Setting Things Straight

I'm a big believer in the power of blogs in the national debate. Bloggers are different from the MSM because we are aware that what we write has consequences and if we make a mistake, we rectify it as soon as possible.

That said, I recently left a comment at the Huffington Post in response to a post by Paul Rieckhoff that demeaned him for not serving and slamming the military in his post. I read the bio of the poster and somewhere between reading and commenting, I believed that he had never served in the military. I was thinking of a bio from another Huffington Post blogger.

Well, Paul did serve, and very admirably at that. I received an e-mail from Mr. Rieckhoff's friend and co-blogger, Jeremy Broussard. The entire e-mail is printed here with the exception of some cut and pasting Mr. Broussard added from the original post. I did not edit anything:

For your information, Scott, Paul and I are both veterans of the Iraq War. Paul Rieckoff was an infantry officer and platoon leader patrolling the streets of Baghdad with the NY Nat. Guard in 2003-2004. I was a field artillery officer serving in Kuwait and southern Iraq in 2003. We do know what we speak of.

The point of Paul's piece is that if the administration and its apologists spent as much time, money and effort forming effective policies for Iraq and the Middle East (diplomatic AND military) as they do on spin and outright propaganda, we'd be in a better situation.And hee's right: we DO need more leaders, not salesman. Bush's response to the dwindling public confidence in his leadership and the mission in Iraq this summer was to do a better job "selling" the war... that's an indication of an administration out of touch with the realities of winning Iraq or the war on terrorism.

But I found your comments "You know nothing of what it takes to be a soldier or sailor" to be ignorant, insulting to Paul's service, and counter-productive and I wanted to set the record straight.FYI... check out www.Optruth.org and you'll hear a lot of unfiltered comments from real veterans--Iraq veterans--and not chickenhawk cheerleaders here at home.

Jeremy Broussard
Fmr. Captain, U.S. Army

Again, apologies with regard mistakenly noting that you had not served. As you may notice, I commented within 4 minutes that I'd made a mistake and offered up additional comments.

The issue I now have is that Mr. Broussard knows full well that part of any military campaign is propaganda. The Army has used it since the Revolutionary War.

The difference between now and any other military action (with the probable exception of Vietnam) is the press are doing everything in their power to discredit this war and those who are prosecuting it. As a consequence, they've demeaned the good men and women who have served or are serving currently. The press is not giving a balanced assessment of the war.

Worse than that, the MSM is not portraying the war as one step in the wider war against radical Islam and global terror. It is a major portion of that war, and that war will go on for years if not decades.

The American people re-elected Bush knowing full well that we were engaged in Iraq for the foreseeable future. They have spoken and that is democracy in action.

I will link to your site and read it regularly to see what the returning soldiers and Marines are saying. I will also continue to write about what I feel is really happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, with insight from friends who have served in both theaters.

I respect the fact that you served and as one vet to another feel bad that I commented in error. Thanks for serving.