[finasteridonline]

Isn't this kind of like getting upset about the fact that war includes shooting the enemy until they die?

Is Lessica Lych a hero or not (as in just an ordinary soldier) is debatable. I don't think this is an important question at all. She got captured, she got released. In some general sense she's a hero for serving, period.

However, the notion that there is no propaganda or certain images people want you to have when it comes to war and your side in it, it's extremely trivial. The most important propaganda is done on your own people. That is to keep your spirits up, your enemy the bad one, and to support the support. When people get caught doing it, is this bad, is this somehow condemnable? I don't think so, because simply this happens all the time. So no, I don't think it's such a big deal. People need hero stories, so you need to look for them and you can always beef up some story to make it a bigger one.

In short, I don't know what the problem here is.

[konanoileaski]

Originally posted by Thue
Unlike Pekka, I do see the problem with lying. Well someone did lie to a man's family about the manner of his death in order to spare themselves emberassment. That does deserve some scorn at least.

[provigil]

Yeah, lying to the family of the fallen soldier is pretty low.

[rozneesitcn]

Rufus, the story itself says that noone knows what the Bush admin knew and when they knew it. So your conclusion that they lied is a bit premature.

[Lidawka]

OK, but I also think the higher-ups may have just been supporting the troops.

But, if I were Bush, I'd certainly like to see some heads roll if he or Rummy were lied to. His lack of action in this regard is telling indeed.

[DevaRextusidis]

Hmm government using propaganda during war time, what a novel concept.
This has been happening since the dawn of time.
I'm sure every World War II movie (that was made during or right after the war) were 100% accurate.
The governement reviewed and sanctioned almost all of them. Hell, look at the propaganda that was in bugs bunny cartoon during the wartime.

The only difference is that, in general, WWII was a more popular war. (maybe because of all the propaganda)

So as far as I'm concerned people that are over reacting to this really are just using it as another excuse to bash the administration.

[lymnCymment]

Originally posted by Arrian
Yet, when one suggests that something the Admin or pro-admin groups say might be propoganda, one is labeled traitor.

Then, when it comes out that it *was* propoganda, it's all "well, duh, it's wartime, propoganda is normal."



-Arrian Of course. It's ALL propaganda, even when the war is over.

[vipdumpp]

Originally posted by Arrian
The war is going to end? YOU TRAITOR!

-Arrian Mission Accomplished

[CoallyPax]

rah's a commie

[Foucceedo]

I take it Rufus never watched Flags of Our Fathers...

[VIAGRA-VIAGRA]

Howdy, Emperor Palpatine.

-Arrian

[kanchouska]

Ok, enough with Mission Accomplished. Regardless of who you believe about what was meant by that, there is no ****ing way that it caused anything, other than embarrassment of the Admin.

The other things were real errors (including going in in the first place).

Reasonable people can still believe that we have to stick it out, having made a mess of things. I am quite pessimistic about that, given that I think things are too far gone now (and our government is still incompetant), but it's not crazy talk to think that it would be irresponsible to pull out now.

-Arrian

[nitivearchit]

Ok. If you're talking about a general mindset in the Admin, then I agree. The mindset of "it'll be easy, we don't need to plan!" was certainly detrimental.

-Arrian

[Opislossy]

Originally posted by Patroklos
You know, the police normally don't tell a murder victims family all the details either.

Sparing a family the details and letting them believe that their loved one fell as a hero is as old as war and militaries themselves. How many parents during D-day got a message saying their son died before he got out of the boat? Or that he drowned because his amphibious tank wasn't so amphibious? Or the opening artillery barrage had a few defective rounds that fell short?

Grow up. And I am still not sure why people thing the Prez and the SecDef have an omniciet knowledge of the actions of 5+ million military personel. Most of you probobly don't know what your kids did last night. Well I know why, its so they can *****. Like yeah, this wasn't cherrypicked by professional communicators.

[AnneseeKels]

Aren't you supposed to be Conforming or something?



-Arrian

[refsherne]

You can come down now, this is old news.

[discountviagraman]

I'm just conforming to the notion that just because something was done in WWII doesn't mean it was good.

Everything the Allies did in WWII was good. Everything the Axis and Sweden did in WWII was bad.

[emexiagog]

I didn't see you guys condemning Sweden, though. That's the important part...

[Joesred]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
I didn't see you guys condemning Sweden, though. That's the important part... How could we have forgotten?

-Arrian

[inhitoemits]

Originally posted by Patroklos
Grow up. And I am still not sure why people thing the Prez and the SecDef have an omniciet knowledge of the actions of 5+ million military personel. Most of you probobly don't know what your kids did last night. Well I know why, its so they can *****. Let me tell you the story of Cpl. Dan Smith. Cpl Smith was a punk-ass 19-year-old Marine when his ship docked for a few days in the Philippines. One night, on a Cinderella Liberty, Cpl Smith and his buddies went out drinking and picked up some lovely, drunken Filipinas. As midnight neared, the Marines piled into theri rented van, and Cpl Smith took his lovely, drunken companion with him. In the van, they had sex, with his companions watching. They then dumped the lovely Filipina in theh road and raced back to their ship.

The next day, Smith found himself charged with rape.

This case was part of my portfolio when I worked in the Phils. And in spite of the fact that Smith was just one insignificant Marine, not even serving in either of the two wars the administration was waging, I know for a fact that Rice and Rumsfeld were being briefed on the Smith case. So am I to believe that they were following this hapless loser's case, but were ignorant of the nature of the Lynch and Tillman cases, when these two had been turned into poster children? Now who needs to grow up?

Obviously, wartime administrations engage in propoganda. But this isn't Flag of our Fathers, where real heroism is being exploited for political gain. Instead, heroism is being manufactured, and families lied to in the process.

It is, in the end, probably a small matter. But its very smallness is the point: no matter is too inconsequential to be untainteed by the sheer shabbiness of the Bushies.