Same letter to the editor praising Army in Iraq pops up across nation

[Newsjock]

Only on the wires so far; no link. Will update with link to full story when available.

By LEDYARD KING
Gannett News Service

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.

... 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. 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.

more to come

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. More anti-American tinfoil hat conspiracy theory rejectionism

The regime has decreed that all should be upbeat and say positive things about Iraq.

The purpose of the press is to inform the people of the regime's decrees, and obey them.

The press is doing its job.

Praise the Regime.

[morebunk]

20. We should bombard FOX, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS with questions

about this abuse of our military. How low will the right wing moralists go? They lie continually.

[The_Casual_Observer]

45. Yea, but how stupid can they be?

Nowadays it only takes a few seconds to reveal and expose a con like this. In the past nobody would ever notice it. It must have been done by a real old fashioned old schooler.

[snippy]

47. Millions see the lie. Thousands see the lie exposed. Result = lie wins.

These letters will be mentioned by people at work, in church, at the super market, at soccer games, and so on. They will be referred to time and again by Reich wing pundits. Whistle Ass will benefit big time from this part of the campaign of lies about Iraq.

[Rose Siding]

2. How stupid is the govt!

They even screwed this up? STUPID- but I guess I'm glad that it's exposed.

Please give more of this story when it comes!

[saigon68]

94. Propaganda, pure and simple.

Joseph Goebbels at his best.

[FlemingsGhost]

3. Oooops...

How transparent must it get, until the American people finally get it?

[Goldmund]

4. I was saying something like that yesterday...

...to a poster who was convinced it was his coworker's high school friend who wrote one of these letters.

[NashVegas]

5. Would it have been anything like THIS?

oldier's postcard differs from media view
By Bryan Taylor
October 09, 2003

Editor's note: Bryan Taylor, 27, is from Amarillo, Texas, and is a member of the Army's JAG Corps, serving in the Sunni Triangle. Taylor recently wrote friends of his experiences in Iraq.

Hello from Iraq!

I'd like to tell you all about my experience here so far because, if you've been watching the news lately, there is a lot you haven't heard … and a lot of what you HAVE heard is WRONG (or at best, badly skewed).

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=40&screen=news&news_id=27270

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

15. I'm impressed

I had no idea that all of our soldiers over there had such good access to American TV news...

[clemencia2us]

49. american news

Cable TV is very important to the soldiers. We were responsible for taking care of the system at our base in Kuwait. I was shocked when I saw that every tent and office had TV and cable. The Kuwaiti cable guy was one of the few local people who could get on base during "the war". He also hooked up all the Army and Marine camps. We had CNN, FOX, Showtime etc. I'm sure they have it in Iraq. You can't run a war without CNN.

[Ripley]

92. What exactly does that mean...can't run a war without CNN?

And explain to me how "cable TV is very important to the soldiers." You mean the guys who are out patrolling and making raids, just happen to carry Sony mini-TVs? Or do they just stop in one of the houses they're ransacking and turn on the satellite TV and tune in, just to see what Paula Zahn or Wolf Blitzer will say next? Are you implying our military gets it's information from CNN?

I don't doubt they have cable at some of the bases and especially in the palace where Bremer and his army of protectors are staying, but you seem to be implying it's in every tent. So there are dishes on tents over there? But the soldiers complain they don't have enough food, water, eye drops, bug repellent, etc.?

Come on.

[clemencia2us]

95. sarcasm

I was being sarcastic. At our AF base in Kuwait we did have cable in every tent. We had to repair the lines when they went down. And no, there was not a dish on every tent. The dishes were inside a small gated area. There was cable strewn all over the ground (cable, LAN, power). When I said they could not run a war without CNN, that was because whenever someone wanted a new cable connection, the reason given was "command and control". Now of course, this was the AF. I did see that the Army people did not have the luxuries we had, like washers and dryers. We had plenty of water, food. As for toiletries, we, in the AF, are supposed to pack enough stuff to last at least 90 days.

[Ripley]

96. Oh, okay.

Since you are sort of new here, you might want to put <sarcasm> at the end of sarcastic posts, just so people won't get the wrong idea.

Wow, washers and dryers...sounds like the AF treated yall great! I've heard stories about Army wearing the same dirty clothes for weeks and no shower either!

Since you post in the past tense I assume you are home...welcome home and welcome to DU! :toast:

[RandomKoolzip]

23. It's funny, I was reading he City Paper and saw that letter,

and noticing that it had replaced the op-ed page, wondered what was up, then cynically speculated that it was probably one of those fake chain letter-type things that got published in papers across the country with a fake author attatched to it. Holy Shizznit, I was right!

DO you also catch who's writing those nonsensical liberal-bashing, pro-Bush letters? about 80% of them in the City Paper and the Tennessean are by ONE GUY!!! Some dude named Rollow Mickle who lives in Franklin. They publish EVERYTHING that Mr. Mickle writes! Very weird and very wrong.

[hippywife]

24. Wow!!

Just how big WAS that postcard? :eyes:

[arcane1]

6. Major AshtroTurf alert!

this sh!t is getting OLD FAST!!!!

[scarletlib]

7. So do you have that link yet?

I really want to read this little article. The Pentagon must be indulging in a litte home grown propaganda to pump up its little war.

How sad it is that I believe absolutely nothing put out by this regime. Any time I see something positive or uplifting coming out of the mouths of this gang, I automatically assume it is a lie.

[Newsjock]

8. Not yet, alas

Got the whole story in front of me here, but I'm waiting for it to show up on someone's website so I can give you the link. Being Gannett News Service and not AP, I fear there might be some delay.

(Sorry.)

[LizW]

14. Thanks, I'll check back

My husband wants to send the info about it to the woman who forwarded it to him.

[kodi]

48. welcome to the wide world of pysops

i hope no one thinks this is not coordinated by people paid by this administration using our own tax dollars.

[LizW]

9. I knew it! I knew that was bogus!

My husband got it at work this week and forwarded it to me.

It came forwarded from someone named "John" who claimed that "Brian Taylor" (they don't even bother to use different names in different cities!:eyes:) was a former law clerk at the Bradley, Arant, Rose & White law firm in Birmingham.

This is laughable.

[johnfunk]

10. I think this is the Astroturf letter

This looks to be the Beckley, WV letter. Okay -- now for a Google News search...

[Rose Siding]

12. Don't papers verify the writer before

they print a letter?

[Barrett808]

19. They're supposed to

I've received a couple of callbacks for LTEs I've sent in.

[johnfunk]

13. Nothing on Google News...

...after an advanced search on a few key phrases.

[qanda]

22. That's funny, I put in the first sentence of the second paragragh

And came up with letters from The Register Herald, Daily Courier, Charleston Daily Mail and the Jersey Journal.

This is the phrase I used: "We entered the country at midnight on March 26"

[qanda]

25. Add the Boston Globe to that list.

One thing that I noticed is that at least two of these letters have been posted over at Free Republic, from different news sources. Either they are very gullible, or they are very stupid! Well, I guess they're both.

[Barrett808]

16. "Deaconson"? -- This is just weird

Check this out from the 9/21 issue of same paper:

Beckley native injured while on duty in Iraq

One of Beckley's own was injured in Iraq Thursday night while trying to save eight Iraqi policemen, his father said Saturday.

Pfc. David "Nick" Deaconson, 20, was hurt around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, said his father, former Army Lt. Col. Dr. Tim Deaconson.

"He was on patrol and he and one other American soldier were advisers for an eight-main Iraqi police patrol. They were going out to investigate a report of a suspicious box that had been dropped off in a neighborhood that was supposedly a booby trap or a bomb.

"When they arrived on the scene, the Iraqis were getting too close and Nick was trying to get them to get away from the box. All of them cleared away except one and Nick tried to run in and get him before he tripped the device."

Pfc. Deaconson's attempt failed, according to his father. "The Iraqi exploded the device accidentally when Nick was trying to get him away."

Deaconson, a Woodrow Wilson High School graduate, was hurt, his father said, but lucky - the Iraqi man was killed.

"He's doing OK," Deaconson said of his son. "When he approached the Iraqi, he kept the man between him and the booby trap," he added, explaining why his son was not hurt more severely.

"He caught some fragments in his ankles, right leg and both feet," Dr. Deaconson said. "They flew him to Germany (Friday) for surgery."

(more)

http://www.register-herald.com/articles/2003/09/20/news/local_news/39duty21.txt

You'd think he'd mention being blowed up just a couple of weeks ago.

[VolcanoJen]

44. So, was Pvt. Deaconson in Kirkuk, or Germany, when he wrote the LTE??

Great catch, Barrett.

If this is the same Pvt. David Deaconson, he "wrote" in his letter:

Kirkuk is a hot and dusty city of just over a million people. The majority of the city has welcomed our presence with open arms. After nearly five months here, the people still come running from their homes, into the 110-degree heat, waving to us as our troops drive by on daily patrols of the city. Children smile and run up to shake hands and in their broken English shouting, "Thank you, Mister."

And then, shortly thereafter, they plant a bomb and blow you up, according to his father's report.

This dog doesn't hunt...

[Barrett808]

68. Ah Deaconson is the guy who said 'What letter'

When his dad congratulated him:

"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.

[Barrett808]

17. D'oh ignore this post n/t

n/t

[jmowreader]

18. How I know the letter's fake

It's down at the bottom, in his signature: "503rd Inf."

No airborne infantryman would ever call his unit "Infantry." It is always Airborne Infantry! Always!

[IndianaGreen]

11. This looks like part of the Condi Rice initiative

to consolidate Iraqi "reconstruction" in the White House.

[TryingToWarnYou]

21. Can you post that link?

Can you post that link or one of the letters? It would be great to be able to find two of the same letters with the different soliders AND the article exposing them for being bogus.

Thanks.

[Porkrind_Power]

26. isn't this mail fraud???

a fed crime i think.


by Spc. Nathan Whitelatch:
<http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/letters/s_154288.html>


by Sgt. Shawn M. Grueser:
<http://dailymail.com/news/Opinion/200309105/>


by Pfc. David Deaconson:
<http://www.register-herald.com/articles/2003/09/20/editorial/39letters21.txt>

[5X]

27. found these same links myself with google

this fraud needs to be widely dispersed.
one thing the american people don't like is a lie,
or to be made fools of. once this fraud is exposed,
maybe some will finally wake up.

[saskatoon]

67. Has this been put up?

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'The Rock' does fine in Kirkuk: The majority welcomes us with open arms

Posted by TastyManatees
On 09/10/2003 6:25 AM PDT with 5 comments

Charleston Daily Mail ^ | 9/10/03 | Sgt. Shawn M. Grueser
'The Rock' does fine in KirkukThe majority welcomes us with open arms Sgt. Shawn M. Grueser Wednesday September 10, 2003; 07:35 AM KIRKUK, Iraq -- I have been serving in Iraq for over five months as a soldier with Company A, 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, otherwise known as "The Rock." We entered the country at midnight on March 26. One thousand of my fellow soldiers and I parachuted from 10 jumbo jets (C-17s) onto a cold, muddy field in Northern Iraq. The parachute operation was the Army's only combat jump in the war and opened up...

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/k-morale/browse

[tlcandie]

28. Wow!! amazing ... ...

:tinfoilhat: Do they really think we are all this stupid? :spank:

[number6]

79. OH WOW!! man its the same letter..

and by the way a C-17 isn't concidered a Jumbo Jet
... never heard that before
''' usaully they jump from C-130's

[soup]

29. One from Pittsburgh-

Spc. Nathan Whitelatch
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/letters/s_154288.html

One from Charleston-
Sgt. Shawn M. Grueser
http://dailymail.com/news/Opinion/200309105/

One from Albuquerque-
Pfc. Jason Marshall
shortened link

this one just takes me around in circles-
NJ.com: Jersey Journal Letters
... of one of The Jersey Journal's letter writers saying ... in the 2d Battalion of the 503rd
Airborne Infantry Regiment, otherwise known as the "ROCK." We entered ...
njo.stage.advance.net/letters/jjournal/ index.ssf?fourteendays - 44k - Cached - Similar pages

on edit: OOPS, Porkrind_Power- looks like we found almost the same thing. I'm just really SLOW...

[TryingToWarnYou]

33. WOW...fantastic work guys! Newsjock can you provide that link to Gannett?

Now, does anyone have the link for the "Exposure" article on pointing out how all of these letters are the same?

Ive got like 5 of these articles open at the same time...sickening. Word for word...they don't even have the class to at least change some of the wording.

[reprobate]

30. They're just following the Joseph Goebbles leadership style.

The mistake they make is forgetting that the internet lets lies be caught fast and the truth spread in it's place. This kind of thing will always come back to bite them in the butt.

[TahitiNut]

31. I'd be willing to bet this story gets round-filed.

Just how many newpapers will be willing to give much ink to a story that shows how gullible they are? How many of those papers cater to a neocon subscriber base?

[alfredo]

32. found some

http://www.uticaod.com/archive/2003/09/11/opinion/14782.html

http://www.register-herald.com/articles/2003/09/20/editorial/39letters21.txt

http://dailymail.com/news/Opinion/200309105/

I have been serving in Iraq for over five months now as a soldier in the 2d Battalion of the 503d Airborne Infantry Regiment, otherwise known as "ROCK."

We entered the country at midnight on the 26th of March when 1,000 of my fellow soldiers and I parachuted from 10 jumbo jets (known as C17s) onto a cold, muddy field in Bashur in northern Iraq. This parachute operation was the U.S. Army's only combat jump of the war and opened up the northern front.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. That letter sounds familiar to me, too, but

I don't remember where I read it.

[soup]

35. Your top link is a new one. Good find.

Add Sgt. Edwin Gargas to the list.

How many does that make so far?

[VolcanoJen]

46. Here's another one that hasn't been linked yet

http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:XmQ8djW4-NwJ:www.heraldnet.com/Stories/03/9/6/17425574.cfm+Kirkuk+is+a+hot+and+dusty+city&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

(That's the Google cache version; you need a subscription to access the page regularly, at this link: www.heraldnet.com/Stories/03/9/6/17425574.cfm)

This letter is credited to Sgt Chris Shelton of Snohomish County, just north of Seattle, Washington. It was published in the Herald Snohomish County Daily Herald on September 6, 2003.

[Barrett808]

36. Note the one from Deaconson -- he was slightly wounded in a bomb attack

Just a few weeks ago:

Beckley native injured while on duty in Iraq
http://www.register-herald.com/articles/2003/09/20/news/local_news/39duty21.txt

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=160905&mesg_id=161120&page=

[Judi Lynn]

37. This sounds just like something going on in the '80's

when Reagan was President.

I learned in the last few years that Otto Reich, whom Reagan placed in his State Department in the Office of Public Diplomacy did things just like this. I've found an example:

(snip) Otto Reich came to prominence during the Reagan administration when he was appointed head of the office of public diplomacy within the state department. According to the national security archives, Reich used this role to pursue his own agenda to such an extent that in 1987 the Comptroller-General of the US, a Republican appointee, found that some of the efforts of his office were "prohibited, covert propaganda activities ... beyond the range of acceptable agency public information activities". A letter of September 30 1987 concluded that Reich's office had violated "a restriction on the state department's annual appropriations prohibiting the use of federal funds for publicity or propaganda purposes not authorised by Congress".

He staffed his unit with CIA and Pentagon "psychological warfare" specialists and discredited journalists whose work the Reagan administration did not like. His office wrote bogus editorial pieces under the names of Nicaraguan contras and got them published in the mainstream media. He reported directly to Oliver North. (snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,646835,00.html

Information on Public Diplomacy and Covert Propaganda
Otto Reich's instruments used against the naive American public are discussed. Congress took a very long, hard look at this kind of thing: deliberate lying. I think some have called it "White Propaganda." Yeah, right.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB40/

[VolcanoJen]

38. This story is positively mindblowing.

I'd still like to see the Gannett News story and link, as referenced in the original post of this thread, but just doing a Google on one's own brings up troubling results.

Just pick through any of these "letters to the editor" and choose a line. Run it with parentheses (exact phrase search) through Google, and prepare to be amazed.

Mindblowing. Shocking. Every day sheds more light on the pro-war spin...

We need to start our own letter-to-the-editor campaign about this very topic.

MAJOR kudos to Ledyard King for doing the legwork on this story. I wonder what it was that tipped him off? That's some excellent journalism, Mr. King.

As another suggestion to get the truth out on this story, I think Keith Olbermann is the kind of guy who would be all over this. Let's start sending our own letters.

Shaking in anger, yet again,
Jennifer

[TryingToWarnYou]

40. Man, I want that Gannett link too!!!

I spent probably a good 30 minutes at their atrocious website trying to find anything...and found nothing.

LINK PLEASE!!!!! LOL

[bluestateguy]

39. Can't these people write their own letters?

I would NEVER allow the Democratic National Committee to write a letter for me. I write my own letters.

[VolcanoJen]

41. I'm not convinced that soldiers actually wrote these letters....

... and allowed themselves to be "signed off" as endorsers.

We really need to see that link, and the rest of the story, Newsjock...

[Barrett808]

65. Yes, it was obviously written by a propaganda bot

I mean come on: "The fruits of all our soldiers' efforts are clearly visible in the streets of Kirkuk today....I am proud of the work we are doing here in Iraq and I hope all of your readers are as well."

[The_Casual_Observer]

42. Notice how the reporter feels obliged to mention

"they agreed with the letter's thrust" in order to soften the impact of this swindle. Who cares what they agreed with? THEY DIDN'T WRITE IT!!!

Does he go on to say, "We work hard, but who's complaining..." ?

This one looks to be even more outrageous than the one "written" by the Vet in the coffee shop who confronts the pinko college professor
who makes a remark about the little American flags on the tables.

Things are moving very rapidly, as it took years before they felt the need to employ this kind of baldfaced propagana during Vietnam.
Remember Staff Sgt Barry Sadler?

[SoCalDem]

43. Gannett seems to have TONS of job openings..hmmmmm

http://www.gannett.com/job/jobs/news.htm

[Rose Siding]

50. I count 14 today. Who do we contact?

14 letters with "We entered the country at midnight" as the first sentence in the second paragraph.

Recent news reports said right out loud that the Bush admin was going to go to local media with their "message" instead of relying on the nat'ls. Is it because they think no one would catch THIS sort of thing?

[TryingToWarnYou]

51. We can't go to anyone without the link from Gannett....

There has to be the exposure of the fact that none of these guys seemed to write their letters...supposedly, the Gannett piece shows that.

We really need to find that link...

[Rose Siding]

53. We do have all the similar letters

I sent the details to a reporter in WV that I exchanges e-mails with before the invasion. Maybe he'll have some ideas. He should be able to access the wire report from Gannett- it even includes the name of their reporter.

[snippy]

54. Link

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031011/frontpage/121390.shtml

[soup]

55. snippy!!!!!!!

:bounce:

[VolcanoJen]

57. Snippy!!! You rule!!!!

Thank you thank you!!!

[TryingToWarnYou]

58. Woo hoo! You rock!

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[mpsteve]

78. Thanks

[Barrett808]

66. How did you count? Goggle news cache doesn't have anything yet

Very eager to mail this search to everyone I know.

[Mari333]

52. Here is where a LOT of astroturf letters originate from

http://www.gopteamleader.com/

Just google " GOP astroturf letters" and you get a veritable swath of investigation and the lies they use to form public opnion.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=GOP+astroturf+letters&spell=1

[salin]

56. agreed. But this particular astroturf is different

it appears that those whose names are attached to the letters - may not have even known the letters were being sent in their name. A whole new level.

With the GOPTeamleader letters - someone makes minor revisions, adds their name sends it. The paper calls, verifies the sender "wrote" it. Because the sender is real the person is contacted.

My guess is that papers see letters from the field and assume authenticity (plus how does one verify it?) That makes this effort pretty hard to detect (unless someone reads the letters across papers - as somewhere happened with this story) - and even more icky than the GOPTeamleaders.

[snippy]

60. True. This is part of the criminal conspiracy to use a campaign of lies

to market and defend the invasion of Iraq. The Wilson affair also is part of that conspiracy. It is an operation of the White House Iraq Group which was created and is run by White House Chief of Staff, Andy Card. Card reports only to Whistle Ass.

[Rose Siding]

62. Geo and Condi said they'd take it to the locals

They planned to bypass the nat'ls with all the good Iraq news.

After those soldiers appeared on camera for one of the networks saying that Rumsfeld should lose his job, weren't they all forbidden to speak with the press?

Now this is exposed in the Olympian. How many readers does the Olympian have? Maybe they'll get away with this.

[snippy]

64. Someone in the media needs to connect all the Iraq lies over the last

18 months and show that it is a well organized, orchestrated and coordinated plan. I am hoping that the Wilson affair may lead to that.

[TryingToWarnYou]

61. Very interesting...

After reading the other link though it seems as if this is not so much "astroturf", but was a concerted effort by the military to propagate a positive spin on things by circulating a letter and asking for signatures IF the soldier agreed with the sentiment. It would carry a lot more weight if some of the letters were sent with signatures of soldiers that did not agree with the letters content.

This whole thing, based on it's intent, still smells like shit.

:freak:

[soup]

59. Hey, Kids! It's Here. See snippy's post above.

It provides the link to THE article.

snippy (1000+ posts) Sat Oct-11-03 10:58 AM
Response to Reply #51

54. Link


http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031011/frontpage/121390.shtml


on edit: Oh, good. You all noticed. Was afraid the stealth-mode post would go unnoticed. Sorry I got loud.

[Romberry]

63. Link to full story now on line

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20031011/frontpage/121390.shtml


LEDYARD KING GANNETT NEWS SERVICE 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.


more...

[Barrett808]

69. Wonder what it's like when the sergeant passes around a letter to sign

How many enlisted folk would say, "No, thanks"?

[Barrett808]

70. Counterspin Central is on it

http://counterspin.blogspot.com/2003_10_05_counterspin_archive.html#106587184158441668

Saturday, October 11, 2003:
PHONY LETTERS FROM OUR SOLDIERS IN IRAQ?: This is one of the most disgusting things I've seen in a while. I was tipped off by the folks at American Politics Journal about the appalling possibility that someone wrote a letter about how wonderful things are in Iraq, near Kirkuk, and signed several soldiers' names to the letter without them approving it, or their knowledge.

Turns out the astroturf letter part, at least, is true. Someone is sending the exact same letter to different newspapers across the country...only each letter is "signed" by a different soldier living in that paper's area of circulation. A blatant propaganda ploy. To see for yourself, do the following:

1) Do a google search for the phrase: "I have been serving in Iraq for over five months now"

2) This unit is serving near Kirkuk...the heart of Kurdish territory in Iraq. It would be unsurprising if the local population were very pleased to have U.S. troops there. Ironically, however, at least one of the soldiers who "signed" the letter was injured in a booby-trap bomb explosion just recently.

[Zgrrl]

71. I saw this headline first thing this morning...

I subscribe to the paper with the link that Snippy posted. It is the leading headline in today's paper. I could not believe my eyes when I saw it! But I think it's great that it's the leading headline... hopefully people will be outraged enough when they read it, and not just focus on the parts of the article that talk about the soldiers basically agreeing with the letter, just not writing/signing it.

I find this so appalling. Argh!

Good work Snippy!

[MaineDem]

72. Thanks for this info

I just sent the article link to some friends. If we all spread it around maybe it'll have a chance to get noticed.

This repulses me tremendously. What an insult!

[Swede]

73. This would be funny if the

context had been different. This is totally repugnant.

[pfitz59]

74. DOD "Hometown News Release"

Possible source of letters is unit Public Affairs Officer. He/she will gen up a dummy letter for soldiers to sign and then "shotgun" it area newspapers. Lets lazy soldiers get their names in print with no effort. Many soldiers sign off with out ever reading just to get the 'Orificer' outta their face!

[snippy]

75. Surprise! Some kreepers think Clinton did it.

I'll bet Clinton is behind this. He's tring to make President Bush look bad. You have to admit, the evidense points to it.


14 posted on 10/11/2003 10:36 AM PDT by Doe Eyes

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/999482/posts

[soup]

76. ROFL

Clinton! Of course! OMG, that is hilarious.

Noticed a slight problem with the spelling in the post, though.

Shouldn't evidense be spelled everdense?

[Wickerman]

82. Correction - It wasn't Clinton - It was his DICK!!!

[xultar]

77. Is this why we're paying Condi?

I'm sure this was Condi's idea. Sounds like something she pitched to the Shrub and he wen't for it. Yes, schools are being buit but Troops are getting killed, yes they have electricity, but civilians are being killed, they have water, but now they have suicide bombings. Hum...sounds like things are going great!

[snippy]

80. I think it is an operation of the White House Iraq Group.

Rice is a participant. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39500-2003Aug9.html

[Snellius]

81. Well. Well. Drudge just picked this up as their lead story

The Bushbots may have another problem on their hands.

[VolcanoJen]

83. Kick!

:dem:

[alfredo]

84. Photoshop image to pass on

[screembloodymurder]

85. Military propanganda?

This has been going on since before the war started. Someone in my office was in the reserves and wrote a weekly paper while in Dubai. He was instructed to include certain phrases and always ended by thanking us for supporting "Operation Freedom".

[rocktivity]

86. This happened once before

A bunch of pro-war letters appeared in several newspapers. Is this part of the new PR effort? And what's the big deal about reconstruction anyway, seeing as the U.S. military are the ones who destroyed Iraq in the first place?


rocknation

P.S. On edit: Sent a link to this page to The Memory Hole.

[rocktivity]

88. Here's a story about when it happened before

Automated letters to the editor
Online Journalism Reviews
posted: 2003-01-28 • modified: 2003-01-29
A word of advice to the folks who choose the "Letters to the Editor" at newspapers everywhere: Do a Google search on key phrases before printing them...Dozens of papers were burned recently, printing word-for-word letters signed by different people, but spawned by a simple Web tool offered by the Republican Party at GOPTeamLeader.com.

The...success of this "Astroturf" (for fake grassroots) campaign is a wake-up call to techno-unsavvy newspaper types...70-plus outlets...ran the same letter starting with "When it comes to the economy, President Bush is demonstrating genuine leadership..."

It's the unsavvyness of the senders that's to blame. Are they really so unknowledgable about the Internet that they thought they would get away wish this, or are they blinded by their arrogance?


rocknation

On edit: It's their arrogance--here's a web page with EIGHT such letters!
http://www.failureisimpossible.com/dosomething/sod.htm

[Rose Siding]

87. I heard CBS News radio carried it

Anyone else hear it? I blasted it around already.

[Robb]

89. kick

:kick:

[IndianaGreen]

90. And CNN discussed it today

according to the CNN reporter, the media is trying to find out the source of the letter. They don't know whether this was a form letter given to GIs to send to their hometown newspaper, or if it was part of a PR campaign that used the names of GIs without their knowledge or permission.

[MetaTrope]

91. No doubt the same thing happens with the military vote

:argh:

[Devilock]

93. MSNBC as well

Seems to be emerging -- we'll see what happens. I only caught the tail end of this, but the anchor was interviewing the Gannett head (someone dubbed "Lege"), and they both seemed genuinely critical (of course after the interview, the other anchor -- if I'm not mistaken, someone farmed from MTV -- said, to the effect of, "well, campaigns do this , it's not that unusual." Thankfully the other guy stood his ground and said that it was "weird.")

[Fridays Child]

97. This soldier says the letter bearing his name came out of public affairs.

-snip-

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.

-snip-

http://www.tulareadvanceregister.com/news/stories/20031011/localnews/436770.html