Cindy Sheehan story in the Tacoma News Tribune...please respond to this.

[Mythsaje]

This is my local paper. I would really like DUers to send in their responses to this.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/5136894p-4674088c.html

I understand that the link might not work, so please just go to http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/ and click on the "Military Moms Speak Out on Protest Vigil" story link under "Local."

Here's my LTTE on the subject.

:shrug:

I think the question the News Tribune needs to be asking these people is it okay to put their children in harm’s way by deliberately deceiving the American people. Whether or not Saddam was a brutal dictator, or whether or not the Iraqis are better off with him gone is incidental to the fact that this administration said he had WMDs and was working on a nuclear weapons program, when nearly all evidence available to them told them the exact opposite. The Downing Street Minutes (pretty much ignored by you and the rest of the mainstream press) made it pretty clear that this administration would use whatever intelligence it could (even faulty intelligence) to make the case for war to congress and the American public.

Yes, those who joined the Marines and Army were aware of the dangers…but you’ll find that most of them who joined after 9/11 joined to go after Bin Laden. And those who joined the National Guard did not join to go die in someone else’s back yard. They joined a branch intended to be used to protect Americans on American soil.

So where’s Bin Laden? Not in American custody, that’s for sure. Why? Because George Bush and his cabal decided he wasn’t as important as a dictator who had done nothing to harm us and had no means to do so. One honestly has to ask oneself “why did we TRULY go into Iraq?” There has been no credible answer to that question from the White House.

Even assuming that it was a massive intelligence failure that got us into this war (and considering that the CIA repeatedly told the WH that they had no real evidence Saddam posed any danger at all, this is unlikely) the handling of the war from the beginning has been an exercise in incompetence managed by people who have either never served at all, or have never been in combat.

Anyone who vocally opposed the plan (such as it was) was fired, leaving behind no one but those who didn’t have the guts to tell the truth.

I feel pity for Cindy Sheehan, but I respect her greatly. She is making her son’s death stand for something.

But I feel even more pity for those who still support this President and this war after suffering such a loss. Sending more of our men and women to die in the streets of Baghdad to help erect an Islamic Republic will not honor the memory of the fallen…it will simply steal the future from more of America’s youth and leave us with nothing but the taste of blood and bitter ashes for years to come.

[artfan]

1. great ltte

well done!

[ray of light]

2. terrific letter. You redirected their focus off pitting moms v moms

and instead put the focus back on to if anyone's child should die for a lie.

[Generic Other]

3. I hope the TNT runs it! I will look for it (my hometown paper too)

Be sure not to go over the word limit they impose. Don't give them ANY excuse not to publish. Please let us know if they run it.

They will call and verify your address if they are going to run the story.

That said, the TNT is a rag owned by the Sacramento Bee. No longer a real hometown paper. And they are embedded so far into the asses of Striker Brigade at Ft. Lewis that they can't be honest about this war. Their reporters are too busy "playing" war correspondent.

[Mythsaje]

6. I paid no attention to the word count on this one...

I didn't expect them to print it. I wanted them to SEE it.

[immoderate]

4. Well done.

You should be a writer.;-)

--IMM

[WhiteTara]

5. great letter...but the intelligence

wasn't faulty, it was concocted. They got real intelligence, but it didn't fit their story, so they made up lies. Thanks for your great work. :hi:

[B Calm]

7. I agree, they fixed the intelligence! Great Letter though

[Mythsaje]

10. I thought I addressed that too...

I was referring to the yellowcake intelligence... I just didn't want to go into that much detail.

[Generic Other]

8. I was interviewed by TNT reporter at the Cindy vigil

Guess where they put my remrks? In the round circular file.

[Mythsaje]

9. Figures...

The media is still trying to pretend that this is some fringe movement.

It's not. And it's growing despite their attempts to downplay it.

I would have been at a local vigil myself had I not been feeling really crappy Wednesday. I felt bad about missing it but I really didn't feel up to going anywhere.

[Generic Other]

11. Glad to see there are more local DUers

We got a lot of apathetic folks to reach.

[Mythsaje]

12. I know...

it's frustrating how distracted people can be.

[Evergreen Emerald]

13. good job

Wes Clark said that the men and women joined the armed forces with the ideal that our leadership would put them in harms way only as a last resort. They were used and deceived.

Cindy Sheehan said it best: “We are never going to allow our leadership to use our children again in this reckless, careless, arrogant, ignorant way.”