OT: Form letters from Iraq?

Can`t help - but smells a bit like propaganda - even if the statements in the letters may be correct.

Andreas
 
Originally posted by Pan Tau Can`t help - but smells a bit like propaganda - even if the statements in the letters may be correct.
Click to expand...
Or.........there is a valid alternative.
I don't know -these- letters you mention,
but it's common for people with a common interest
to copy a form letter provided by one originator
and add their own names.
Such a common practice that I hear the offices of public
officials often disregard these once recognized.
I've been instructed in a couple of cases,
that if I wish to send a letter in regard to an issue
that I should rewrite it in my own words so it
is considered individually & -not- disregarded.
 
I don't have a problem with the general concept of signed form letters -- as one mom who got the letter mentioned, she thought it was neat but knew he couldn't have written it as he didn't have the verbal/writing skills to do something like that.

While they do not merit continual republishing, they do represent someone who agrees with the original opinion letter and thought it was worth signing their name to it (just like a petition).

However, in at least one instance I heard cited on the radio, the soldiers from whom the letters purportedly came from did not know that the letter even existed and did not necessarily agree with what had been written. That's wrong in my book.:mad:
 
I found a little more on this at:

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/World/iraq031013_letters-1.html

Evidently Lt. Col. Dominic Caraccilo is the person responsible. I agree that form letters have been used for years to express support for a viewpoint or thing, but I think they should be identified as such. To allow them to be passed off as originals does no one any credit - all it will do is undermine the credibility of soldiers writing to show support in the future, especially when some of the signatures may be questionable. I think this is unfortunate and showed poor judgement.
 
Snuffy from my Law Enforcement days I'd say that some one forged some of the signatures. :)
 
I'm surprised that this hasn't attracted more attention from the media. Maybe because the scale was apparently quite small, or more likely, because the big boyz didn't dig it up themselves.

I posted on The Olympian's story in the BF Political Arena--nobody responded.:confused:

I note that this soldiers's quote didn't appear in the ABC story:

Although Grueser said he agrees with the letter's sentiments, he was uncomfortable that a letter with his signature did not contain his own words or spell out his own accomplishments.

"It makes it look like you cheated on a test, and everybody got the same grade," Grueser said by phone from a base in Italy where he had just arrived from Iraq.

It's one thing to supply a statement not written in the first person that soldiers can send home themselves if they choose. It's quite another to draft what appears to be a personal letter, pass it out to subordinates and then collect the signed copies for mailing--to use the test analogy, that's like having the students submit signed class evaluations to the teacher before final grades are assigned. Without knowing how many soldiers were "polled" and declined to comply, this means little to nothing anyway. Forging signatures should require no further discussion.


Here's what I thought when I posted on this, and I think the same now:

"WTF??? Does anybody else think that this is imbecilic? If true, somebody needs some serious arse-kicking and a brain-scan--as in "absent or present?".

It really resembles a deliberate attempt to discredit the military and those who serve in it....Perhaps it is, I'd hate to think that somebody in the service with any responsibilty for subordinants well-being thought that this was a good idea."

Dirt-stoopit, no two ways about it.:mad:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top