October 18, 2003	Saturday	Sha'aban 21, 1424

WASHINGTON: A local news service reported on Saturday that identical form letters signed by different US soldiers in Iraq have appeared in hometown newspapers across the country. The letters paint a rosy picture of troop morale and improving conditions for the population in warn-torn Iraq. However, the soldiers whose names appear at the bottom of the letters didn’t compose them, and many say they signed their names under false pretences, or not at all.

The “letter-writing” blitz appears to be part of the Bush administration’s efforts to boost US support for the Iraq occupation in line with its campaign against what it calls “negative” media coverage-that is, any news that doesn’t toe the White House line.

Speaking on Thursday at a fundraiser in Kentucky, President George W. Bush commented on the situation in Iraq: “We’re making great progress — I don’t care what you read about.” This week, the administration also launched an effort to reach regional broadcasting companies, granting a series of exclusive interviews to regional news organizations that don’t regularly cover the White House, hoping for more favourable reporting.

Facing sagging public support for the war at home — A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll released on September 23 found only 50 per cent of Americans thought the Iraq situation was worth going to war over — the White House and the military have now resorted to outright fabrication in an effort to rehabilitate the war effort. The letters from soldiers that appeared in hometown papers across the country last month-some of the only “good news” to come out of Iraq in recent weeks — were in fact bogus.

A search by Gannett News Service, USA Today’s parent company, found 11 identical letters that had appeared in different papers signed by soldiers with the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment. The letters appeared in large metropolitan dailies, such as the Boston Globe, as well as smaller publications such as the Beckley (W.Va.) Register-Herald and the Tulare (California) Advance-Register.

The letters read in part; “Things have changed tremendously for our battalion since those first cold, wet weeks spent in the mountain city of Bashur. On April 10, our battalion conducted an attack south into the oil rich town of Kirkuk, the city that has since become our home away from home and the focus of our security and development efforts. Kirkuk is a hot and dusty city of just over a million people. The majority of the city has welcomed our presence with open arms.”

“The quality of life and security for the citizens has been largely restored and we are a large part of why that has happened,” the letters added. “The fruits of all our soldiers’ efforts are clearly visible in the streets of Kirkuk today. There is very little trash in the streets, many more people in the markets and shops, and children have returned to school. This is all evidence that the work we are doing as a battalion and as American soldiers is bettering the lives of Kirkuk’s citizens. I am proud of the work we are doing here in Iraq and I hope all of your readers are as well.”

In fact, the northern city of Kirkuk has been the scene in recent weeks of angry demonstrations of Iraqis protesting unemployment, poor conditions and repression by US forces. US soldiers around Kirkuk and across Iraq have been continually targeted by sniper fire, ambushes and remote-controlled explosions. Suicide car bombings have become a regular occurrence.

With this bogus letter-writing campaign, these same men and women are being cynically exploited to advance the administration’s propaganda.

Pfc. Nick Deaconson of Beckley, W.Va., told GNS that he didn’t know about the letter until his father congratulated him by phone after it appeared in the Register-Herald. His father, Timothy Deaconson, said, “When I told him he wrote such a good letter, he said, ‘What letter?”’

Sgt. Christopher Shelton said his platoon sergeant had passed out the letter to the soldiers and asked them to sign it if they agreed with it. They were then asked for the names of their hometown newspapers.

What is clear is that this fake letter-writing episode is symptomatic of the Bush administration’s nonstop campaign of lies and deception in support of its criminal war policy, which it is moving to escalate in the face of growing opposition — both at home and within the ranks of the military itself.—Courtesy World Socialist Website