I used the link you provided for the Multi-National Force – Iraq Press Releases and did a count for the period of June 27-30 of the number of times that the word Al-Qaeda was used in a release, excluding the headline. Here’s what I found out: of 46 releases made, 10 releases (22%) used the word Al-Qaeda 30 times, an average of 3 times per release. You said the Multi-National Force – Iraq press releases are seriously exaggerating the presence of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Each person reading this should draw their own conclusion as to how far out of line, if any, those releases are for that period.

I spent 28 years as an Air Force public affairs officer from 1963-1991 and was part of U.S. Central Command when it was created in 1983. I was totally against the Iraq invasion and unfortunately predicted the mess we now find ourselves in. During my years of service, I did everything I could to always tell the truth to the media and I had the pleasure to work with a lot of hard working, dedicated media professionals. I served my Vietnam duty in Pacific Air Force Headquarters in Hawaii and went on temporary duty to the Philippines and Thailand, but not in Vietnam. I also was in charge of the Media Operations Center at Clark Air Base during the return of our POWs. I have fond memories of talking to top-rated journalists and our complete agreement of how important truth was to both of our jobs.

I watched what happened to military leadership when the integrity challenged Nixon Administration took over. There was a downward spiral of ethics that flowed from the top and made it hard to maintain integrity at my level, although I believe that I did keep my integrity. I suspect that exactly the same thing happened when Rumsfeld and the Attention Deficit Administration of Spoiled Brats took over. As you would suspect, it is not easy to operate under those conditions and if I would have had to serve under the present gang of monarchial idiots, I would probably have left the service.

It is very sad to see how men and women who are serving and striving to maintain their integrity are being maligned because they fall under the ADASBers umbrella. It is very hard for a public affairs officer to challenge the authority of a commander in the field who is reporting the “facts” for release especially when the questionable integrity of two prior Joint Chiefs of Staff “yes men” were watching on high.

It is even sadder to read the responses to Glenn’s fine article and see the sorry state of journalism today. I agree with the majority of the criticism. But, the situation with the MSM is not yet hopeless, and if we succumb to an empty feeling of there isn’t anything I can do, then we are only contributing to the status quo. That is why, I encourage praising journalists on the web or in the MSM who have not fallen prey to the dollar or laziness. We must help Glenn keep up his valiant fight. The fourth estate is too critical to our freedom and democracy to just complain.

The spelling of a name in another language than English is very relative until someone standardizes it because you are taking a phonetic sound and translating it into sounds that make sense in English. I remember answering a general officer who complained at a CENTCOM briefing I was giving that I had misspelled the former leader of Libya, Moamar Gaddafi’s name. I replied, “Sir, I have found 29 different spellings of his name, how do you know the one you prefer is the right one?” I guess having a “right” spelling is more reassuring, but if you can correctly pronounce a foreign name, how important is the spelling?