[US Soldiers stationed in Iraq] Identical letter scam

[John D Harris]

[quote]Originally posted by Rokenn:

So John, I guess you would not mind me signing your name on a Letter to the Editor that you did not write, even if it agreed with your views? Also if you are going to say hell stop hiding it behind a euphemism. It's tired and annoying.

ROTFLMAO, 1st off to be applicable(sp?) to the the letters in question, you would have to write something that I agreed with show it to me and get my permission to sign my name, so no I won't mind. But we both know the probibility of that is so statiscally small as to be impossible

Rokenn, until Zoric tells me not to use the euphemism, I'll use any euphemism I gosh darn well want, if you don't like it don't read it. "HALE" it's no sweat off my rear-end.


[quote]Originally posted by Donut:

It's called lying by omission. A letter from a hometown boy carries more weight. So they deliberately misled people. Simple as that.

Agreed it carried more weight, but to that I say again big woopty doo. If doing, acting, or saying anything to make your point carry more weight is considered a lie. Then what the "HALE" would you call dressing up to go on a date? Are you not trying to give the point that you are worth going on the date more weight? What about if you are up for a promotion at work are you not going to try and make your point that you are worth giving the promotion to more weight? It's not a lie of omission Because EACH and every one of the men agreed with the letter and it contents as per the artical sighted in the second half of the original post. only one said he didn't sign, BUT he did say he agreed with everything writen in the letter.

[Djinn Raffo]

Not all the soldiers agreed John. Sgt. Guesser was not asked to have his name attributed to the letter and he was upset about it.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/...International/

edit> to add link

[ 10-14-2003, 07:36 PM: Message edited by: Djinn Raffo ]

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: This obvious attempt to balance out the near daily news of killings, bombings, shootings, riots and civil discontent would have been alot more sincere and meaningful if individual soldiers would have written individual letters.

You are correct it would have been better to let the men write letters in their own words.

Why that was not done, Nobody here has a clue for sure, personnaly I would Suspect that the Sgt. wanted his men to keep their minds on the job at hand, staying alive and finishing the mission, rather then trying to come up with something to write in a letter to the hometown newspaper. I know I sure as "hale" wouldn't want on my conscience one of my boys wounded or killed because he was paying attention to writing a letter instead of looking for some "puke" that was trying to kill him. But That's just me, I and nobody else on this board knows for sure.


I'm not argueing the wisdom of doing it that way, but rather if what was writen was true or not.

[Donut]

Originally posted by John D Harris: , show it to me and get my permission to sign my name, so no I won't mind.

You said it John D! Not everyone gave permission. The first one soldier knew of it was when his father congratulated him on having his letter published. Despicable deceit!

"You don't want the truth, you can't handle the truth!"

[ 10-15-2003, 06:28 AM: Message edited by: Donut ]

[Donut]

Originally posted by khazadman: It's only a lie to the people who refuse to face the fact that it contradicts the sheer bull s**t they want to believe coming out of the leftist controlled media.

You may believe that news of the deaths of 190 members of your armed forces since Bush declared combat to be over to be bullshit but I believe that it's important to know about them. They weren't killed by the leftist controlled media.

BTW - more bullshit information. Suicides amongst US military personnel in Iraq is running at three time the normal rate.

[ 10-15-2003, 06:30 AM: Message edited by: Donut ]

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by Donut: Knowing that this is a form letter I treat it with the contempt it deserves. This however I can relate to!

Yes, that was a real treat when he posted it.

[Donut]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: Yes, that was a real treat when he posted it.

That woman is everywhere - I've even seen her quoted on Al Jazeira!

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Djinn Raffo: Not all the soldiers agreed John. Sgt. Guesser was not asked to have his name attributed to the letter and he was upset about it. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/...International/ edit> to add link

Please read the following ouote from ORIGINAL post on this thread:

Originally posted by Grojlach: Sgt. Shawn Grueser of Poca, W.Va., said he spoke to a military public affairs officer whose name he couldn't remember about his accomplishments in Iraq for what he thought was a news release to be sent to his hometown paper in Charleston, W.Va. But the 2nd Battalion soldier said he did not sign any letter. Although Grueser said he agrees with the letter's sentiments, he was uncomfortable that a letter with his signature did not contain his own words or spell out his own accomplishments. "It makes it look like you cheated on a test, and everybody got the same grade," Grueser said by phone from a base in Italy where he had just arrived from Iraq. Source: The Olympian

Now here the quote from the link you provided:
Another soldier, Sgt. Guesser, said he spoke to a military public-affairs officer about his accomplishments in Iraq, but he did not sign the letter. Now, he said, he feels cheated because the words attributed to him weren't his own.

"It makes it look like you cheated on a test, and everybody got the same grade," Sgt. Grueser said.

No where does this link say Sgt. Geusser disagrees, the story you linked says "he feels cheated..." then both papers record a very assute coment made by the Sgt."It makes it look like you cheated on a test, and everybody got the same grade," Sgt. Grueser said." Which is in fact exactly what is happening now with all this hubbub.

Now the original quote is from the writer, employeed by the paper that broke the story, as acknowledged by both sources.

Again NOWHERE can it be found the words contained in the letters are false, or that my statement Not one of the soliders disagreed with the statments made in the letters is incorrect.

I find it interesting that the source used the Globe and Mail, is a second hand source not the one that broke the story, left out the part of Sgt. Guesser's quote about agreeing. Would that not be considered an omission? It seems a source to prove an omission is a bad thing. Is infact guilty of omission itself. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I wonder would that be considered slanting the news, like say FOX has been acussed of? Naaaaaaaaaaa that couldn't possibly be the case.

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Donut: quote: Originally posted by John D Harris: , show it to me and get my permission to sign my name, so no I won't mind.

You said it John D! Not everyone gave permission. The first one soldier knew of it was when his father congratulated him on having his letter published. Despicable deceit!

"You don't want the truth, you can't handle the truth!" [/QUOTE]ROTFLMAO

Here's the truth:
Sgt. Todd Oliver, a spokesman for the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which counts the 503rd as one of its units, said he was told a soldier wrote the letter, but he didn't know who. He said the brigade's public affairs unit was not involved.

"When he asked other soldiers in his unit to sign it, they did," Oliver explained in an e-mail response to a GNS inquiry. "Someone, somewhere along the way, took it upon themselves to mail it to the various editors of newspapers across the country."
No conspiracy, no lies in what has been writen in the letters. NOT ONE PERSON has been able to show a single lie in what was writen in the letters.

Here's some more truth: (quote from the globe and mail, editoralizing) "The sentiments seemed genuine until identical letters"

Where have we heard something similar to that???

Sgt. Gueser! "It makes it looklike you cheated on a test, and everybody got the same grade," Good call Sgt. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

as I said on page one "piss'n moun'n"

[Chewbacca]

The source has come forward:
Article

An Army battalion commander has taken responsibility for a public-relations campaign that sent hundreds of identical letters to hometown newspapers promoting his soldiers' rebuilding efforts in Iraq. Lt. Col. Dominic Caraccilo said he wanted to highlight his unit's work and "share that pride with people back home." Army officials revealed Tuesday that 500 identical form letters were sent to newspapers across the country with different signatures. They said the mass mailing was the wrong way of getting the message out, but they didn't know whether the commander would be disciplined. "It sounded like a good idea at their level, (but) it's just not the way to do business. They're not going to do that again," said Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, which is leading operations in north-central Iraq. Caraccilo heads the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, a paratroop unit normally based in Italy with roughly 800 soldiers. The battalion has spent the past few months in the north-central Iraq city of Kirkuk restoring basic services. Amid the daily headlines of bloodshed and unrest in Iraq, Caraccilo wanted to draw attention to the work of his troops by mailing a form letter to soldiers' hometowns. "The quality of life and security for the citizens has been largely restored, and we are a large part of why that has happened," reads the five-paragraph, typed letter sent in late summer. MacDonald said no one was forced to sign the letter, though most did. At least one soldier contacted by Gannett News Service said he never signed the letter that appeared in his hometown newspaper in Charleston, W.Va. Several parents also said they knew their sons had not written the letters that appeared in local newspapers. The letter appeared in at least a dozen newspapers, according to a Gannett News Service search. Caraccilo said he meant no harm. "The letter was purely an effort made by soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry to afford our soldiers an opportunity to let their respective hometowns know what they are accomplishing here in Kirkuk," he wrote in an e-mail to the 4th Infantry Division public affairs office. Attempts to reach Caraccilo directly were unsuccessful. "As you might expect, they are working at an extremely fast pace, and getting the good news back home is not always easy," he continued in the e-mail. "We thought it would be a good idea to encapsulate what we as a battalion have accomplished since arriving in Iraq and share that pride with people back home." Military officials said they were unaware of any plans to discipline Caraccilo. They said his intentions were honorable. News of the letter-writing campaign emerged over the weekend as President Bush and other administration officials were conducting their own campaign to emphasize successes in Iraq. Polls have shown American public opinion on the mission souring. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday that he didn't have details of the letter-writing campaign and referred questions to military commanders. "The intention was good, but the delivery system was probably not a good way to do it, because of misperceptions that could be taken," MacDonald said. "You don't want anybody out there saying I never saw that letter."