They are Republican, but they aren't Sinclair. They've actually done some very good coverage and if you'll look at these stories and links, I don't think you could call them shills. JMO
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This is excellent BTW
Graphics: Iraq war expectations vs. reality
http://www.realcities.com/multimedia/nationalchannel/news/KRT_Packages/archive/101704_kr_iraq/graphics/index.htm======
Post-war planning non-existentPosted on Sun, Oct. 17, 2004
By WARREN P. STROBEL and JOHN WALCOTT
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - In March 2003, days before the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, American war planners and intelligence officials met at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina to review the Bush administration's plans to oust Saddam Hussein and implant democracy in Iraq.
Near the end of his presentation, an Army lieutenant colonel who was giving a briefing showed a slide describing the Pentagon's plans for rebuilding Iraq after the war, known in the planners' parlance as Phase 4-C. He was uncomfortable with his material - and for good reason.
The slide said: "To Be Provided."
A Knight Ridder review of the administration's Iraq policy and decisions has found that it invaded Iraq without a comprehensive plan in place to secure and rebuild the country. The administration also failed to provide some 100,000 additional U.S. troops that American military commanders originally wanted to help restore order and reconstruct a country shattered by war, a brutal dictatorship and economic sanctions. In fact, some senior Pentagon officials had thought they could bring most American soldiers home from Iraq by September 2003. Instead, more than a year later, 138,000 U.S. troops are still fighting terrorists who slip easily across Iraq's long borders, diehards from the old regime and Iraqis angered by their country's widespread crime and unemployment and America's sometimes heavy boots.
"We didn't go in with a plan. We went in with a theory," said a veteran State Department officer who was directly involved in Iraq policy.
R E L A T E D L I N K S
• Part One | Planning for postwar Iraq non-existent
• Part Two | Ongoing violence overcomes reconstruction
• Part Three | Insurgency clouds Iraq's future path
• Graphics | Iraq war expectations vs. reality
• On the Web | 2003 War College report on Iraq (.pdf)
• On the Web | 2004 Brookings Institution report on Iraq (.pdf)
much more............
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9927782.htm=====
Study: Wrong impressions helped support Iraq war Posted on Thu, Oct. 02, 2003
Study: Wrong impressions helped support Iraq war
By FRANK DAVIES
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - A majority of Americans have held at least one of three mistaken impressions about the U.S.-led war in Iraq, according to a new study released Thursday, and those misperceptions contributed to much of the popular support for the war.
The three common mistaken impressions are that:
U.S. forces found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
There's clear evidence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein worked closely with the Sept. 11 terrorists.
People in foreign countries generally either backed the U.S.-led war or were evenly split between supporting and opposing it.
Overall, 60 percent of Americans held at least one of those views in polls reported between January and September by the Program on International Policy Attitudes, based at the University of Maryland in College Park, and the polling firm, Knowledge Networks based in Menlo Park, Calif.
"While we cannot assert that these misperceptions created the support for going to war with Iraq, it does appear likely that support for the war would be substantially lower if fewer members of the public had these misperceptions," said Steven Kull, who directs Maryland's program.
more....
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/special_packages/iraq/6918170.htm =====
Posted on Wed, Sep. 01, 2004
Young Republicans support Iraq war, but not all are willing to join the fight
By Adam Smeltz
Knight Ridder Newspapers
NEW YORK - Young Republicans gathered here for their party's national convention are united in applauding the war in Iraq, supporting the U.S. troops there and calling the U.S. mission a noble cause.
But there's no such unanimity when they're asked a more personal question: Would you be willing to put on the uniform and go to fight in Iraq?
In more than a dozen interviews, Republicans in their teens and 20s offered a range of answers. Some have friends in the military in Iraq and are considering enlisting; others said they can better support the war by working politically in the United States; and still others said they think the military doesn't need them because the U.S. presence in Iraq is sufficient.
"Frankly, I want to be a politician. I'd like to survive to see that," said Vivian Lee, 17, a war supporter visiting the convention from Los Angeles,
Lee said she supports the war but would volunteer only if the United States faced a dire troop shortage or "if there's another Sept. 11."
"As long as there's a steady stream of volunteers, I don't see why I necessarily should volunteer," said Lee, who has a cousin deployed in the Middle East.
more.....
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9556221.htm=====