Posted on 10/17/2004 6:56:37 AM PDT by Phsstpok
The earlier thread about the October Surprise "Mutiny" hit piece on this mornings Today show prompted me to do some Googling to try to see if there were any connections of note. I felt that even the little evidence I found warranted a quick heads up and (forgive me) a separate thread as a call to action. I have no particular standing to do this, but this concerned me enough to fire off a flare.
It looks like the extreme left is orchestrating an October Surprise propaganda campaign against the war in Iraq and President Bush by staging a "mutiny" of reserve troops (appears to be 5 of 'em, when you get down to it) and playing it the way they played Abu Gharib.
First, the basic story. Reports surfaced on Friday, the 15th, that troops in Iraq had refused a "suicide mission" and were under arrest and held in close guard. A small handful of "frantic" family members began reporting "unfair practices" and "unsafe conditions," desperately calling on (the usual suspects) politicians to save their loved ones from cruel fate.
Some excerpts:
Daily News, October 17, 2004:
Calls, E-mails explain troops' alleged mutiny
The military has begun punishing some of the 19 Army reservists who balked at what they called a "suicide mission" and a "death sentence" in Iraq last week.
Some members of the South Carolina-based 343rd Quartermaster Company refused to transport fuel between the Iraqi cities of Tallil and Taji Wednesday morning, saying they had no protection for the dangerous trip.
now here's the kicker from the Daily News piece:
Citizen Soldier, a New York-based, nonprofit military rights group, has offered ... its help.
Citizen Soldier is not a "military rights group." It is a virulently anti-American and anti-Military extreme left front group. Their motto on their web site is: "Prepared to Challenge U.S. Militarism in the New Millenium."
Citizen Soldier also has close ties to John Kerry, as it's director Tod Ensign, was one of the organizers of Kerry's discredited Winter Soldier propaganda event in 1969, along with Jeremy Rifkin. This connection is the one that set off my alarm bells.
I couldn't figure the Mississippi angle till I found this in The Clarion-Ledger of Hattiesberg, Mississippi:
Platoon with Mississippi soldiers defies orders 17 soldiers placed under arrest in Iraq
A 17-member Army Reserve platoon with troops from Jackson and around the Southeast deployed to Iraq is under arrest for refusing a "suicide mission" to deliver fuel, the troops' relatives said Thursday. The soldiers refused an order on Wednesday to go to Taji, Iraq - north of Baghdad - because their vehicles were considered "deadlined" or extremely unsafe, said Patricia McCook of Jackson, wife of Sgt. Larry O. McCook.
and again, buried in the piece, is the clue to the source and spin:
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson said he plans to submit a congressional inquiry today on behalf of the Mississippi soldiers to launch an investigation into whether they are being treated improperly.
Bennie Thompson is one of the more radical members of the Black Caucus. He is a leader in the "fair play for Fidel Castro" movement in Congress. He is often the designated "hit man" in attacking minority members of the Bush Administration, particularly Dr. Condoleezza Rice. He was a rabid Deaniac, but shifted his loyalty to Kerry when Dean fell on his own scream.
The Salon hit piece ties this squarely to the Washington/DNC/Carville slime machine:
The inside story of the Army platoon that refused to carry out a "death sentence" mission.
is by Mary Jocoby, Salon's Washington Correspondent. Jacoby is one of Salon's "reliable" writers who can always be counted on to spew hate at George Bush, in particular, and Republicans in general. She rates Seymour Hersh as a "crack investigative reporter" and has authored anti-Bush hit pieces such as "The Dunce," "George W. Bush's Missing Year" and "Swaggering toward Election Day."
What is truly amazing about these pieces on the "mutiny" is that they appear to have been ready to go before the incident took place. These folks had their stories straight and remarkably consistent in record time, even before the news had reached the regular news cycle on CNN, who jumped on this in record time.
Folks, this is a set up. But it's a set up that, like many of the Kerry camps dirty tricks, they've had to fire off prematurely to try to distract the news media from a Kerry gaffe. Pulling the trigger on this was timed to try and keep the disastrous Mary Cheney attack off of the Sunday morning talk shows. These soldiers are pawns who were told that they would be used to unseat a sitting President (with undoubted hints of vast rewards from a Kerry administration) but they are being sacrificed, just like pushing a pawn, to protect the dims' king.
Bump
--Boot Hill
Well, Im sure that before this is all over the word *racism* will be brought up....Mike has a lot of questions re this story, especially the contaminated fuel aspect...being a senior NCO, he smells something really fishy about this Sgt in question...
I thought it was a little strange that the "prisoners" were being allowed cell phones to call home to request that a "lot of hell" be raised. Just didn't quite ring true to me.
Headlines should read: "Seventeen members of a unit want to come home from Iraq so they .... "
Excellent idea. I will check our local Republican office and see what the status of ours is.
Please do not ping me to this thread again. I don't want any part of what you're doing here. Thank you.
-
Steel Wolf
We are due to go in for 3 days coming up soon. I will also check with them to see what we might do as a longer term project. :)
I apologize if I misunderstood your tagline and over-reacted. Since I wrote the above post I did the wise thing and checked your profile. Thank you for your service.
Um, because this has nothing to do with America hating, and everything to do with silly conspiracy theories that I'm not intersted in entertaining. Rushing to pass judgement on these soldiers without the facts isn't my style. Trying to invent a conspiratorial political angle to it so you can claim a news scoop is self serving and wrong.
They may be guilty, they may not, but no one on this thread knows. If you guys are comfortable calling these guys mutineers, cowards and, in effect, traitors with a fraction of the story, so be it. I'm not.
I can see a number of reasons how this could be something totally routine that's been blown out of proportion by the MSM because of a phone call. I can also see it as a serious, large scale disciplinary problem that needs to be addressed. Either way, I care more about how it affects my Army than how it affects your(pl) new Post 47.
Tagline's from the movie 'Team America'. (It's their theme song, and it may soon become our unit's unofficial theme song). No offense taken.
Ping
Connecting the dots...you did really well. I'd also like to know the communication trail of who these soldiers have been talking too.
Thank you. I can appreciate that and I am glad you took the time to write that...particularly since I did misunderstand your tag and was pretty rude in my response.
Of course you may be right. I hope you are. It is entirely possible (and likely) that the MSM has blown this all out of proportion, in which case they have done a disservice to you and the people involved. It wouldn't be the first time. On the other hand, I do know there are efforts to cause a disruption in the ranks. I thought it was from outside sources but it scared me that it might also be from inside sources. Let's just put it this way....if these soldiers were the source of a disruptive scheme (I pray not) I don't doubt for a moment that they will be relieved of duty for the good of the military and their own safety. It's not likely that dedicated men and women of the military will look kindly on their actions. If they have been used and their actions have been taken out of context or misinterpreted, I know they will have the full and complete support of most FReepers. But you are right. We do not have adequate information to continue speculation about what has happened. Your patient words have helped make that clear. Thank you.
Thanks. I need to see that movie! :)
I had post 190 removed. I should know better then to rush to judgment! :) Sometimes it's best to eat my words! :)
Good deal - please keep me posted
BTW....I am glad you were pinged to this site and I hope you realize that sometimes we need another voice in order to see things as clearly as possible. I hope you are not offended when you are pinged to something you do not agree with. If you take the time to state your views, you may find your words welcomed. :)
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