Posted on 02/01/2007 9:06:39 PM PST by tcrlaf
In today's Independent, Patrick Cockburn writes:
There are growing suspicions in Iraq that the official story of the battle outside Najaf between a messianic Iraqi cult and the Iraqi security forces supported by the US, in which 263 people were killed and 210 wounded, is a fabrication. The heavy casualties may be evidence of an unpremeditated massacre.
A picture is beginning to emerge of a clash between an Iraqi Shia tribe on a pilgrimage to Najaf and an Iraqi army checkpoint that led the US to intervene with devastating effect. The involvement of Ahmed al-Hassani (also known as Abu Kamar), who believed himself to be the coming Mahdi, or Messiah, appears to have been accidental.
The story emerging on independent Iraqi websites and in Arabic newspapers is entirely different from the government's account of the battle with the so-called "Soldiers of Heaven", planning a raid on Najaf to kill Shia religious leaders.
The cult denied it was involved in the fighting, saying it was a peaceful movement.
Hello everyone, I am an Active Duty GySgt in the Marine Corps and I just want to take a minute to resound what is being said and done here. I just found this site, thanks to a couple of buddies and I plan to scope it out and see what it has to offer.
I do know there are many vets and citizens alike who are sick and tired of the propaganda machine that is taking hold of this country as it did many years ago. There is true concern for this and it is time that those that are feeling helpless have a chance to stand up and fight back. If you have children, wife's, husbands or family members that are currently serving abroad in our fight against Terrorism, an din a fight to preserve the very Core of what America is embodied in, yet you feel helpless while they are there serving, then now is a chance to add to their fight, here on the home front.
I am currently abroad serving and I also am in the fight and mix as much as I can legally stand up for on the home front, pleading that we gather together to take this pressure off the backs of our Men and Women in uniform serving abroad.
As poster 34 (Rebel Kev) and a few others have noted, the ground work is already started. Please take time to check out USMILNET and Victory for Vets. On USMILNET, you will find me or rebel kev and our names as you see them, ready to help guide and make your visit as easy as possible.
We have started a thread called "A Call To Arms". We are not asking you to abandon what you have established here, we are only asking that if you really want to do something, more than just post on the internet, then please check the site out.
Again, I am not here to pull people between sites as I will be checking out this site as well. I am here to help give options and so that we as a concerned American group, can learn and grow from each other.
Thanks for allowing me to serve our Great Nation.
Semper Fidelis
GySgt USMC
Active / 0369
Semper Fidelis
Just checking how the post features work.
Carry on please!!!
Thank you. You're 100% accurate! The bully pulpit is invisible to this White House and the majority of the GOP.
I'm glad you understand, because I don't. This isn't a friendly game of tennis. Being a good sport is one thing. Getting pushed around while the other side cheats, and not calling them on it, is a sign of weakness and cowardice.
If the Administration is going to abandon the PR field to the left, then what do we have to look forward to besides defeat? Playing Mr. Nice Guy holds no virtue with me when we have troops in the field.
The Nazis controlled the propaganda field all the way until 1944 and the Communists controlled the propaganda field from 1945-1990, both evil regime are gone and belong to the ash heap of history. I am not saying that we must not fight the enemy propaganda or the left wing propaganda that giving aid and comfort to the enemy but we should not get all depressed because the enemy get a lot of coverage, we simply need to fight on and win the war most importantly on the battlefield and eventually we will achieve the ultimate victory against the terrorists whether they are organizations or regimes.
Regards, Ivan
The President speaks about the war everyday but he does not get the coverage everyday. Unless our side controls 50% or more of the media we are going to get less coverage and our terrorist enemy will get more coverage and he will be favored by the left wing media and who aid and comfort the enemy on a daily basis.
I mean we are winning more elections than the left. Even in this last election that was won by the democrats; they won because many of their candidates run to the right of Republicans. Since the left control 70% to 80% of the media why did the Republicans won 7 of the last 10 Presidential elections and won Congress from 1994-2006?
These guys have a point...
It is FAR beyond time we got up from our Desk chairs, and sacrificed a little time for those who sacrifice for US...
The only way you fight a Propoganda Machine is with a counter Program, and that organizing Camera opportunities, sound-bites, and a cohesive message...
The left has used every trick in the Geobbell's Playbook, but TRUTH and FACTS, delivered in a form easily digestable by a "drive-by" media" can be damning...
"we should not get all depressed because the enemy get a lot of coverage"
The very point of all that propoganda is to depress the public to the point of abandoning the war....
AND IT IS WORKING....
The daily drip, drip, drip, of bad news, fake news, fake scandals, and 24/7 propoganda DOES have an effect.
You yourself have tried to get THE FACTS out above the din, and have been ignored by the vast majority of the Media.
You don't throw fancy parties with free food for reporters, while delivering your "News"....
You haven't paid for a biased push-poll to drive news and opinion about your "Discoveries".
You aren't recieving huge sums of money from questionable overseas sources to push your particular viewpoint.
DISSENT is as American as Apple Pie, it's the TREASON I have a real problem with....
Agree 100%.
Seconded. Since Jane Fonda wasn't prosecuted for her crimes against this country, it seems liberals have been given a free pass to say whatever they wish....to include liberal politicians. If we don't get a hand on this, we will never again win a war as we will have proven Bin Laden correct in that we really are a paper tiger.
Rebelkev
USMILNET
One million thanks for your service -- it's you and your compatriots that keep us strong and free. I will gladly check out that site.
Blessings and gratitude to you.
I love your tag. Next election, I'm having a banner printed with just that saying. I will hang it in my front yard. Hope you don't mind if I borrow it?
Chances are, he knows several of us at usmilnet. We started it last March, but several still post on military.com as well. I still have an account, but refuse to get into a pissing contest about war and the military with 19 Y/O punks that never served a day in their pampered lives.
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