Top US Generals Outraged, Blast the Washington Post

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.

"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. "My policy is I can't talk about letters until we publish them," he told E&P. "If and when a letter runs, I'd be happy to talk about it."

The letter is signed by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Edmund P. Giambastini, Jr., the vice-chairman, and the four other military branch leaders and it's addressed to the Post's managing editor, Philip Bennett.

The generals said they were "extremely disappointed" in the Toles cartoon. "Using the likeness of a service member who has lost his arms and legs in war as the central theme of a cartoon is beyond tasteless," they wrote.

They observed that the paper is "obviously free to address any topic," even use exaggeration. But they added: "While you or some of your readers may not agree with the war or its conduct, we believe you owe the men and women and their families who so selflessly serve our country the decency to not make light of their tremendous physical sacrifices."

"This is where the news media has sunk to -- in their hatred for Bush and for the military, they publish a horrid cartoon and don't believe they crossed the line," said a former Marine intelligence officer and NYPD detective.

"Anyone who thinks they're getting the truth reading the Washington Post is sadly mistaken -- I expect to see cartoons like [the Toles cartoon] on terrorists' pamphlets!"

Check this s&*t out from E & P

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001956576

President of Cartoonists Association Hails 'Wash Post' for Backing Toles

By Dave Astor

Published: February 02, 2006 1:40 PM ET

NEW YORK Clay Bennett said the Joint Chiefs of Staff have more important things to do than write a letter criticizing a Tom Toles drawing.

"They should be as concerned with the soldiers in the field as they are with a cartoon in The Washington Post," said Bennett, president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), when reached Thursday by E&P. "Maybe they should provide the body armor soldiers need to help avoid the sort of injury shown in the cartoon."

This Sunday's Toles cartoon pictured a quadruple amputee being visited in a hospital by "Dr. Rumsfeld," who says: "I'm listing your condition as 'battle hardened.'" The Joint Chiefs letter, published in Thursday's Post, said Toles was making fun of the soldier, and called his cartoon "reprehensible." Others noted that Toles was actually commenting on Rumsfeld, the state of the Army, and the carnage caused by the Iraq War. The Post has defended running the cartoon.

"It appears they [the Joint Chiefs] interpret cartoons as accurately as they do pre-war intelligence," Bennett said. The Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for The Christian Science Monitor added: "It was a tough cartoon on [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld, but he certainly deserves tough cartoons."

People, said Bennett, can be "purposely obtuse to pick a fight. You can always take a cartoon at face value -- rather than looking at it as a metaphor -- and make it something it's not."

Bennett concluded by praising the Post for backing Toles: "It's great to see a newspaper supporting their cartoonist under this kind of pressure. A lot of papers would have buckled under far less pressure."

Toles' cartoons are distributed by Universal Press Syndicate, while Bennett's work is syndicated by The Christian Science Monitor News Service.

And this...

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001955937

UPDATE: 'Wash Post' Defends Toles Cartoon That Drew Angry Protest Letter from Joint Chiefs
Photo by Julia Ewan/The Washington Post
Tom Toles' editorial cartoon runs in about 200 newspapers.

By Joe Strupp, Dave Astor and Greg Mitchell

Published: February 01, 2006 4:25 PM ET updated Thursday

NEW YORK A Tom Toles editorial cartoon published in The Washington Post on Monday and on its Web site has drawn a very rare and very strong protest letter to the editors from all six members of The Joint Chiefs of Staff, E&P learned Wednesday.

The letter was published in the Post on Thursday, along with a separate column by Howard Kurtz in which Toles, and Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt, responded. Hiatt said, "While I certainly can understand the strong feelings, I took it to be a cartoon about the state of the Army and not one intended to demean wounded soldiers." He added that he doesn't "censor Tom."

Kurtz also quoted Dave Autry, deputy communications director for Disabled American Veterans, saying he was "certainly not" offended by the cartoon.

The letter, written on Tuesday, 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."

A Pentagon spokeswoman confirmed the contents of the letter to E&P on Wednesday afternoon. That the newspaper had received such a letter was reported on the popular AmericaBlog site, which is run by John Aravosis, this morning.
Download a copy of the letter (PDF)

The spokeswoman 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. "It was expressing their disappointment with the paper and outrage at using that image to make a political point," said Lt. Col. Diane Battaglia.

Reached by E&P, Tom Toles said, "no comment." But he told Kurtz he did not regret what he drew.

The Toles cartoon shows a soldier, a quadruple amputee, 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."

Talking to Kurtz, Toles cited recent remarks by Rumsfeld about "battle-hardened" troops and "what came soon to mind was the catastrophic level of injuries the Army and members of the armed services have sustained . . . I thought my portrayal of it was a fair depiction of the reality of the situation. I certainly never intended it to be in any way a personal attack on, or a derogatory comment on, the service or sacrifice of American soldiers."

As for the Joint Chiefs' letter, he said: "I think it's a little bit unfair in their reading of the cartoon to imply that is what it's about."

The letter, signed by Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Edmund P. Giambastini, Jr., the vice-chairman, and the four other military branch leaders -- and addressed to the Post's managing editor, Philip Bennett -- reveals that they were "extremely disappointed" in the Toles cartoon. "Using the likeness of a service member who has lost his arms and legs in war as the central theme of a cartoon is beyond tasteless," they wrote.

They observed that the paper is "obviously free to address any topic," even use exaggeration. But they added: "While you or some of your readers may not agree with the war or its conduct, we believe you owe the men and women and their families who so selflessly serve our country the decency to not make light of their tremendous physical sacrifices."

Hiatt, The Post's editorial page editor, told Kurtz "a cartoonist works best if he or she doesn't feel there's someone breathing over their shoulder." He explained that he comments on drafts of cartoons but Toles is free to ignore them.

Aravosis from AmericaBlog told E&P: "Now that the Joint Chiefs have addressed the insidious threat cartoons pose to our troops, perhaps they can move on to less pressing issues like getting them their damn body armor."
Joe Strupp, Dave Astor and Greg Mitchell (letters@editorandpublisher.com)

Yes. The First Amendment is applicable. But that does NOT mean we should allow a "Newspaper of Record" to employ someone who would author such a dishonorable, hateful and insensitive cartoon.

If you don't care about this, that's okay. It is YOUR First Amendment right to do so, and I respect your RIGHT not to care.

I care. I am starting a letter writing campaign to make this guy earn his living writing political cartoons for the small town paper that gets published twice a week.

Yes, I am angry about it. Here is the letter I just mailed to the Washington Post. I suggest everyone do the same. I am going to find out who the parent company is (if any) and who the affiliates are who may post cartoons by this person.

Mr. Philip Bennett
Managing Editor, The Washington Post
1150 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20071

To The Editor of the Washington Post:

I saw cartoon drawn by Tom Toles portraying a wounded, amputee in a hospital bed. I am completely outraged. I understand this is First Amendment material. People are free to say what they like as long as it does not endanger others. But this is indicative of a total lack of decency.

This person (and I use the phrase so loosely to describe someone who would pen such an unthinking, hurtful, inconsiderate, malicious "cartoon") who authored this “cartoon” obviously detests the military. His distaste for them and everything they stand for is evident in this work.

The military, in general, tries to inculcate loyalty, dedication, maturity, work ethic, respect, honor, pride, consideration and thoughtfulness. (Having been in the military, and grown up as the son of a 30-year Naval veteran who now rests in Arlington, I know that this is what the military tries to do. It doesn't always produce the desired result or level of result, but the effort is there)

The person that drew this cartoon, protected by THE LIBERTIES THAT OUR MILITARY FIGHTS, BLEEDS AND DIES FOR, has taken this opportunity to use a horribly wounded military person as a PROP to make a petty partisan political point.

A man, in a bed, with NO ARMS AND LEGS, who, at that stage, cannot feed himself, relieve himself, bathe himself, dress himself, walk, read a book on his own, change a television channel, pick up a phone, use a computer, hug his loved ones or any other number of things the rest of us, including this despicable excuse for a human being who authored this cartoon, take for granted. He has taken the liberty to shower disrespect on the sacrifice that many of our military personnel have suffered, using them as a tool in order to take a passing swipe at political policy he disagrees with.

As a condition for maintaining a continued relationship with your newspaper, I would like to suggest two things that would satisfy me as a reader:

First, require Tom Toles to spend a weekend at Walter Reed Hospital, helping care for the wounded men, particularly those in the Amputee Ward. He should be tasked with feeding them, helping them relieve themselves, and doing any small task they are unable to do for themselves.

Secondly, I ask you to request a sincere, public apology from Tom Toles, which if obtained, should be published prominently in your paper. Barring a public apology, any relationship with this person should be severed.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.