One of the best things about this country is our freedom of speech. Maybe we at The State Press think that because we work in an industry based on that very freedom. But nonetheless, no one can argue that the ability to say, or not say, what you want is one of the greatest freedoms this country offers. Letters to the Editor are one manifestation of that freedom.
So we were disturbed to read about how such letters have been misused to spread war propaganda around the United States. In the past few weeks, newspapers nationwide have received letters from citizens who have loved ones in Iraq, asking the newspapers to publish letters those families had received from the soldiers.
Gannett, a corporation that owns more than 130 newspapers, reported that 11 of its outlets had printed letters identical to one another signed by different soldiers. According to The Washington Post, "the news service reached six soldiers who said they agreed with the letter but had not written it, one who had not signed the letter and one who didn't even know about it."
The letters expressed the success the troops were having in Iraq and the gratitude that Iraqis felt for the Americans, with lines like, "The fruits of all our soldiers' efforts are clearly visible in the streets of Kirkuk today." Basically the letters were big "Yay America" statements.
While publicity campaigns like this are by no means illegal, we feel for the soldiers whose names appeared signed on the letters but who did not know about it, and even more important, didn't agree with it. One such soldier's mother told National Public Radio she was surprised to receive such a positive letter from her son, since it didn't coincide with anything he had said over the phone. She said he had "complained about low morale" and that the troops had had "mixed success."
The Army denies being behind the campaign, saying the soldiers themselves decided to pick the best writer among them in order to spread more positive press about the American presence in Iraq, yet no one knows who wrote it.
The point is not whether soldiers stationed in Iraq are happy or unhappy with the "progress" being made but that whoever did write it had immense disrespect not only for the soldiers fighting in Iraq and around the world, but also for the democratic freedoms for which those soldiers are fighting.
If we discovered our names attached to something we didn't write, with views we didn't even support, our morale would drop. We can imagine it has done the same to some of the troops.
Bogus letters such as these are nothing more than propaganda and disrespect for our troops.
We all want to know what's going on overseas - the good and the bad - and we hope that the troops are inspired to write their own letters expressing their individual views. Furthermore, we want to know that their freedom to say or not say what they want will not be impeded by larger government or military agendas.