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Here's a letter from a solider over in Iraq and for once all of us can hear the good and real aspect of the war in Iraq from someone who's actually there. Instead of the media twisting and turning the truth or only telling us the bad things that are happening while we are over there. This guy says so many of the same things that I hear from my two friends that are over there right now. Read and post any comments. I really don't want to make this into a political thread, I'm just trying to state and share that things are going better than what most think!
Interesting letter, somewhat diminshed by the fact that it is addressed to and put up on a website for a guy whose CD is called, "every liberal wants to rule the world."
Michael Moore's site is filled with letters from troops as well, you know. And he even has a book of them out.
My favorite was when the army sent an identical letter to newspapers around the country, and got a soldier from that area to sign it, or in some cases just forged the signature.
I was in Iraq for 15 months from Apr '03 thru July '04. It's true. 90% of what you see on TV is bogus and blown out of purportion. Yet again, 90% of the events that occur there are never reported... such as the positive things. Bad news stories are what make ratings, that's why they run with those stories.
As far as TV news, it's true that explosions sell better than skittles, but at the same time there is a great deal of media restraint. This isn't Al Jazeera, and in fact Al Jazeera isn't the Al Jazeera that people think it is.
In fact, the press almost always go with the official account rather than eyewitness accounts to various events. One striking exception are the works of Seymour Hersh, who reported on the My Lai massacre and Abu Ghirab.
At the same time, the biases of the media, wanting to get a good story, being first on the scene, and the pack mentality, lead to distortions to make us think the war is going better than it is as well.
One interesting case of the media creating a story is the Jessica Lynch mythology, and the staged rescue.
The bias that is pro war is that we see no coverage of the Iraqi civilian casualties. The bias that is antiwar is that the media likes explosions. There was also the real effort at the beginning of the war to only report on prowar events. But ultimately that's not journalism, that's propaganda, so now they've found a more balanced approach. It is interesting, though, how the same event takes on a much different effect in print and on TV, just based on the nature of the medium.
what he says is prolly the truth however i have a little trouble with a soldier who is too busy to get regular internet access yet has time to watch CNN and read the new york times enough to call them out...im not too sure about this one, the message is good the delivery comes with a couple holes..
The author appears to be a Captain and writes rather well. It is difficult to tell if this is real or fabricated. I wrote home lots of letters to my gfs and others and did not talk like this at all when I was in Vietnam. As a CPT this guy has a long explanation on things but it sounds a little like a journalist too.
The author appears to be a Captain and writes rather well. It is difficult to tell if this is real or fabricated. I wrote home lots of letters to my gfs and others and did not talk like this at all when I was in Vietnam. As a CPT this guy has a long explanation on things but it sounds a little like a journalist too.
thats what im thinking...he goes into great detail into things he shouldnt have time for while he's there. but what he says about the two sides of war, the winning the hearts part, what i think is actually going on in iraq, so ill let the message come through even though it prolly wasnt written by a 'captain'
I have no idea if its real or not. BUT I believe it.................. because I hear the same story from my two friends who call me from Iraq every month or so!
I have no idea if its real or not. BUT I believe it.................. because I hear the same story from my two friends who call me from Iraq every month or so!
its good to know that soldiers arent sadistic like the abu ghraib guys and actually do care about the people over there and help em...coz at the end of the day this has to be about the iraqis
Just heard a story yesterday about a little Iraqi girl that was sitting in middle of a road blocking a patrol of US vehicles. After it was obvious the girl was not going to move the lead vehicles swerved wide around her and continued. The remaining vehicles came to a halt as one of the troops noticed that the girl was clutching a baby doll that was given to her a few days earlier by the same bunch of soldiers. Some soldiers went over to her, it was then that they saw her point to a spot in the road a few feet away from where she was sitting. In that spot was a mine.
That letter is propoganda, designed to pump up support for the US' military presence in Iraq. I'm sure the military there consider they are doing very well in this 'war', but a large portion of the US and world public just don't see an end to it all. I wish they would hurry up and put a reasonably sensible leader like Afghanistan's Karzai in power and GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!
So far as CNN goes, they only report the facts when the story is breaking, then switch over to 'what makes a good news story' mode. The Tsunami in Sri Lanka is a perfect example, when it was breaking news they only reported the facts. Now they are looking for 'horror stories of escape' or 'hotel devastated...', or 'aftermath leaves dead piled in streets' stuff. That's show business!! Don't ya love em for it...
I too was in Iraq, but didn't have as great of a job as you. I was in the Marine Corps (still am a Reservist) running convoys back and forth from just outside Kuwait City to Baghdad, Babylon, Al Nasiriyah (remember Jessica Lynch?), and camps all over central and southern Iraq. I will tell you that I was there during the actual "war." From January 2003 until July 2003. I was basically up with the Infantry...that's pretty much what we are...infantry with trucks.
Anyways, I saw alot of death and destruction, but to be honest with you, it's not as bad as what everyone thinks. It's bad, but not that bad. Out of the 7 months I was there, I believe I had very brief exchanges of gunfire and violence maybe 5 or 6 times. AT MOST. The rest of the time was boring, hot, miserable.
If I was to be recalled I'd be more upset about the weather, sandstorms, and being away from home to be honest with you.
Just heard a story yesterday about a little Iraqi girl that was sitting in middle of a road blocking a patrol of US vehicles. After it was obvious the girl was not going to move the lead vehicles swerved wide around her and continued. The remaining vehicles came to a halt as one of the troops noticed that the girl was clutching a baby doll that was given to her a few days earlier by the same bunch of soldiers. Some soldiers went over to her, it was then that they saw her point to a spot in the road a few feet away from where she was sitting. In that spot was a mine.
Sorry read this post late.
That's madness. I don't know what command these guys came from and what their SOP is, but I know that when we stopped for kids like this back in early '03, people would come from all sides and raid our trucks and try to beat us with sticks and stones...this eventually led to actual shots at us. We tolerated it for a while, but eventually the order was given not to stop. Not for a single child, or even a human chain. We were losing too many supplies and people--Marines, were getting hurt. So guess what happened? Yep, kids got ran over left and right. They eventually stopped doing that.
Letter From a Solider
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