22,399,608 members doing good!
share your passions, stories, inspirations, and more
Dec 31, 2005

SOLDIERS ON LEAVE FROM IRAQ ARE BEING THREATENED BY THE ARMY IF THEY SAY ANYTHING BAD; AND REWARDED IF THEY PRAISE BUSH, THE ARMY, AND THE WAR EFFORT.

WHAT CAN YOU BELIEVE THESE DAYS? HUH?

Good soldiers follow orders and hundreds of American military men and women returned to the United States on holiday leave this month with orders to sell the Iraq war to a skeptical public.

The program, coordinated through a Pentagon operation dubbed “Operation Homefront,” ordered military personnel to give interviews to their hometown newspapers, television stations and other media outlets and praise the American war effort in Iraq.

Initial reports back to the Pentagon deem the operation a success with dozens of front page stories in daily and weekly newspapers around the country along with upbeat reports on local television stations.

“We've learned as a military how to do this better,” Captain David Diaz, a military reservist, told his hometown paper, The Roanoke (VA) Times. “My worry is that we have the right military strategy and political strategies now but the patience of the American public is wearing thin.”

When pressed by the paper on whether or not his commanding officers told him to talk to the press, Diaz admitted he was “encouraged” to do so.  So reporter Duncan Adams asked:

“Did Diaz return to the U.S. on emergency leave with an agenda -- to offer a positive spin that could help counter growing concerns among Americans about the U.S. exit strategy? How do we know that's not his strategy, especially after he discloses that superior officers encouraged him to talk about his experiences in Iraq?”

Replied Diaz:

“You don't. I can tell you that the direction we've gotten from on high is that there is a concern about public opinion out there and they want to set the record straight.”

Diaz, an intelligence officer, knows how to avoid a direct answer. Other military personnel, however, tell Capitol Hill Blue privately that the pressure to “sell the war” back home is enormous.

“I’ve been promised an early release if I do a good job promoting the war,” says one reservist who asked not to be identified.

In interviews with a number of reservists home for the holidays, a pattern emerges on the Pentagon’s propaganda effort. Soldiers are encouraged to contact their local news media outlets to offer interviews about the war.  A detailed set of talking points encourages them to:

--Admit initial doubts about the war but claim conversion to a belief in the American mission;

--Praise military leadership in Iraq and throw in a few words of support for the Bush administration;

--Claim the mission to turn security of the country over to the Iraqis is working;

--Reiterate that America must not abandon its mission and must stay until the “job is finished.”

--Talk about how “things are better” now in Iraq.

“My worry is that we have the right military strategy and political strategies now but the patience of the American public is wearing thin,” Diaz told The Roanoke Times.

“It’s way better now (in Iraq). People are friendlier. They seem more relaxed, and they say, ’Thank you, mister,’” Sgt. Christopher Desierto told his hometown paper, The Maui News.

But soldiers who are home and don’t have to return to Iraq tell a different story.

“I've just been focused on trying to get the rest of these guys home,” says Sgt. Major Floyd Dubose of Jackson, MS, who returned home after 11 months in Iraq with the  Mississippi Army National Guard's 155th Combat Brigade.

And the Army is cracking down on soldiers who go on the record opposing the war.

Specialist Leonard Clark, a National Guardsman, was demoted to private and fined $1,640 for posting anti-war statements on an Internet blog
. Clark wrote entries describing the company's commander as a "glory seeker" and the battalion sergeant major an "inhuman monster". His last entry before the blog was shut down told how his fellow soldiers were becoming increasingly opposed to the US operation in Iraq.

“The message is clear,” says one reservist who is home for the holidays but has to return and asked not to be identified. “If you want to get out of this man’s Army with an honorable (discharge) and full benefits you better not tell the truth about what is happening in-country.”

But Sgt. Johnathan Wilson, a reservist,  got his honorable discharge after he returned home earlier this month and he’s not afraid to t
Visibility: Everyone
Tags:
Posted: Dec 31, 2005 9:38pm

 

 
 
Content and comments expressed here are the opinions of Care2 users and not necessarily that of Care2.com or its affiliates.

Author

BMutiny TCorporationsEvil
female, age 77, single, 1 child
Seattle, WA, USA
Shares by Type:
All (242) | Blog (132) | Alert (104) | Message (6)

Showing shares tagged with: republicantalkingpoints [show all]
SHARES FROM BMUTINY'S NETWORK
May
20
(0 comments  |  discussions )
For much of the past 10 years, beekeepers, primarily in the United States and Europe, have been reporting annual hive losses of 30 percent or higher, substantially more than is considered normal or sustainable. But this winter, many U.S. beekeepers e...
by Rick S.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
(0 comments  |  discussions )
TAKE ACTION: PLANT FREE TREES WITH ODWALLAOdwalla is teaming up with The Nature Conservancy's All Hands on Earth campaign to plant up to 100,000 trees through 2013 in cities and towns across the country. You can enter and design you own tree every day...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
TAKE ACTION: TELL YOUR SENATOR: STOP THE CORPORATE POWER GRABCorporate-funded politicians in the Senate are threatening to shut down the National Labor Relations Board, the independent agency that protects workers' rights, and let CEOs run amok. The n...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
TAKE ACTION: TELL THE EPA TO REJECT THE PEBBLE MINEThe time for study is over! Tell the EPA to finalize its assessment and stop the Pebble Mine.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
TAKE ACTION: ASK YOUR CONGRESSMAN TO SUPPORT THE INDUSTRIAL HEMP FARMING ACTIf passed, H.R. 525 will allow farmers in the U.S. to once again have the opportunity to grow this valuable agricultural crop.
(0 comments  |  discussions )
Experts warn that the Indian tiger, despite figures showing the population has stabilized, faces an increasing threat of extinction due to a lack of genetic diversity. Researchers from the UK’s Cardiff University, in collaboration with the Nati...
(0 comments  |  discussions )
TAKE THE BLUE OCEAN GREEN EARTH PLEDGEBe the change you want to see in the world. Let's all become part of the solution. THANK YOU!
May
19
(0 comments  |  discussions )
TAKE ACTION: TELL HOME DEPOT AND LOWE'S TO STOP SELLING BEE-KILLING PESTICIDES.Bees are essential for one out of three bites of food we eat. But last winter, beekeepers reported losses of 50-70 percent of their hives -- the worst year yet since the gl...
(0 comments  |  0 discussions )
A top judicial panel in Brazil has ruled that same-sex marriages must be allowed nationwide. An analysis and resolution issued Tuesday by Brazil’s 15-member National Council of Justice, the council that oversees the country’s judiciary, s...

Copyright © 2013 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved