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Troops returning from Iraq are shocked to find Americans so pessimistic about Iraq
National Public Radio ^ | July 21, 2004 | Mark Bowden

Posted on 07/21/2004 7:36:55 PM PDT by usmc1775

Commentator Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down, says American troops returning from Iraq are surprised to find such a pessimistic view of the war in the media.

(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: foreignpolicy; iraq; markbowden; mediabias; npr; oifveterans

1 posted on 07/21/2004 7:36:58 PM PDT by usmc1775
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To: usmc1775
They're too young to grasp the real goal of the media....but something tells me that these "kids" will pop wise really quick.

The pendulum will continue to swing the other way. These returning vets will just add to the piling-on that is building as America wakes up to the Rather/Blokaw/Jennings agenda.

2 posted on 07/21/2004 7:41:18 PM PDT by ErnBatavia ("Dork"; a 60's term for a 60's kinda guy: JFK)
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To: ErnBatavia

don't count on that. very few minds are being changed at the macro level.

the best thing these returning troops can do is work at the grass roots level - talking to people they know or can come in contact with, and try to dispel the lies, one person at a time.

this election is going to be won from the bottom up, not the top down. there is no top down "wake up" coming en masse to americans as a whole.


3 posted on 07/21/2004 7:45:24 PM PDT by oceanview
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To: ErnBatavia

The pendulum will continue to swing the other way. These returning vets will just add to the piling-on that is building as America wakes up to the Rather/Blokaw/Jennings agenda.


Not to mention the hollywierd and ny idiots, that keep blowing off steam. Keep it up stupidos.............we hate you as much as you hate us! Keep on going over the top in your slanders and see what happens.


4 posted on 07/21/2004 7:50:57 PM PDT by Ethyl (,)
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: usmc1775

Best thing that you all can do is provide them with ways to talk to the public.


Maybe there is something Freepers can do in this area. Many of you are experts in getting your voices heard.


6 posted on 07/21/2004 8:17:07 PM PDT by gilliam
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To: usmc1775

being against the war is one thing. fine. but those "nothing accomplished" stickers are the most disgusting, disrespectful, troop hating things I have ever seen...

my buddy just got home from Iraq and had no IDEA the sentiment was like this. he said the insurgents are a minute part of the population and that they're not even usually iraqi to begin with...


7 posted on 07/21/2004 8:24:13 PM PDT by usmc1775
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To: usmc1775

Tell your buddy that most of us our damn proud of the job they've done on behalf of the rest of the world...whether the "pin-heads" out there realize what's going on or not!!

God Bless Our Troops!!!!!!!


8 posted on 07/21/2004 8:34:13 PM PDT by FlashBack (Faith will not make our path easy, but it will give us strength for the Journey.)
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To: usmc1775
..."nothing accomplished" stickers

Over here they have "CNN Lies" bumper stickers.

9 posted on 07/21/2004 8:42:45 PM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: crusherandbruiser

I was in the First Marine Regiment when we went in and took back the city of Hue from the Communists during the Tet Offensive. It was a classic military action and we kicked the shit out of the commies, no two ways about it. They got the city in the first place by violating a truce that their lying scumbag leadership agreed to.

Walter Cronkite, praised (by leftist swine) be his almighty name, came to Hue after it was safe enough for Shirley Temple to have danced in the streets. He walked by a pile of captured weapons the size of a railroad car and didn't notice this highly visible evidence of our success. He showed no interest in the emerging evidence of a massacre of several thousand Hue residents by the communists, and he came back to make pessimistic commentaries which were totally out of line with the reality of Tet-- a huge defeat for the commies. The faithful soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen serving in Iraq seem to be getting served the same ration of bullshit that we were. Peter Braestrup wrote a fine exposure of press bias and inaccuracies during Vietnam; doubtless some honest reporters are noticing what is going on now. If you see a reporter, kick the son-of-a bitch in the nuts. If it's a media cutie pie, try to steal her contact lenses so she can't read the tripe that is fed to her to broadcast.

And didn't the friggin commies do a magnificent job once the media won the war for the bastards? Millions of exiles,
and economy that is worse off after their many years of rule than it ever was in the history of Vietnam.

Anyone the American news media backs against its own troops will screw up whatever they gain control of. The liberal media suffers from perpetual wistful thinking. Liberal media is God's curse on America for having low standards of admission to journalism schools and law schools. There used to be a saying, "those who can, do; those who can't teach." The modern version is "those who can, do; those who can't report."


10 posted on 07/21/2004 8:56:21 PM PDT by mathurine
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To: usmc1775

Would you post the whole article, please?

I'd do it, but my Netscape 4.7 doesn't show the article.

NPR hasn't hit the "excerpt only" list.


11 posted on 07/21/2004 8:57:29 PM PDT by secretagent
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To: crusherandbruiser

"Karl Rove has just waited too long to generate any kind of mass "awakening" . . ."

I disagree completely. The only people paying attention now to the campaign are real political junkies, most of whom never needed any sort of campaign at all to know who to vote for (what I mean is, are the Dems actually going to nominate someone that I'm going to prefer to Bush? Impossible.) After the conventions, when we hit the debates, is the time to really crank things up. The absolute worst thing you can do in a political campaign is peak too soon-- remember, the only poll that counts is the one that is taken on election day.

The attention span of the American public is appallingly short-- even my educated friends often forget stuff that happened a few months ago if it didn't affect them personally. The general public's attention span is far shorter even than that.


12 posted on 07/21/2004 9:04:14 PM PDT by walden
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