Anyone else getting e-mails like this?

[LizW]

My husband forwarded one to me he got yesterday at work. It purports to be from a young soldier that someone who works with my husband knows. It is a long tirade against the U.S. media, claiming that they are not telling the truth about what is happening in Iraq. It goes on and on in great detail about all the wonderful things the U.S. is doing over there and how the Iraqis love the soldiers. It says that the few attacks are from disgruntled supporters of Saddam.

This young guy apparently has no problem with lack of water or food, or with stress. He knows no one who has been attacked, wounded or killed. Here's an excerpt:

"Our brigade has also been training recruits for a new Iraqi armed security force, most of whom are former members of the Iraqi army. Every one of them curses Saddam. My role as the lawyer in the training has been to develop and provide instruction on human rights and rules for the use of force (rules of engagement). You should see the excitement in their eyes when I talk about human rights! When I talk about individual dignity, equality, and mutual respect, it is like they are hypnotized, hanging on every word. When I finish, they ask hundreds of questions. As Iraqi soldiers, they never encountered many of the concepts we talk about. For example, we talk about the human rights of detained persons (suspected criminals), and they are amazed to hear that, not only will they not be ordered to beat and torture prisoners, but that beating and torturing prisoners is ILLEGAL. You should see their eyes and their faces. They light up. "How wonderful" their faces seem to say, "to be a part of this new way!" They are beaming. And the pride! They all keep asking when their new uniforms will arrive. These men will be paid well by Iraqi standards (Saddam paid his foot soldiers only $2 per month!). 'The Americans are giving us terrific jobs,' they tell me. 'Finally I will be able to feed my family.'"

Anyone else getting this kind of e-mail?

[Skittles]

1. sounds like propaganda

this poor sap thinks prisoners are not beaten or tortured in the U.S.?

HOW WONDERFUL TO BE PART OF THIS NEW WAY indeed.

It's garbage.

[KharmaTrain]

2. Was There Any Sort Of Solicitation $$$ With This?

Sounds like a pitch for some NeoCon ponzi scheme. Or is there a link or URL or return address you can put out here for some of us to check out?

[Corgigal]

3. Wasn't 9 of these guys

just killed yesterday while waiting for a paycheck? Oh well, at least they were beaming. HA!

[rasputin1952]

4. No, thank heaven....

looks like it came from the Joseph Goebells school of rhetoric.

Either this "Iraqi was educated in the US, or had some education in another part of the English speaking world. To add to the situation,if he is a 'lawyer', he is apart of the rear echelon, and would eat and sleep well.

At $2 a month for combat pay, even $5 would be an improvement, so it is pretty easy to see that these guys have little chance but to move up.

In any case....was there a request for $ in any of another part? Or was that the whole thing?


:eyes:

[JHB]

5. Where did it come from?

i.e., who sent it to your husband, and is the author ever identified?

It does sound like propaganda. It's possible it's also true, but you can also bet that if so there was a bit of "shopping around" for someone with just the right story. The Spin From On High says that the "liberal" media is only focussing on the problem areas and ignoring the successes, but thanks to e-mail traffic between soldiers and their families we know that it's NOT just "the media" that's saying so.

Is his rank and general location given? That would be a "doable" step towards verifying the story (i.e., is he in a nice, cushy back area and not one that patrols hostile streets every day. Is he in a position (location and rank-wise) to not have problems with food and water, or does he claim to be in an area we know to have problems? How well is his unit stocked with translators?, etc.

It smells phoney, but if it's not phoney it's spun. This looks like a job for "the REAL 'rest of the story'".

[uhhuh]

7. It's crap

THere is no way that soldiers in Saddam's army were getting $24 a year. Iraq was a relatively middle class developed nation before the occupation. The average Iraqi income was $2400 annually according to to the 2003 CIA factbook. There is no way an Iraqi army would not openly revolt if they were being paid 1/100 of the average Iraqi. Some of the claims may be true but I would assume it is mostly crap.

[DifferentStrokes]

6. Looks like somebody else got it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=15686

The "friend of a coworker" theme seems to be the latest spin to make this sound more credible.

My question is has anybody taken this to snopes.com or urbanlegends.com--or even military.com for debunking?

Have a good weekend everybody.

[Pab Sungenis]

8. Nothing at Snopes yet...

However, the first thing I found when searching was "Has the President of the United States secretly been killing those who oppose him?"

Back in the days of Clinton, they rated it false. I wonder what it would rate today. :)