Darryl Sharratt, Haditha Marine dad, on Front Line tonight at 10 EST [Listen later at the link]

The Front Line ^ | June 20, 2007 | Kit Jarrell

[RedRover]

Sure did! Do you know Gary Gross?

[jazusamo]

No I hadn’t heard of him till today but checked out his blog from the link posted here and didn’t even know his name until the show tonight.

[RedRover]

Did you hear if they put in a plug for Don Dinsmore’s West Coast “No Man Left Behind Ride”?

[freema]

Yes.

[freema]

They covered a lot of ground.

[freema]

I’m turning in, fellas. Love ya.

[jazusamo]

I don’t remember one but I missed a few minutes. Darryl did mention the PGR.

[jazusamo]

G’Night, Ma. :-)

[RedRover]

Love ya, too, ma. Don’t let the murthas bite.

[RedRover]

What’s the PGR?

[jazusamo]

Patriot Guard Riders. I believe some of them will go on his ride, at least part way.

[Defend Our Marine]

I had a plea that I wanted to read at the closing of Kit’s show but we ran out of time. I apologize for using FR as the forum for this plea, but it has to be presented.
So here goes
The fight has just begun for Our Haditha Marines. They fought for their lives on the battlefields in Iraq. Now they are fighting for their FREEDOM in the courtrooms of America.
We have witnessed the difference a strong and motivated defense can make in a military courtroom. Gary Meyers, James Culp, Dan Conway and Lt Col Brian Cosgrove made that difference. A difference YOU, the American people helped fund. Your contributions to the Haditha Marine Defense Fund helped provide my son, L/Cpl Justin Sharratt with the best defense possible.
We, the Haditha Marine families are pleading to the American people to continue to help with the fight to exonerate Our Haditha Marines. Tim Harrington, Kit Jarell, Gary Gross and an unknown caller(unlnown to me) have laid out some means by which we can accomplish this. Ask your friends, ask your neighbors, ask your relatives to help with the fight to exonerate these Marines.
It will make you proud. They could, when we couldn’t. They did, where we didn’t.

God Bless Our Haditha Marines
Darryl Sharratt

[RedRover]

Thanks, Darryl! I’ll listen back the show and post a new thread tomorrow with your message.

Night, pal.

[PGalt]

America’s finest. BTTT! (thank for the ping, Race.)

[Eagles6]

Just got on and missed it. I’ll listen tomorrow. Don’t apologize for using FR, I’m sure the Grand Fromage doesn’t mind.
Hell, just think, if it weren’t for Free Republic nobody would know what happened in Haditha.
I thought the commies and the America haters couldn’t do to our warriors today, what they did to the Vietnam Vets. Too much information, I thought, with the internet and all. Now I realize that a third of the people in this country hate the America that we love and those that defend it, a third doesn’t care as long as the easy ride continues and only a third actually give a rat’s behind about what America means. Yeah, not an original idea but valid.
Well, anyhow the truth is now out and try puttin’ those cats back in the burlap sack.

[freema]

I thought the commies and the America haters couldn’t do to our warriors today, what they did to the Vietnam Vets.

Pardon me while I shamelessly remember Tonk. We met because of one of the veterans who worked tirelessly to protect this country from an America hater from the past. Unknown to both Tonk and I, each had taken a vow, he to protect the past and I to protect the present veterans from America haters.

I VOW
to the 58,000 + Brothers and Sisters
on
The Viet Nam Wall
who never came home
and to those who died at home
from injuries and from broken hearts.
I will do everything I LEGALLY can to expose Hanoi Kerry once and for all.
I will not tire,
I will not falter,
and I will not fail.
I solemnly vow to do all I can
to restore your honor
until
I give
my last breath on earth.
Thank you, Lew.

[RedRover]

Thank you, ma.

[RedRover]

From The Stategy Page...

How To Fool The Media

June 21, 2007

Recent developments in the Haditha case (Marines accused of murdering civilians in Iraq) not only show how easily the media can get things wrong, but it also exposes how al Qaeda is taking a new approach to asymmetric warfare. In essence, the controversy over the events in Haditha was a more refined attack than the claims after the 2002 Battle of Jenin. And, despite claims from certain politicians, there was no cover-up attempted. Now, some of the charges have been dismissed, others are in doubt, and it is beginning to look like the accusations of a massacre may be untrue.

Al Qaeda faces the same problem that the Palestinian terrorists at Jenin faced in 2002. They are unable to win in a straight fight with troops that are highly trained and motivated. American and Israeli troops tend to be among the best in the world on a soldier-for-soldier basis. All the terrorists really could do was to try to make the Americans (or Israelis, as the case could be) look bad. Sometimes, this involves exacting a high price on the attacking force. More often, it involves creating the impression that the American or Israeli troops are indiscriminate killers who routinely slaughter civilians. This not only weakens the resolve of the populations in the West, it also will help generate new recruits for the terrorists.

In the case of Jenin, the Palestinians claimed that hundreds had been killed in a massacre. The resulting investigations from the United Nations found no evidence of a massacre involving hundreds (as claimed by various reports from Palestinian sources and echoed by human rights groups and the press). Instead, the total number of casualties was set at 52, of which only 22 were confirmed as civilians. That said, the Palestinian media campaign largely succeeded. The claims of a massacre got front-page coverage – the corrections got much less exposure, and much of the notice of the facts came from blogs.

Hezbollah took the same approach in the brief 2006 war with Israel. They were much clumsier, though, and their media manipulation efforts were outed in the blogosphere. One free-lancer who did work for Reuters was revealed to have doctored his photos. This was a huge black eye for the Iranian-sponsored terrorist organization.

It is now apparent that the Haditha media manipulation was much more successful. In this case, the media effort was helped out through the fact that the aftermath was mishandled. The initial Haditha investigations uncovered some apparent discrepancies in the Marines' stories, and a criminal investigation by NCIS was launched. NCIS filed criminal charges, and internal investigations showed that officers failed to ask the right questions.

In essence, terrorists have employed a media strategy. This strategy is not intended to target the troops – or to cause damage, although that is welcomed. The strategy is instead to convince the media – and the politicians through the media – that the war on terror is a lost cause, with the United States and its allies doing nothing but losing men and equipment for no gain. Worse, these efforts will make future attacks inevitable as terrorists seek to avenge massacres that never happened.

– Harold C. Hutchison (haroldc.hutchison@gmail.com)

[RedRover]

I’m going to try and get an update from Don before he sets out.

Sounds like it may start small in Washington but pick up a lot of riders by the time they get south of LA.

I’m hoping Don can e-mail pics from the road.

[jazusamo]

Thanks for posting that, Ma.

God Bless Tonk and his family.