Quagmire's just peachy! Newspapers sent same letter signed by different soldiers
Posted on Monday, October 13 @ 10:26:59 EDT
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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.
But many of them are the same form letter.
A Gannett News Service search found identical letters in 11 newspapers. They were signed by different soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, also known as "The Rock." The five-paragraph letter relates 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. "The majority of the city has welcomed our presence with open arms."
It's not clear who wrote the letter or organized sending it to soldiers' hometown papers. If they are part of an organized effort to sway public opinion, it could raise ethical questions for the military, whose officers are trained to refrain from partisan politics.
Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for the Defense Department, said he was not aware of any coordinated campaign among troops to send letters supportive of the war back home. But Whitman said he would not be surprised, because many U.S. troops are discouraged that not enough positive news is being reported.
The Bush administration is engaged in a broad campaign to boost what polls show is sagging public support for the occupation in Iraq. A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll released Sept. 23 found only 50% said the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over, down from 73% in April.
Critics have focused on the cost of the Iraq war and President Bush's recent request for $87 billion for continued military operations and rebuilding there and in Afghanistan. Bush and his top aides last week began vigorously defending operations in Iraq.
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. 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 Beckley, W.Va., newspaper. "When I told him he wrote such a good letter, he said, 'What letter?' " Timothy Deaconson said of the phone conversation he had with his son, Pfc. Nick Deaconson.
Sgt. Christopher Shelton, who signed a letter that ran in the Snohomish, Wash., paper, said his platoon sergeant had distributed the letter and asked soldiers for the names of hometown newspapers. Soldiers were asked to sign the letter if they agreed with it, Shelton said. "Everything it said is dead accurate. We've done a really good job," he said.
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.
"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
Sgt. Shawn Grueser of Poca, W.Va., said he spoke to a military public affairs officer about his accomplishments in Iraq for what he thought was a news release to be sent to his hometown paper in Charleston, W.Va. 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. "It makes it look like you cheated on a test, and everybody got the same grade," Grueser said.
Contributing: Dave Moniz
Reprinted from USA Today:
usatoday.com |
