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 here, 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."
Merilee Carlson, mother of slain soldier, in pro-war ad opposed by Democrats in Minnesota
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."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=48913
This is funny, apparantly liberals believe in free speech only when it comes to movies like 9/11.... how does this make sense?
