Army says it doesn’t know who wrote soldiers’ letters..(Army Times)

[SoCalDem]

Talk about a baldfaced LIE.. TODAY's edition , no less.. This story has been talked about for DAYS now.. They must think that theirs is the only source of news for the soldeirs.

---

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2299316.php


October 14, 2003

Army says it doesn’t know who wrote soldiers’ letters

By Ledyard King
Gannett News Service


An Army spokesman maintained Monday that commanders have no knowledge of a letter-writing campaign involving soldiers whose names appeared on form letters to hometown newspapers promoting their accomplishments in Iraq. “Some soldiers wrote some letters independently. I guess that’s what happened,” said Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald, who is with the 4th Infantry Division that is heading operations in north-central Iraq. “Nobody I have spoken to in the chain of command knows where these letters came from.”

A Gannett News Service search found identical letters from different soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment in 12 newspapers. At least two other papers received the letter but declined to run it.

...snip....

It’s not clear who wrote the letter or organized sending it to soldiers’ hometown papers. “Certainly soldiers are free to write people and let them know what’s going on here,” MacDonald said. Several military spokesmen said last week that they didn’t know the origin of the letters. 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.

..snip..

“The general idea of the letter was good and the boys are proud of what they’re doing. And we’re all proud of them,” she said. Most of the letters were published during September, before the Bush administration’s latest push to highlight U.S. efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation. The president is asking Congress to approve about $20 billion to help restore basic services.

[Dookus]

1. liars...

Listening to Bernie Ward right now... he just said the letter was taken off the RNC WEBSITE!!

[SoCalDem]

2. I am listening too

Liars ...all of them... :(

[Hieronymus]

3. plagiarizer comes forward

I'm listening to Bernie too, it seems the guy who copied it from the RNC website admitted to plagiarizing it. Do you think he'll be disciplined?

[izzie]

4. Speach writer at WH?

:crazy:

[Kolesar]

5. NPR/ATC reported that one soldier wrote the form letter

That was immediately before the pledge break where the local public radio station gave that as an example of "good reporting" (as if to contrast them with Fox).

Does anybody have the real story? I think a colonel actually wrote it. I would like to write to WCPN and ATC/NPR to correct them.

[charlie]

6. Lt. Col. Dominic Caraccilo

wrote it. It was a mass mailing of 500 form letters.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-10-14-letters-usat_x.htm

[Kolesar]

7. Thank you. (I just found it in LBN)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=166715

Here I go, time to write a polite but strident letter to NPR.

[Eloriel]

13. Tell them to check DU daily for the real news

and fact checking, esp. if they don't want to look utterly foolish.

Eloriel

[saigon68]

8. NUT CASE CARACCILO DID IT

Rather than lead his troops---Rather than follow orders---Rather than do his job as a battalion commander of infantry, this fruitcake decided to take a little frolic and detour, into the art of hearts and minds propaganda exploitation.

A job he was apparently either untrained for, or not very skilled at accomplishing. Now he is exposed for the idiot that he is. 500 letters and all the same.

Worse he is an embarrassment to the corporate handlers who are running the government. There is no way to shed a good light on all of this. He was sent to be an infantry commander in Iraq--apparently he had too much free time on his hands.

Unfortunately, for him, he will be judged as a military meddler in civilian affairs, a forger and an outright liar. He is soon going to be held up as an incompetent interloper, based on his now failed attempt to influence public opinion by very dubious and dishonest means.

[OneTwentyoNine]

9. BUMP for Army BS.....

Oh,so if someone wrote a letter condemning all action in Iraq it could have been sent to hundreds of newspapers and the Army wouldn't know or care who did it??

Gawd,is everyone a fucking liar that is connected to Bush??

David

[Nlighten1]

10. On NPR yesterday...

they said it was a collection of 5 enlisted men who wrote them. I almost fell out.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

11. My local paper

ran a small editorial apologizing to its readers for printing the "form" letter. I liked the idea of that because the paper is owned by the Washington Post. Here's hoping that all over the country people are realizing that everything connected to Iraq is pretty much a lie. Except for the parents and loved ones of those who have lost their lives in support of the lie. For them everything connected to Iraq is hell on earth........

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. the order to write those astroturf letters was from the WH PR firm & Rove

if you believe that an army cornel took this on all by himself then i have some beachfront property to sell ya in Kanasa...and my parents didn't do my 1st place tri-county winning science fair project either...so stop saying that!

[maggrwaggr]

14. Earth to Army: get your stories straight

Man, they just look dumb and dumberer

[SoCalDem]

15. Is this the "paper of record" for the soldiers??

Do they get it at the front?? This is what bothers me about this whole story.. Supposedly . the letters were "written" because of the "wrong" coverage.. How do they even KNOW what the press in the US is saying??