Posted on 02/02/2006 5:20:04 AM PST by RepublicNewbie
In an unprecedented move, the nation's top military officers blasted the editors of the Washington Post and editorial cartoonist Tom Toles for an editorial cartoon published in the newspaper on Monday and on its website.
The letter to the Post editors charges that the six military leaders "believe you and Mr. Toles have done a disservice to your readers and your paper's reputation by using such a callous depiction of those who have volunteered to defend this nation, and as a result, have suffered traumatic and life-altering wounds. ... As the Joint Chiefs, it is rare that we all put our hand to one letter, but we cannot let this reprehensible cartoon go unanswered."
The Toles cartoon shows a soldier, a quadriplegic, in a hospital, being visited by a Dr. Rumsfeld who is scribbling on a form. Rumsfeld says, "I am listing your condition as battle hardened." At the bottom a smaller figure of the doctor adds, "I'm prescribing that you be stretched thin. We don't define that as torture."
According to Editor & Publisher, a spokeswoman from the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said a letter from all six joint chiefs to anyone, let alone a newspaper, is rare, but the cartoon so offended them, they wanted to let their feelings be known. Continue reading this article below
"It was expressing their disappointment with the paper and outrage at using that image to make a political point," said Lt. Col. Diane Battaglia. "That is a rare occurrence, but the level of inappropriateness prompted a response of unanimous support."
Battaglia said Post editors told her office that the letter would be published in Thursday's paper. Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt declined to comment on the letter...
(Excerpt) Read more at postchronicle.com ...
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Now if we can just apply a 2000 lb. JDAM to this problem.
The generals should have just kept mum for the time being and let veterans rip the paper for this. They just bolster the "elitism" canard by jumping in this quick.
Good for the Joint Chiefs, and shame on The Washington Post.
Just more of the same old disgusting Lamestream Media, who are nothing more than handmaidens to the Howard Dean's Democratic Party.
This will do what every rag wants: Boost their circulation.
They sell themselves like streetwalkers.
Its good to see real men and maturity on display for once.
The elitist NY media look like fools, all cozy in their Manhattan salons, mocking soldiers.
there has been waaaaaaaaaay too much "sit and wait" done in this admin
I, for one, heartily applaud their action.
It would have been more suitable to just point out for the umpteenth time that the forces of the Army (and other services) are by some awesomely high percentage still intact, that the carnage in this war scarcely holds a candle to what was seen in Vietnam, Korea, or even worse, the World Wars. The point of the cartoon was that supposedly the forces are suffering badly (look at the declining chart at the foot of the bed).
MOAB would be better.
I mean veterans without mucho scrambled eggs. An appeal to the proletariat is best answered by said "proletariat."
I'd cancel my subscription if I hadn't already done so three years ago.
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