Some very stupid or very horrible person has been taking a "letter" supposedly from a soldier in Iraq, putting different people's names on it and sending it to various newspapers around the country. The names are of actual soldiers serving in Iraq, but none of them seem to have written the letter or to know anything about it. Although a number of them have said they agree with the letter's thrust, they say they know nothing about the letter.
This sort of thing is just awful.
Some are already portraying this as a bit of "Republican propaganda." It might be that. On the other hand, it might be anti-war propaganda, someone intentionally putting out something they knew would be found fraudulent just to make the many (very similar) stories from others serving over there look suspect. Or it might even just be some well-meaning fool who didn't think about what kind of damage this sort of thing could do.
No question about it, now every story from everyone who's served over there will come under question. This is quite humiliating and infuriating for those of us who have believed in this cause from the beginning, and who've put time and effort--put our sweat, tears, reputation, and money--into supporting our troops and the people of Iraq.
Hmm, well on second glance this does look slightly less outrageous than it initially sounded. Because it's not "Republican propaganda," or "anti-war" propaganda, or even strictly fake. But it is incredible stupidity.There's a fundamental stupidity and/or dishonesty to doing something like this without making it clear what you've done to anyone who might be confused.
There is more than enough honest good news coming out of the Iraq conflict. Why mess all that up with something that will so obviously look faked? If they'd just had all these people sign the letter at once and sent it out that way, this would have been a neat story, instead of something that looks sinister.
According to InstaPundit, it's a non-story.
Well there's a highly reputable source.
The letters were sent by the military. They asked the soldiers to read them and sign them if they agreed with the content.
It's pro-war propaganda, by the military.
Okay, what's your source on that, P6?
Now frankly, if the soldiers agreed, then it's only "propaganda" in the sense that it's good news the military is intentionally putting out. Since what it says is matched by what we know other soldiers have said, I'm less put off by it--unless there's some evidence that there are tons of soldiers who want to tell stories of horror and hatred and are being prevented from doing so?
Chad:
Well there's a highly reputable source.
As opposed to say, you?
No. As opposed to The Olympian (a newspaper that, as the reification of a Chaos deity, I have great respect for).
Dean:
It's not a horror because they did ask the soldiers if they agreed with it. But I call it propaganda because of this:
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."
Sent to newspapers in their name. It's not a horror, but it's tacky as hell.
I deleted Chad's comments. We don't do ad hominem attacks here, unless it's good fun between friends, people who know each other. (Chad, chill out man.)
Anyway: to me it's horrible just because our guys over there are doing a terrific job, and the people of Iraq's lives are getting better, and we don't need boneheaded, tacky things like this making the operation look bad. Let it succeed or fail on its own merits, not due to incompetent PR work.
Let it succeed or fail on its own merits, not due to incompetent PR work.
Agreed.
Assuming that it was a form letter, distributed by an officer or noncom for soldiers to sign, then arguably that was a mistake or error in judgement.
But, if that turns out to be the biggest human mistake our trops make this week, then I'll call it a very good week, indeed.
The scam is that it is a scam.
Follow up
I'm sorry about that, Dean. I thought it was a valid question.
On one hand, we have Glenn Reynolds, who a): corrects himself if proven that he could possibly be wrong or have published something that might be in error -- and not just on this, but on many other things as well; and b): gives time to opposing viewpoints, and while he doesn't do this all the time, he does it a signifigant amount of times to make it noteworthy.
On the other hand, we have P6, whom to my knowledge doesn't do either of these things, and as of the time I write this has done neither of these things regarding this topic. Now, granted, I could be wrong about P6, and if I'm wrong I'm wrong, so be it. I've been wrong before, I'll live.
P6, in turn, defers to The Olympian. Hmm. My family spent a number of years in Olympia, and for many of those years, my father -- check that, my anti-Iraq War father worked for said named newspaper. Father's opinion of the writing capabilities of collective staff of The Olympian? "Worst newspaper in the state."
I tend to agree with dear old Dad on that one. And that's an ad hominem attack, or something near it. So feel free to delete this comment if you must because of it, but if you do, please do me the favor of telling me exactly why "Well there's a highly reputable source" isn't one.
Thank you.
I'm a non-com (SFC/E-7) in the Army, and I have to say that a non-com would never write such a form letter. Besides, we're too busy kicking ass and taking care of our soldiers to get involved in anything political. I detest this type of propaganda and suspect that someone in the pentagon or higher hatched this crazy scheme. I would never agree to have my name attached to such a document even if I agreed with it. This is not a used car we are trying to sell...this is freedom...if people don't want to buy into it, what a tragedy. If America's attention span is so short that we are clammering to be done with the whole "Iraq thing" then maybe we need to get them some ADD medication. This is not an episode of "Survivor", these are peoples' lives.
What are we to do, pull out and leave a mess? No, even as a democrat, I think that Bush made the right decision to take out Sadaam. It was about time.
We are doing great things over in Iraq and will see the job through.
Tim the Soldier...oh...Clark in 04'
Of course, the fact that there is no evidence for your claims doesn't slow you down, does it Tim?
Nah, just my 13 years of experience in the military...call it a hunch. Of course I will be happy to admit I am wrong.
Tim the Soldier
Now we know that no one in the Pentagon wrote this letter, Tim.
Hey, Tim, just what the heck is your vast "13 years of experience in the military," anyway?
You have never (from what I've seen here) been posted overseas.
You weren't called up, even though a very large number of reserve troops were.
You (again, from your remarks here) have never been in any operation where troops have been shot at, such as Desert Shield/Storm, Somalia, the Balkans, or Iraqi Freedom.
So, again, what is your MOS, anyway!? Are you a supply clerk, or a secretary?
Casey,
Just for you....I am a 98C4HOOKP...that is, a signals intelligence analyst, SFC (E-7), Korean Linguist, and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) Instructor. I have spent a good majority of my career in South Korea...obviously, I can't go into detail about my job. If you have any knowledge of military intelligence and/or NSA operations, you will understand. Oh, btw, I made SFC/E-7 in under 10 years. Stick to the two things you know well Casey, NASCAR, and Jackassery. It seems to suit you.
Tim the Soldier
Kewl. That's definitely neater than supply clerk. :)
I've been irritated because I've asked you before, and you never answered. Did you have something to hide? I didn't know. I did know that you have always been very careful to never even mention, in broad terms, what your MOS was. How was I to know (without you saying) that you weren't a secretary, hm? I just think appending "the Soldier" at the end of your name, and referring to your great amount of military experience implies the need to establish some sort of street cred.
Could you take seriously someone who has always had Staff positions, but talked like he was the next Patton? I didn't think so. :)
BTW, I wasn't trying to insult you, but get a response. This worked.
But, hey, thanks for the insult, even if it is completely inaccurate. I've never been interested in NASCAR (things like Space development, general history, and military history are more absorbing), but I may take it up, now.
After all, we all know that people who gain admission as a student in one of the oldest Systems Analysis departments in the country (at Miami University), and who have joined honor societies like Phi Kappa Phi, are just ignorant NASCAR-loving asshats, yes?
Casey,
I took your bait...as usual...but I really do enjoy bantering back and forth with you. That is when I get chance. Of course realizing that most of the people posting here are smarter than me, I stick to what I know.
Tim the Soldier
Tim, bantering is (as Martha says) "a gooood thing!" Heh.
Actually, I really am to glad to hear you aren't some silly REMF (kids, do NOT ask your folks what that means! {g})... And now I understand why you don't have the same stories that several of the other guys have had; they weren't stationed in the Far East.
To be truthful, I really don't want to get into a pissing contest with any of the regulars here. I like most of 'em too much. Even Ara, except for Certain Subjects That Will Not Be Mentioned Here :) I think we've all gotten a bit "hasty" lately.
(an aside: did you get my email? Apparently Miami's server has developed intermittent problems recently; a couple of my classmates have mentioned not getting mail, or getting corrupt mail, such as a message missing an attachment.)
You may want (if I've never said this before) to check out www.strategypage.com. I think it is a wonderfully balanced site, and has all sorts of areas including procurement, doctrine, intelligence, "lessons learned" in recent conflicts, even humor, such as Murphy's Laws of War. :)
ex:
-Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself
-Bombs from B-52s are very, very accurate. They always hit the ground.
-No inspection-ready outfit is ever fit for combat.
-No combat-ready outfit is fit for inspection.
-Incoming artillery has the right of way.
-If you are short of everything but the enemy, you are in combat.
I should email you "1st Sergeant Rap," too. Allegedly recorded by the real thing... :)
Anyway, to segue back to the original topic, I think that this was a case of some high-grade NCO getting tired of what he reads in the papers, and goes ahead without clearing the idea first...