Fixated On Losing By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, May 11, 2007 4:20 PM PT
War On Terrorism: Thousands of active members of the military sign a letter urging Congress to support the mission in Iraq. But the media, focused on anything that'll make the war look bad, just yawn.
Let anyone who ever wore the uniform voice concern about the war, and the media are immediately interested. How many rent-a-generals, for instance, have we seen, heard from or read about in the last four years who've been critical of our involvement and/or performance in Iraq?
On the other hand, all we heard was crickets chirping as 2,700 soldiers — all on active duty — signed a petition titled "Appeal for Courage" and presented it last week to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and House Minority Leader John Boehner.
"As an American currently serving my nation in uniform," the appeal begins, "I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat.
"I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack."
Behind the effort are Navy Lt. Jason Nichols and Minnesota National Guard Staff Sgt. David Thul. These aren't new enlistees on latrine duty in the States. They're right in the middle of the action in Iraq — Nichols in Baghdad and Thul conducting convoy operations with the 34th Infantry Division.
Wednesday's presentation was held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars headquarters in Washington, D.C. The VFW happens to be the largest group of combat veterans in the country, and its headquarters is within a laptop's toss of hundreds, maybe thousands, of journalists.
Yet not one of them bothers to show up. They're obviously too busy doting on http://VoteVets.org, a group linked to http://MoveOn.org, the Bush-hating, anti-war organization that was founded by leftist George Soros, is adored by Democrats and will no doubt find favor with any military-related group or person in favor of surrender in Iraq.
The Army Times reports that roughly 60% of the 2,700 soldiers "are serving or have served in Iraq, with about two-thirds enlisted members and one-third officers." The signatures were gathered in the space of a month, less time than it took to get far fewer signatures on a petition asking Congress to promptly pull out of the Iraq War.
"Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price," says the Appeal for Redress. "It is time for U.S. troops to come home." Some 1,000 soldiers signed the Appeal for Redress before it was presented to Congress in January, and 900 more have affixed their signatures since.
Despite the difference in numbers, the Appeal for Redress has received the sort of favorable mainstream media coverage that has been denied to the Appeal for Courage.
None of this is surprising. The establishment media simply aren't as interested in stories that tell of support for the war or of positive developments from the front.
They have another election to win next year.