would be labeling him a coward with no backbone. Freedom is not free. There was a time when political priorities took a backseat to the welfare of America as a whole. I do not blame some of you, the first amendment in the United State Constitution basically gives you the right to bash the country you live in and to criticize every detail that isn't right. We are a divided nation politically and spiritually. We are diverse. We are the greatest nation in the world. We are the most spoiled people in the history of mankind. We need another Teddy Roosevelt to come in and b****smack America back on track. I don't care if it is Colin Powell or Wesley Clark, someone needs to straighten this mess.
Timing, I do not argue which side is right. If the Liberals have been shoveling horse****, than the Conservatives have been doing it as well. Maybe it is too difficult for the people in here to understand someone trying to bring a message that isn't sided on the Elephant or Donkey. This forum is not meant for civility, I'm not trying to unite the world here, everyone on each side of the political spectrum is riding a horse so high that anyone trying to reach either side will just get smacked in the face by horse testicles. Take it as you may, I'll pack myself up and head back to the hangout and won't bother you again.
Sorry Moe, this really has nothing to do with parties however your post is indicative of what this President has been shoveling for some time now. Wrapping himself in 9/11 and talking about how attacking Iraq has something to do with protecting your freedoms or anything to do with a war on terrorism. Seriously, how has your freedom or life ever suffered by anything ever done by Iraq? Well it hasn't, Iraq has had nothing to do with 9/11 and attacking them had nothing to do with protecting our freedom in this country. It's far more complicated an issue to allow it to be simplified into a mesage of rounding up the wagons and standing behind whatever is done in our name. The fact that you here cite 9/11 in defense of this war just indicates you've been influenced by the perversion of truth that's gone on in this country.
Nobody in this thread has said they wanted Troops to die. And 9/11 had just over 3000 casualties. The early reports listing more than that, have been revised for some time now. That doesn't mean the attacks were ok, but just for accuracies sake I brought up the figures. Speaking of accuracy, that's what this thread is about. If letters go to newspapers supposedly written by soldiers, but it turns out later that the letters were not written by the soldiers but instead written by higher-ups in an effort to sell us on how good things are going in Iraq, I'm disappointed, and made to feel even less trustful. Even if I had been gung-ho for the war, I don't like dishonesty. I didn't like in the Clinton Whithouse, and I don't like it now. If we want this country to be united, how about telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth regarding Iraq. Just give the people the facts and let them decide what side their opinions fall on. Manufacturing positive reports doesn't help anything.
Don't really have a place to put it. Though not directly relevent, this seems like the most logical place to put it. ----------------------------------------------------- Bush approval rating rebounds Poll shows rating at 56%, off recent low of 44% http://www.msnbc.com/news/980026.asp?0cv=CB10 WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 — President Bush’s approval rating has rebounded from a recent near record low for his presidency following a public relations offensive, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday showed. The poll found that 56 percent of Americans now approve of the way Bush is handling his job. BUSH’S JOB PERFORMANCE rating had hovered around 44 percent in recent weeks as Democratic presidential candidates stepped up criticism of his handling of the economy and the Iraq war amid mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq. Bush launched a new public relations offensive last week to defend his policies on Iraq and the economy. The White House also announced a reorganization of the administration’s Iraqi reconstruction management. Just over half of those polled now think he deserves to be re-elected while 38 percent of registered voters say they will definitely vote for him in 2004. An equal number say they definitely will vote against him. The new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, conducted Oct. 10-13, found that 44 percent of Americans think the U.S. economy is in good shape, up from 35 percent in March. More than half of the respondents said they were optimistic that the economy would be performing well a year from now. According to the poll, retired Gen. Wesley Clark continues to lead the list of Bush’s nine Democratic challengers, garnering an 18 percent rating among registered Democrats and Democratic leaning voters. The telephone poll of 1,004 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
all this proves is that Bush's propaganda war is working on some people. mostly people that don't take the time or energy to think for themselves and question what is told to them, but it is working on some. as for the letters just pathetic how stupid Bush must think the American people are this tatic worked in Nazi Germany during the war, as Hilter had the papers only report good news or just hide the truth of how badly the war is going, but it will not work in American, not in the information age.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/13/iraq/main577716.shtml "Six soldiers whose names appear on letters published in different papers told Gannett that they knew of the letters and agreed with their substance, but hadn't written them. An Army spokesman contacted by Gannett said he had been told the letter was written by a soldier, though he did not know the identity of the author. "When he asked other soldiers in his unit to sign it, they did," said Sgt. Todd Oliver of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. "Someone, somewhere along the way, took it upon themselves to mail it to the various editors of newspapers across the country."" I fail to see what the big deal is.
Thank you for your hilarious commentary. Patriotism is a joke now anyway isn't it? Al Franken must be very proud of you. Timing - You provide me with undeniable proof that Saddam would have never tried to attack America, and I will still support his removal from power to the full extent. Are you honestly impling that we have not done a damn thing in Iraq and the Iraqi people don't care about freedom? Maybe you should have seen the torture chambers. FranchiseBlade - Sadly there are Americans who would rather have our troops suffer a horrible defeat just to give them a smug feeling of being right. I agree with you 100%, we should united, and the truth should be told. But what do you do when all CNN will show is American Failures and all Fox News will show is American Triumph? It's not a battle of morals, it's a battle of political glorification, and I hate both sides of it.
