War Propaganda

This week the Democrats are on the warpath. Sadly, it isn't against Al Qaida whether in Afghanistan or Iraq but against the American military. Apparently, the Democrats are aghast that the American Military would embellish the actions of two soldiers, Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman. Jessica, we are told, fought off the enemy with her rifle using all of her rounds until she could not fire anymore. She was captured and the rest is history. Pat, left a comfortable life as a football player and joined Army Rangers. However, he went to Afghanistan and was killed in battle after heroic actions in the field to save his comrades.

Now, we are told the stories of both Jessica and Pat are not exactly what they appear. Apparently, Jessica was captured because of faulty equipment. She didn't fire her rifle in anger at all but was easily captured. Pat was killed in a friendly fire incident.

My friends, this is nothing new. The American government has always embellished stories during war for the express purpose to win not only the war on the battlefield against our enemies but also on the battlefield of public opinion at home. The Doolittle Raiders of WWII fame went around after their famous attack on Japan and pushed war bonds!! I'm sure the Democrats today would consider this a scandalous affair to exploit the war for "Republican" or the "Presidents" political ends but this is nonsense of course. Then there is the incident before D-Day in which American troops were practicing their invasion plans off of England when German Torpedo boats sank dozens of vessels killing thousands of American soldiers. This incident wasn't even reported until long after World War II.

Lets not get stuck on stupid regarding the Tillmans. This war is not about Pat Tillman. This is the War-On-Terror and our government will continue to spread stories, truthful or not, of the unsung heroes in our military regardless of who is in power.

After the war, the truth will eventually make itself known as we continually renew our understanding of WWII and other famous wars. Lets not get hypocritical or naive regarding how we prosecute war.