More identical letters signed with different names are hitting small-town papers around the country. All of them claim that the US occupation of Iraq has been an unqualified success.
Right-wingers claim it’s just a homegrown, amateur effort by low-level soldiers.
That’s not what the soldiers who signed say about these letters.
- “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. (Gannett story)
- One soldier, who asked not to be identified, said he was reluctant to sign the letter because he did not agree with the comments in the letter but said he was ordered by a superior officer to sign. “When I’m given an order, I obey it,” he said. (Capitol Hill Blue account)
- Sgt. Christopher Shelton, who signed a letter that ran in the Snohomish Herald, said Friday that his platoon sergeant had distributed the letter and asked soldiers for the names of their hometown newspapers. Soldiers were then told to sign the letter. (Capitol Hill Blue account)
An amateur effort or a slick PR job? Well, what does this sample sound like to you?
“We also have been instrumental in building a new police force. Kirkuk now has 1,700 police officers. The police are now, ethnically, a fair representation of the community as a whole. So far, we have spent more than $500,000 from the former Iraqi regime to repair each of the stations’ electricity and plumbing, to paint each station and make it a functional place for the police to work.”
To see the whole letter, just do a Google search on “I have been serving in Iraq for over five months now”.
1 response so far ↓
1 indieme123@h... // Oct 17, 2003 at 5:54 pm
I found your blog via Howard Dean’s. Thanks for posting the info on the interesting letter. I hadn’t noticed them, but I’m sure I will soon.
Great site!