Responses to a "letter"

I recently received a forwarded chain-mail from a friend that attempted to justify the war in Iraq and the Bush presidency. It seemed to be purportedly written by a soldier (there have been a lot of those flying around). I know this type of silly propoganda comes from the right and the left; the sad thing is that many people allow their beliefs or opinions to be strengthened by this kind of stuff (on the right and left) without checking real sources. The letter text is in bold, with my responses underneath. I was bored.

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of January...
- NOT TRUE, there were 52 combat related killings of Americans alone in January. This isn’t counting the deaths of other coalition fighters (Brits, Bulgarians, Danes, Dutch, Estonians, Hungarians, Italians, Latvians, Poles, Salvadorans, Slovaks, Spaniards, Thais, and Ukrainians). Also, other months have been much worse than January (i.e. 136 in April).
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/2004.01.html

In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January. That's just one American city,about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq.
- ABSOLUTE B.S. - “as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq.”??? That is ludicrous
- Are the deaths of Iraqi soldiers and innocent civilians a non-factor?
o At this point there have been approximately 20,100 Iraqis killed since invasion (~13,600 being civilians, yes the majority) – averaging around 1,200 a month
http://britreport.com/features/iraq/iraq_war_dead.htm
- Sorry to sound like a “bleeding heart” here, but they are people too, i.e. Children of God, you know, equal in His eyes?

When some claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war, state the following ...FDR...led us into World War II.Germany never attacked us: Japan did.
· Yes, But Germany declared war on America the day after we declared war on Japan. Japan and Germany were allies. Also – Germany was aggressing against other sovereign nations (our allies) openly and notoriously.

From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost,an average of 112,500 per year.
- Maybe, but based on this author’s previous figures, I wouldn’t take his word for it.

Truman...finished that war and started one in Korea,
-Started? Maybe “entered” would be more accurate

North Korea never attacked us.
-Nope, they just attacked another sovereign nation that happened to be in our sphere of influence

From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost,an average of 18,334 per year. John F. Kennedy...started the Vietnam conflict in 1962.
-Once again, “started”? (Nonetheless, Vietnam was a mistake)

Vietnam never attacked us. Johnson...turned Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost,an average of 5,800 per year.

· VERY INTERESTING that Nixon is missing from this history lesson on Vietnam. I’m sure it was just an oversight.

Clinton...went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent, Bosnia never attacked us.
(Yes, Bosnia was a mess – mark a point on your “Republican Wars vs. Democrat Wars” scoreboard)

He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing.
-Oh, Please

Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.
- (VERY TRUE – Too bad Bush diverted resources from capturing Osama and al-Qaida operatives in order to fight his war in Iraq – Nothing could deter him from the goal he’d already set)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/nightline/DailyNews/pnac_030310.html
http://amenusa.org/iraq25.htm

In the two years since terrorists attacked us, President Bush has ...liberated two countries,
Really? So he was fighting before he landed on the carrier in his flight uniform? (And that would have to be under a very loose definition of “liberated.” Both countries are a total mess with shadow governments and we all know it – for better or worse)

crushed the Taliban,crippled al-Qaida,
put nuclear inspectors in Libya,
-Ghadafi came forward of his own accord and offered to end nuclear development and invite inspectors – to everyone’s surprise.

Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.
(I thought the special forces did that)

The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but...
-No they’re not. They’re complaining about bad intelligence, hasty decision-making, lack of planning, and being misled.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20040827/pl_nm/bush_iraq_dc_4

It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51 day operation.
-NEWS FLASH: THE WAR IS NOT OVER

We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons (Or nukes, or bio’s) in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.
-Where did that come from? I don’t think Hillary used billing records as a pretext for war…it’s a little different (bad logic…bad comparison)

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Divisionand the Marines to destroy the Medina! Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.
(Hmm, I had to stop and think about that one – connection not clear – irrelevance causing brain-wiring malfunction)

It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!
Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!
-Well Gee, OK, if you say so. Lets see: The worst job-creation record in 75 years... Highest government spending in the history of America – we are running a yearly deficit in the billions of dollars (under Clinton there was a surplus) – that tax-cut sure made a lot of sense (60% of which went to the richest 10% of Americans – it didn’t help you). Gas prices are out of control. Wages are not going up. The economy has sucked for the last 3 1/2 years. The percentage of uninsured (health) Americans is increasing yearly. Poverty is on the rise... Reputation seriously damaged in the international community – allies pissed – and new breeding grounds for terrorists have likely been created. Bush may be an alright, well-intentioned guy – but he is way in-over-his head.
And if you think Bush is honest, take a look:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4264572
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A488-2004Feb23?language=printer
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30D13FE3D550C768DDDAA0894DC404482
http://www.starbanner.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040318/ZNYT02/403180311/1009/BUSINESS

The Military morale is high!
(I really hope that’s true for the majority. It certainly isn’t for all – as we saw with the prisoner abuse scandal, soldier suicides, and depression problems that have come out.)

The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts
-No, this author hoped we were all too lazy and ignorant to research the facts and apply a little reasoning. Oh wait, maybe he’s referring to FOX NEWSCHANNEL.
-I highly doubt that this was written by a soldier. There have been a lot of right-wing propaganda chain-mails circulating lately that claim to be written by soldiers. Is it just me, or did this seem like one of those?
Disclaimer: If this really was written by a soldier, the responses here in no way question his character, service, sacrifice, or honor. They do cast his facts, reasoning, and conclusions into serious doubt. That is what democracy is about.

Records Contradict Critics of Kerry's Service

- Interesting article regarding records found that contradict those who claim Kerry didn't deserve his medals. No matter what one's political persuasion may be, I think we can all agree that attacking a man's service to his country, a man who risked his own life to save others, is about as low-brow and dirty as it gets. Attacking a person's stance on the issues is one thing, but shouldn't we at least respect and support our troops and their service (whether or not we agree with a particular mission or war) ?

Records Counter a Critic of Kerry
Fellow Skipper's Citation Refers To Enemy Fire

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 19, 2004; Page A01

Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John F. Kerry's most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict his own version of events.
In newspaper interviews and a best-selling book, Larry Thurlow, who commanded a Navy Swift boat alongside Kerry in Vietnam, has strongly disputed Kerry's claim that the Massachusetts Democrat's boat came under fire during a mission in Viet Cong-controlled territory on March 13, 1969. Kerry won a Bronze Star for his actions that day.

But Thurlow's military records, portions of which were released yesterday to The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, contain several references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at "all units" of the five-boat flotilla. Thurlow won his own Bronze Star that day, and the citation praises him for providing assistance to a damaged Swift boat "despite enemy bullets flying about him."

As one of five Swift boat skippers who led the raid up the Bay Hap River, Thurlow was a direct participant in the disputed events. He is also a leading member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a public advocacy group of Vietnam veterans dismayed by Kerry's subsequent antiwar activities, which has aired a controversial television advertisement attacking his war record.

In interviews and written reminiscences, Kerry has described how his 50-foot patrol boat came under fire from the banks of the Bay Hap after a mine explosion disabled another U.S. patrol boat. According to Kerry and members of his crew, the firing continued as an injured Kerry leaned over the bow of his ship to rescue a Special Forces officer who was blown overboard in a second explosion.

Last month, Thurlow swore in an affidavit that Kerry was "not under fire" when he fished Lt. James Rassmann out of the water. He described Kerry's Bronze Star citation, which says that all units involved came under "small arms and automatic weapons fire," as "totally fabricated."

"I never heard a shot," Thurlow said in his affidavit, which was released by Swift Boats Veterans for Truth. The group claims the backing of more than 250 Vietnam veterans, including a majority of Kerry's fellow boat commanders.

A document recommending Thurlow for the Bronze Star noted that all his actions "took place under constant enemy small arms fire which LTJG THURLOW completely ignored in providing immediate assistance" to the disabled boat and its crew. The citation states that all other units in the flotilla also came under fire.

"It's like a Hollywood presentation here, which wasn't the case," Thurlow said last night after being read the full text of his Bronze Star citation. "My personal feeling was always that I got the award for coming to the rescue of the boat that was mined. This casts doubt on anybody's awards. It is sickening and disgusting."

Thurlow said he would consider his award "fraudulent" if coming under enemy fire was the basis for it. "I am here to state that we weren't under fire," he said. He speculated that Kerry could have been the source of at least some of the language used in the citation.

In a telephone interview Tuesday evening after he attended a Swift Boat Veterans strategy session in an Arlington hotel, Thurlow said he lost his Bronze Star citation more than 20 years ago. He said he was unwilling to authorize release of his military records because he feared attempts by the Kerry campaign to discredit him and other anti-Kerry veterans.

The Post filed an independent request for the documents with the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, which is the central repository for veterans' records. The documents were faxed to The Post by officials at the records center yesterday.

Thurlow and other anti-Kerry veterans have repeatedly alleged that Kerry was the author of an after-action report that described how his boat came under enemy fire. Kerry campaign researchers dispute that assertion, and there is no convincing documentary evidence to settle the argument. As the senior skipper in the flotilla, Thurlow might have been expected to write the after-action report for March 13, but he said that Kerry routinely "duked the system" to present his version of events.

For much of the episode, Kerry was not in a position to know firsthand what was happening on Thurlow's boat, as Kerry's boat had sped down the river after the mine exploded under another boat. He later returned to provide assistance to the stricken boat.

Thurlow, an oil industry worker and former teacher in Kansas, said he was angry with Kerry for his antiwar activities on his return to the United States and particularly Kerry's claim before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that U.S. troops in Vietnam had committed war crimes "with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."

" 'Upset' is too mild a word," said Thurlow, a registered Republican, of his reaction to Kerry then. "He did it strictly for his own personal political gain, and it directly affected every single one of us as we were trying to put our lives together."

Two other Swift boat skippers who were direct participants in the March 13, 1969, mine explosion on the Bay Hap, Jack Chenoweth and Richard Pees, have said they do not remember coming under "enemy fire." A fourth commander, Don Droz, who was one of Kerry's closest friends in Vietnam, was killed in action a month later.

The incident featured prominently in an anti-Kerry television ad produced by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth earlier this month. "John Kerry lied to get his Bronze Star," says Van Odell, a gunner on PCF-23, one of the boats that came to the rescue of the stricken boat. "I know. I was there."

The Bronze Star controversy is also a major focus of an anti-Kerry book by John E. O'Neill, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry," which will hit No. 2 on The Post's bestseller list this weekend. The book accuses Kerry of "fleeing the scene" and lying repeatedly about his role.

Members of Kerry's crew have come to his defense, as has Rassmann, the Special Forces officer whom he fished from the river. Rassmann says he has vivid memories of being fired at from both banks after he fell into the river and as Kerry came to his rescue. The two had an emotional reunion on the eve of the Iowa Democratic caucuses in January, an event that some political analysts believe helped swing votes to Kerry at a crucial time.

The Bronze Star recommendations for both Kerry and Thurlow were signed by Lt. Cmdr. George M. Elliott, who received reports on the incident from his base in the Gulf of Thailand. Elliott is a supporter of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and has questioned Kerry's actions in Vietnam. But he has refused repeated requests for an interview after issuing conflicting statements to the Boston Globe about whether Kerry deserved a Silver Star. He was unreachable last night.

Money has poured into Swift Boat Veterans for Truth since the group launched its television advertisement attacking Kerry earlier this month. According to O'Neill, the group has received more than $450,000 over the past two weeks, mainly in small contributions. The Dallas Morning News reported yesterday that the organization has also received two $100,000 checks from Houston home builder Bob Perry, who backed George W. Bush's campaigns for Texas governor and for president.

Bush campaign officials have said they have no connection to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which is not permitted to coordinate its activities with a presidential campaign under federal election law.