Democrats try to quash troops' terror-war ads

[Soldier4Christ]

See video of spot rejected by TV station because it criticizes mainstream media
Posted: February 21, 2006

Democrats have launched a campaign against television ads featuring U.S. servicemen and families of slain troops who support the war in Iraq, calling the spots false and "un-American."

The first of two ads, which are being tested in Minnesota, was rejected by St. Paul station KSTP because it criticizes the mainstream media. It includes Staff Sgt. Marcellus Wilks of Iowa, Capt. Mark Weber of Iowa and Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson of Minnesota.

In the 60-second spot, which can be viewed http://www.midwestheroes.com/docs/video/]here] http://www.midwestheroes.com/docs/video/, Stephenson, a Marine reservist, says:

    "You'd never know it from the news reports, but our enemy in Iraq is al-Qaida, the same terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on 9-11, the same terrorists from the first World Trade Center bombing, the USS Cole, Madrid, London and many more."

Stephenson, who spent five months in Iraq, said in an interview the ad is a chance to show the other side, as Americans hear mostly about death tolls, security problems and other negative aspects of war, the Associated Press reported.

"The mainstream media has a message about the war in Iraq that perhaps isn't shared by a lot of people involved in the military," he said. "Some folks that haven't had a different perspective on the war on terror will have this perspective added to the mix."

The ads were funded by the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Progress for America, which says it's comitted to "forcing the media to report the facts about President Bush's commonsense conservative agenda" and "setting the record straight about liberal groups like Moveon.org, AARP & the unions."

The newest ad features Merrilee Carlson of St. Paul, whose son Michael was killed in Iraq last year. This past Memorial Day, the Wall Street Journal published her son's "credo," titled "An American Soldier."

Michael Carlson wrote:

    "When I am on my deathbed, what am I going to look back on? Will it be thirty years of fighting crime and protecting the country of all enemies, foreign and domestic? I want my life to account for something. ... I only have so much time. I want to be good at life; I want to be known as the best of the best at my job. I want people to need me, to count on me. ... I want to fight for something, be part of something that is greater than myself. I want to be a soldier. ... "

Carlson, 22, was killed on a mission to take out two bomb-making factories.

His mother says in the ad:

    "We are privileged to have men and women serving in the military who are willing to give their lives, their time, and their energy to preserve, protect and defend our freedom.

    "We can't leave this work undone in Iraq. We can all argue about how we might have gotten there. But we're there and we need to see it through. ... I suppose we could have taken the beaches at Normandy and then decided it was too expensive or too difficult to keep going. I wonder what the world would look like today."

"Swift-boating' the war

Last Thursday, top Democratic leaders in Minnesota demanded television stations in the state stop airing the initial ad, calling it "un-American, untruthful and a lie," noted the Minnesota-based weblog Powerline.

"There is a line that shouldn't be crossed," said Brian Melendez of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, or DFL as the Democratic Party is known in the state. "There's room for a lot of puffery in politics. You know, there is room for spin, there is room for opinion, there is room for disagreement. There shouldn't be so much room for lies. And this ad is about lies."

Powerline reported the DFL sent out an e-mail message, saying, "The ads erroneously make a connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorists attacks and suggest that the war in Iraq will prevent an attack by Al Queda in America. The 9/11 Commission findings clearly state that there was no connection between Iraq and the the [sic] Al Queda terrorists attacks on 9/11. We must call for media responsibility regarding this issue."

But the ad does not refer to the contentious claim that Iraq was connected to 9-11, alluding only to the fact that the coalition's No. 1 enemy in the country is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of the terrorist group known as Al-Qaida's Jihad Committee in Iraq.

The Democrat's letter says the party has "extraordinary sympathy for our troops and their families and believe that while our soldiers' role is to protect the citizens of our country, it is our role as citizens to protect our soldiers and to make certain that they are not misused. It is a travesty that the tragedies of five countries and the deaths of our brave men and women are being used in this type of propaganda."

Noting that Minnesota is a testing ground for the ads, the e-mail says, "If Minnesota speaks out and says no to this ad, the entire country can thank us. What we do here, now, will have an enormous impact on the success or failure of this kind of swiftboating in 06."

At a press conference, Melendez declared Minnesota "has a chance to take a stand against this misleading and untruthful propaganda," the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

"Minnesota TV stations should pull this ad and send a message that we will not tolerate this kind of 'swift-boating' anymore."

[Soldier4Christ]

An American Soldier
"I want to be remembered for the things I accomplished."

BY MICHAEL C. CARLSON
Monday, May 30, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

(Editor's note: Sgt. Carlson, of St. Paul, Minn., was killed on Jan. 24, 2005, when his Bradley fighting vehicle overturned in Mohammed Sacran, Iraq. He was 22. This is adapted from a "credo paper" he wrote in 12th grade, on May 11, 2000.)

I was born in Wisconsin. We lived in a town called Webster, on a road called Lavern Lane. Since then many things have changed, but many more remain the same. We no longer live in the country, we only go to church once or twice a year, and we no longer struggle to make ends meet. Today we live in the city, but we still have a JunkYard, my dad still works 16 hours a day, everyday. Today I am a man not a seven-year-old child. There are still cars everywhere. We own over 90. About 20 of them still run and 12 of those we store in the city. No we don't have a parking lot. What we do is borrow our neighbors unused stalls for fixing their cars and doing other little things for them.

I admire my Father more than any other person on this planet, not for being a mechanic, not for being a tough guy. I admire my father for his ambition. For 30 years he has gone to work everyday, for 30 years he has come home, gone to the garage and worked 10 more hours. I don't know how he does it but I do know why. He does it for us. He wants my brother and me to have everything we need and most of what we want. Lots of people say that the best way to learn is by the example of others. Well, then I have one of the best teachers there is on how to be a man, how to treat others, and the work ethic. I mean he is not perfect by any means but is anyone really perfect! I think that he is pretty close.

Sometimes I wonder if my dad ever thought of college. I wonder if he's happy. I sometimes even feel sorry for him. What I mean by that is that I look at him and see a guy that has spent his entire life working. That is what he does. He works. If my mom never brought up the idea of a vacation he would never think twice. He would work to the day he died. I love hard work, but how do you go to the same dead end job everyday knowing that you will be doing it forever.

Every now and then someone that had my dad fix their car will stop by and need something, and every time I talk to them they start talking about my dad's work. They compliment him on paint jobs he did 20 years ago that still look like they are brand new. That reminds me of another trait I have taken from my dad besides my hard work ethic. "If you are going to do a job, do it right the first time, because a job not done well is a job not worth doing," so the saying goes. I take that personally. If someone has an honest complaint about my workmanship, I will bend over backwards to make it right. If people are going to pay you good money to do something then you had better do a darn good job. That is why I usually work alone, then, if there is a problem I know whom I can blame.

My dad hasn't taught me everything though, a lot of it I have learned on my own too. I still got a lot to learn still, but I have figured out things like how to deal with people you don't like or those that don't like you. I also learned why when cutting a frozen bagel you cut away from yourself, I got the scar to prove it. My dad calls this type of learning "the school of hard knocks." Some of the knocks are harder than others.

I love sports. I love football, wrestling, weight lifting, skiing and hockey. I love the thrill of competition, the roar of the crowds, the agony on the faces of your opponents as the final seconds tick off the clock. However, I don't want to do it as a profession. I think it would be fun for a while then it would get boring. I guess the point that I am trying to make is that when I am on my deathbed what am I going to look back on? Will it be 30 years of playing a game that in reality means nothing, or will it be 30 years of fighting crime and protecting the country from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

I want my life to account for something more than just a game. In life there are no winners, everyone eventually loses their life. I only have so much time; I can't waste it with a game. I don't want those close to me to look at me and tell me that I was good at a game. I want to be good at life; I want to be known as the best of the best at my job. I want people to need me, to count on me. I am never late; I am either on time or early. I want to help people. I want to fight for something, be part of something that is greater than myself. I want to be a soldier or something of that caliber, maybe a cop or a secret service agent.

I want to live forever; the only way that one could possibly achieve it in this day and age is to live on in those you have affected. I want to carve out a niche for myself in the history books. I want to be remembered for the things I accomplished. I sometimes dream of being a soldier in a war. In this war I am helping to liberate people from oppression. In the end there is a big parade and a monument built to immortalize us in stone. Other times I envision being a man you see out of the corner of your eye, dressed in black fatigues, entering a building full of terrorists. After everything is completed I slip out the back only to repeat this the next time l am called. I might not be remembered in that scenario, but I will have helped people.

I guess what I want most of all is to be a part of the real world, not an entertainer. I want to have an essential role in the big picture. I want adventure, challenge, danger, and most of all I don't want to be behind a counter or desk. Maybe when I am a 100 years old I will slow down and relax. Till then, I have better things to do.

[nChrist]

Pastor Roger,

I can certainly understand why the mainstream news media is scared to death that the American people will find out about all the liberal garbage they have been fed for years. Me, I would love for the American people to know that the mainstream news media has chosen to ONLY report what serves their liberal agenda. For whatever reason, love of country, patriotism, duty, and honor just don't fit their agenda right now. That's why you never hear about all of the positive things being done around the world by our Armed Services. All you hear is the negative, and there is a reason for that.

Is it a massive conspiracy by the mainstream news media? YES!, it certainly is, and that's a fact that's really pretty easy for each individual to learn. This fact is not based on one incident or a group of incidents, rather years of incidents that painfully prove this fact. The American public is supposed to believe only what the mainstream news media wants us to believe. The so-called intellectual elites think that the American public is dumb enough to believe whatever they feed us. The real news is that we are much more intelligent than they thought. Their agenda of lies and misinformation is unraveling as we speak. They will not be able to stop the TRUTH, and they will be EXPOSED. They need to be exposed, along with the money people and the politicians behind them and with them. I, for one, am ready for the PUBLIC EXPOSURE. I also think it is past time to TRY some in the news media and Congress for TREASON!

I'm too shy on this subject. I'll do the best I can to come out of my shell and say what's on my mind.

Love In Christ,
Tom

1 Timothy 6:12 NASB  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

[Shammu]

I'm too shy on this subject. I'll do the best I can to come out of my shell and say what's on my mind.

ROFL!! 

[Soldier4Christ]

I'm too shy on this subject. I'll do the best I can to come out of my shell and say what's on my mind.

ROFL  ......   I must echo DW's sentiment here. If you haven't come out of your shell yet Brother Tom please do. The news media and Congress can sure use it.

 

[Soldier4Christ]

Bob Stephenson: I appeared in that ad to help spread the truth; Such commercials are needed when media won't acknowledge the progress in Iraq.
February 20, 2006
Minneapolis Star Tribune

By Bob Stephenson

As a Marine who served at a forward operating base in Iraq, I was discouraged to read Nick Coleman's misleading column about an ad supporting the War on Terror that I appeared in ("Troops back from Iraq being deployed on the front lines of spin war," Feb. 11).

Every day, we see reports of terrorist attacks, wounded soldiers and kidnapped journalists. If I hadn't been there myself, I would guess that the whole operation has been a failure. Nothing could be further from the truth, and if an advertisement is the only way to get that point across, then so be it.

While car bombings might make for exciting news, they do not encompass the broad reality of our efforts in Iraq. Our soldiers are busy rebuilding schools, bridges and infrastructure. They are paving the way for democracy in an extremely oppressive region. And I can assure you that America's fighting men and women are pleased with our incredible progress and willing to see their mission through in the Middle East.

I volunteered to go to Iraq in October 2004 because, as a 20-year Marine, I felt that was my duty. To be honest, I wasn't sure what I would find upon arrival. What I saw there is drastically different from the Iraq most Americans see on their news reports or read about in their newspapers. Certainly, I saw hostility, as my base endured more than two dozen rocket and mortar attacks. But I saw a more complete picture, and that picture is largely positive.

Iraqis are far more appreciative of our efforts to secure and democratize their country than most Americans stateside realize. A survey by the nonpartisan, taxpayer-funded International Republican Institute found that 62 percent of Iraqis feel their country is headed in the right direction. This is a far cry from the collective opinion of mainstream media.

Perhaps because we live in a free nation with rights and liberties, we forget that they are a tremendous gift. Thanks to our efforts, millions of Iraqis are just beginning to open that gift.

Let us examine what has taken place in three short years. A tyrant has been apprehended and now stands trial for crimes against humanity. Iraq has held the first three free elections in its history. Since then, Iraqis have ratified their Constitution. To put this into context, the United States of America declared its independence in 1776. Yet our own Constitution was not ratified until 1789 -- 13 years later.

I know firsthand that the Iraqi people are deeply appreciative of our success. I only wish we could say the same for detractors here at home. Ads reporting the positive side of the war are necessary because our nation's media outlets are unwilling to acknowledge that progress is being made. And that's a travesty.


Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson served with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in Iraq during 2004 and 2005. He is cochair of Minnesota Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission.

[Soldier4Christ]

Here are some of those that need to be tried for treason.


Americans need to be Americans
Posted: February 21, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Joseph Farah
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

What is it with this recent trend of American officials and former officials going abroad to criticize their own country and enflame the passions of our nation's enemies?

Last week, we witnessed two more examples of this phenomenon.

Former Vice President Al Gore, who came within a hanging chad or two of becoming president, on a paid junket to Saudi Arabia, told the Arab and Muslim world that America responded illegally, unfairly and harshly to Arabs and Muslims following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Gore claimed Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions.

"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

He actually said what America had done was "just unforgivable."

"Unfortunately there have been terrible abuses and it's wrong," Gore said. "I do want you to know that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of my country."

Now, Gore is entitled, like anyone else, to his uninformed, wrong-headed opinion. But this was the height of irresponsibility. He put American lives in more danger. He provided excuses and rationalizations for more terror attacks on Americans. He gave the Arab and Islamic world more verbal ammunition to bolster its case for killing.

It would be bad enough to say these things on American soil. What is "unforgivable" is attacking your own country on hostile turf.

Likewise, Bill Clinton, the former president, got into the act a few days later in Pakistan.

The precise words Clinton uttered may never be known. But here is how it was portrayed in the Muslim world: The former president of the United States called for the conviction of media outlets that published cartoons satirizing Muhammad.

    * That's the way it was told in Pakistan's Daily Times.

    * That's the way it was told on WebIndia123.

    * That's the way it was told by the Islamic Republic News Agency of Iran.

    * That's the way it was told by Pakistan Link.

This proves my point – it's not just what you say but where you say it. Clinton claims he believes in freedom of the press, but his remarks were used by regimes that control the press to justify such controls. Clinton didn't calm the situation. He didn't throw water on the fires of hate in the Islamic world. He poured gasoline on the crisis. He very likely endangered the lives of independent journalists throughout the world with his caustic attacks on satire and the free expression of opinion.

We've seen this kind of thing over and over again in recent years. We've witnessed former President Jimmy Carter making a fool of himself and attacking his country on foreign soil.

Responsibility, patriotism, decorum, diplomacy, self-restraint are all archaic ideas to these big-mouth louts who tell audiences of America haters what they want to hear.

And they do it for money!

    * Gore was paid big dollars for betraying his country in Saudi Arabia.

    * Clinton was paid big dollars for pointing the finger of indictment at the West in Pakistan.

    * Carter is paid big dollars for playing the treacherous fool all over the world.

I don't suppose there is any way to rein them in. Personally, I think anyone who conducts himself in this way should be barred from re-entering the country. That's not likely to happen in this era of America-bashing.

But, at least, Americans should understand what is happening. At least Americans should hold these officials and former officials accountable for their actions. At the very least, they need to be treated for what they are when they come home – irresponsible, gutless traitors.

[ollie]

Pray hard, live unto the Lord.

ollie

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

Pastor Roger, I really don't think that the politicians you mentioned care that what they do and say many times causes people to be killed, including our own men and women serving. The same is true when military secrets are leaked and the whole world finds out about them. Barring them from coming back into the country is a fairly good idea, but I prefer a gallows. I think that the proper place for the execution would be in front of the New York Times. After all, it would be needed there for several.

The real facts are more wide-spread than just endangering our Armed Services all over the world and every citizen in the country. Americans and Christians all over the world are paying with their lives for those who fan the flames of radical islam. I must also add that missionary work and other work of God is slowed or stopped. It would be a little bit easier to swallow if some of the ranting was true, but there would be ways to address their bogus rantings that didn't cost lives and put every citizen in the country in danger. The bottom line is they serve nobody but themselves, and the ranting does not RESEMBLE THE TRUTH. Thank about this one for a minute: if it was the truth, it wouldn't be addressed in this manner. It would be addressed in an American court of law, not some foreign muslim country.

SO, the reality is that they are aiding and abetting a ruthless enemy who loves to take innocent lives. They are committing TREASON. There are also several Biblical violations other than lying.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 139:9-10 NASB  If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

[Soldier4Christ]

The death penalty is authorized for crimes of treason during a time of war, especially so for members of government. These individuals do need to be tried in a court of law and be made accountable for these actions. I would also add one more name to this list, John Kerry. He already committed such crimes once and received a pardon for them by the former Pres Carter. Now he is doing the same thing again. He has joined in with those listed above in doing the same thing that they are doing.

Yes the things they are doing affect more than just the Armed Services and American citizens. It affects everyone in the world that is descent.