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Headlines : IraqWinter Soldier: Can the Mainstream Media Handle the Truth?
From March 13-16 at the National Labor College just outside of Washington, D.C., veterans from across the country will be standing up to share their experiences. Their stories will show that wrongdoings in Iraq and Afghanistan are not isolated incidents perpetrated by “bad apples.”
“We’ve heard from the politicians, we’ve heard from the generals, we’ve heard from the media – now it’s our turn,” said Kelly Dougherty, executive director of IVAW and a former sergeant in the Colorado Army National Guard, who served in Iraq as a military police officer. “It’s not going to be easy to hear what we have to say. It’s not going to be easy for us to tell it. But we believe that the only way this war is going to end is if the American people truly understand what we have done in their name.”
The event has been named Winter Soldier to honor a similar gathering 30 years ago of veterans of the Vietnam War. Winter soldiers, according to founding father Thomas Paine, are the people who stand up for the soul of their country, even in its darkest hours.
[Posted By Ted]Republished from OpEdNews.com
Media Misteps
The track record of the mainstream media’s efforts to unearth and report the truth about the war in Iraq is shoddy at best. When one considers that this war has been a big money maker for the corporate owned media and its sponsors, the integrity of the reporting – or lack thereof – becomes suspect. Whether the failure to engage in authentic investigative journalism is a result of incompetence or of manipulation, there is little doubt that it contributed to the nightmare that is the Iraq war.
Recently, the Center for Public Integrity exposed 935 false statements made by the Bush administration between October 2001 and August 2003, regarding the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Had any major news outlet in the United States pressed for the truth and exposed just a fraction of those lies, we may very well not be in Iraq today.
Instead of asking leaders the hard questions, the talking heads and pundits engaged in nightly cheerleading to the rhythm of a steady drumbeat with slick graphics, Pentagon-approved experts and mind numbing flag waving.
Five Years Later
Today, we turn on the tube to find those same faces salivating over discussions about whether a presidential candidate’s voice…
Posted by Ted
Former submarine sailor, now a peace warrior. I am 28 years old and currently seeking a Physics and Mechanical Engineering B.S. I am currently enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I serve as the Secretary for IVAW-Madison and am the WI...
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‘I Love the Army But I Can’t Be Quiet Anymore’
thanks Ted.
will you be reporting on these events for GNN?
I will be volunteering as needed so I am not sure exactly what I will have going on during the event. I will try and get a blog up about Friday and one about Saturday.