Troops write home. Or not...
Tuesday, October 14th, 2003 02:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caddymanHidden away in The Times today is this rather interesting article from Washington. I've cut and paste it here since overseas readers need to pay money to get into read Mr Murdoch's organ.
UK readers can get in for free, if you think I'm making this up:
Original of Times article here.
October 14, 2003
Letters not ours, say troops
From Roland Watson in Washington
LETTERS home from the front that trumpet the nation-building achievements of US soldiers in Iraq are appearing in newspapers across America. The only wrinkle in an otherwise cheering story is that the identical letters are signed by different soldiers, some of whom say they did not sign, let alone write, them.
Their publication comes as President Bush leads a concerted drive to talk up the good news from Iraq and halt his slide in the polls through bypassing the mainstream media. At least 11 papers, most of them small-town publications, have printed the letter, which tells of the fortunes of the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, which is based in Kirkuk.
“The majority of the city has welcomed our presence with open arms,” it reads. “Children smile and run up to shake hands, and in their broken English, shout: ‘Thank you, mister’. ”
A Pentagon spokesman, citing the battalion commander, said that the soldiers had crafted the letter themselves. But six soldiers told Gannett News Service, which spotted the trend, that they had not written the letter and one said that he had not signed it. Most said that they agreed with its general thrust, but a seventh said that the first he had heard of it was when his father congratulated him on having a letter in their local paper.
Last week Mr Bush led a drive to paint a rosier picture of Iraq than that carried in the mainstream media. Mr Bush spoke of the achievements in setting up a new police force in Baghdad, something echoed in the letter from Kirkuk.
A poll published last night suggested that the publicity campaign was working. The CNN/USA Today poll put Mr Bush’s approval rating at 56 per cent — six points up over the previous month.
Are we surprised? I think not.
UK readers can get in for free, if you think I'm making this up:
Original of Times article here.
October 14, 2003
Letters not ours, say troops
From Roland Watson in Washington
LETTERS home from the front that trumpet the nation-building achievements of US soldiers in Iraq are appearing in newspapers across America. The only wrinkle in an otherwise cheering story is that the identical letters are signed by different soldiers, some of whom say they did not sign, let alone write, them.
Their publication comes as President Bush leads a concerted drive to talk up the good news from Iraq and halt his slide in the polls through bypassing the mainstream media. At least 11 papers, most of them small-town publications, have printed the letter, which tells of the fortunes of the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, which is based in Kirkuk.
“The majority of the city has welcomed our presence with open arms,” it reads. “Children smile and run up to shake hands, and in their broken English, shout: ‘Thank you, mister’. ”
A Pentagon spokesman, citing the battalion commander, said that the soldiers had crafted the letter themselves. But six soldiers told Gannett News Service, which spotted the trend, that they had not written the letter and one said that he had not signed it. Most said that they agreed with its general thrust, but a seventh said that the first he had heard of it was when his father congratulated him on having a letter in their local paper.
Last week Mr Bush led a drive to paint a rosier picture of Iraq than that carried in the mainstream media. Mr Bush spoke of the achievements in setting up a new police force in Baghdad, something echoed in the letter from Kirkuk.
A poll published last night suggested that the publicity campaign was working. The CNN/USA Today poll put Mr Bush’s approval rating at 56 per cent — six points up over the previous month.
Are we surprised? I think not.
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Date: 2003-10-14 07:35 am (UTC)