I’m having a difficult time writing this diary. I’m so frustrated with and disgraced by our current military system. It is a system that my husband has worked in for a long time now. He did it proudly, and the family made a lot of sacrifices with an air of pride too. No more though! Those days are so long gone I almost wonder if it was all just a long lazy dream.
I arose this morning to the story about our Army making up unidentified Iraqi sources to embellish its news releases with. In releases to two different attacks that were 11 days apart the Army also quoted almost identical quotes from an Iraqi who wished to remain unidentified on both occasions. In my opinion the unidentified Iraqi also appears to have been reading GOP talking points memos, what a sharp connected Iraqi the Army has here!
“Task Force Baghdad Public Affairs regrets the confusion regarding two press releases issued in support of our operations July 24,” said a statement Monday.
Although not referring to the quote in Sunday’s release, it said there was “a draft press release which, due to an administrative error, was mistakenly issued on behalf of the 3rd Infantry Division.”
Lt. Col. Clifford Kent, spokesman for the 3rd Infantry Division, also spoke Sunday of an “administrative error.”
Kent did not explain why the quote apparently was changed to apply to the latest attack.
Below are the two news releases from the U.S. military with the similar quotes:
From Sunday:
” ‘The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the ISF and all of Iraq. They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists,’ said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified.”
From July 13:
” ‘The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the children and all of Iraq,’ said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified. ‘They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists.’ “
If you guys would shake me awake when this is over I would be forever in your debt.
Tracy, you’d enjoy Dan Gillmor’s blog report about this:
Military Making Up Quotes? I’m Shocked, Shocked
You always have the goods on the goods!
Tracy, I just wanted to tell you how happy it makes me to know that someone like you is involved with the military. This sort of behavior is the reason that so many of us are anti-military. We need more honest and reasonable (not to mention patriotic) people involved in our military as well as in our government.
Thank you for all you do.
I would say about 40% of your military is in your boat. They have to hide out though right now or they find those among them who they feel that they can trust completely to vent to. I am friends with a military couple right now. The wife left two months back for Iraq, not because she needed to. She didn’t have orders from DOD to go, but her commander cut her orders to go which isn’t technically supposed to be able to happen but they let it slide. I guess the commander can do it for 6 months or something like that. DOD wanted to deploy a section of his people, he wanted all of his people to be deployed so that he being this Lt. Colonel could have it in his paperwork that he went to Iraq and “saw” combat and so he can get all the ribbons and awards…..shit like that. DOD only wanted a portion of his staff though and wouldn’t pay for the rest so he wouldn’t get any of those awards…..so he cut his own orders for the rest of his staff. It really messes up the pay system though. The husband is over here attempting to straighten all that out so at least his wife doesn’t get “ripped off” while being in combat, and it looks like DOD is going to pay in full for asshole Lt. Colonel cutting his own Iraq orders for his personnel. In the mean time his wife sits in Balad doing paperwork and counting the mortar attacks. I think her husband would run around the house smashing all the dishes but with the four kids he is probably going to need them so that isn’t a good idea! He does need a completely safe place to vent though!
Tell your friend to come on over here. He might be surprised how much real support he will find.
I love the title of your diary. The WhiteHouse does it – why not the military.
Excellent eye of yours catching the AnoniIraqi.
These asshats think all of America is as dumb as those who voted for them.
I’m just wondering how the enlisted soldiers feel about what their commanders are doing. They must be pretty fed up with the incompetence, lies and broken promises. How long till we see a revolt?
Well. Looks like the right wing is responding to the increasing deterioration of their situation by totally denying reality. They’re fighting Dean by lying about what he says. They’re fighting Plame by lying about what happened. And they’re fighting the war in Iraq by lying about what the resistance is doing.
uhhh… let’s see, the comander in chief is a liar, his assistant is even worse, their right hand is a con artist, mmmmmm, yeps,,,they would make shit up… ; )
it’s all profit to them…mo’ money…yowsir
Or Viet Nam?
I remember the time when some astute commentator added up the N. VietNamese body count and realized that we’d killed the entire population of the north.
Some of the same exact leaders have been involved in this all along, so to some of it is one protracted criminal enterprise.
But from any number of indicators, I think the military outgrew the practical ability of our system of government to control it half a lifetime ago. President Eisenhower as much as said so in the 1950’s.
Democracy is going to be in deep, deep, deep doo-doo 5 years from now–and that’d be the positive spin after we take the government back, if we can.
In an article I read some time ago the author hinted that many of the top brass has been forced out (a la retirement) and have been replaced by Bush loyalists and military versions of political hacks. I never researched it, but it stuck in my mind and makes perfect sense to me. So maybe your feeling that things have changed is more accurate than you know. This new brass has rabid loyalties to Bush, not to the troops they command, which is dastardly and dishonorable and is resulting in the trashing of our military. It is truely painful to watch as our men and women in the military are given the shaft over and over in a hundred ways. When I came across the story about how they made stuff up for release, I shook my head, but was nowhere near surprised.
Please tell your dish smashing neighbor to get to a computer and come on over. We are here with open ears and open arms.
As for you, Tracy, please keep posting. God, I admire your sacrifice, your dedication and your big mouth.(and not necessarily in that order);)
brown nose and all full of shit, and it isn’t even his shit…….it’s Rummys and I don’t even want to know how that happened. Myers is Air Force also and the Air Force and the Army are very different fighting units. The Army is doing most of the ground fighting in Iraq also so where are the two Army Generals that ought to be sitting side by side with Myers?
I would love it if he could come on here and vent and get so much support, but he is a soldier too and with what has been happening with the soldier blogs I don’t think anything but the most determined soldier would be on here anymore. Knowing that your commander will be monitoring your every word? I don’t think many soldiers will be signing on anymore.
But I think we’ll be seeing more and more of this…
The wheels of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.