Letters to the Editor
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What's hard to believe about it?
Glenn is there a way of checking the veracit of this e mail? I find it very hard to believe that it was written by a Colonel from the US Army, more so one that is a Public Affairs Officer.
-- rcastanon
Why? How the hell do you think we got into this mess?
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The indignation and outrage over publicizing the email is such a hoot
This kind of intimidation PUBLICLY has been so routine from the last two admins that they've lost the benefit of the doubt -- much less the indignant expectation of kid glove treatment as a default -- for behind the scenes attempts to intimidate dissent.
The Pentagon immediately dismantled several web sites (and disinfo organs) upon exposure and swatted away media curiosity as unhelpful. Bolan's posture of shock over his email being published is par for the course.
Would that a fraction of that morality be applied to his ridiculous, unprofessional thuggery.
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Fake?
As I said, the email was the same one as he used in our first round of exchanges. All the adornments were the same -- including the way he wrote his title, signed the email, the plugged-in standard information.
More importantly (for me), I noticed the last time that Col. Boylan has a very -- how shall we say? -- idiosyncratic grammatical style. It would be very hard to replicate (though obviously not impossible). This email -- from start to finish -- sounds exactly like the last ones he wrote.
Obviously, it's theoretically possible it's a fake - like any e-mail one gets, or even any phone call one gets. But all the signs point strongly to the fact that it's authentic. I'd be very, very surprised if it weren't.
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I don't
I find it very hard to believe that it was written by a Colonel from the US Army, more so one that is a Public Affairs Officer.
-- rcastanon
In spite of what you might think, Colonels are quite plentiful and not that special and you don't need to attend West Point to reach that rank. To be a PAO in Iraq now, all you need to do is be a loyal partisan Republican.
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The Validity of Boylan's E-Mail Response to Glenn
The doubts expressed in this forum regarding the provenance of the Boyland e-mail are bizarre, to say the least. Glenn has been corresponding with Boylan via e-mail since July (if not earlier; Glenn?). Boylan has to date not repudiated these prior e-mail exchanges with Glenn. Glenn, was the most recent missive from Boylan sent from the same e-mail address as prior messages? If so, that seems to answer the concerns about the validity of the most recent e-mail.
Everything about Boylan's most recent e-mail is consistent with his general approach to his job. This man is a rabid partisan, and everything in his public record confirms this.
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Authenticity
I returned from Iraq in May of this year and this letter sounds authentic to me. Those of you who doubt its authenticity due to the lack of professionalism probably have not had much recent expierience in dealing with the Offier Corps. It has for a long time trended conservative and Republican but in the last five or six years it has become explicitly and enthusiaitically of the radical right. Almost every officer above the grade of O-3 seems to have drunk the Kool-Aid. And whoever excused this as the reaction of a combat officer. I can tell you this gentleman is almost certainly not. Full-bird Colonels who act as PAO's do not run combat patrols. Even Manuever(spelling?) unit commanders do not run combat patrols. This isn't to say that this mans job isn't exhausting but he is not in the sort of danget that grunts who operate outside the wire are. Digressing; in the Army (I was army so am hesitant to comment to strongly on other branches) Most officers above the rank of Captain seem to be extremely political. THose who are not either don't get promoted or do not stay in the military. More so those who do get promoted seem to be those whom play the game, kiss ass, and put on the appearance of competence as oppossed to actually possesing it. And Glenn as an aside explicit disdain of homosexuals is fairly common in the military but it seems much more common in the Officer Corps as opposed to the enlisted ranks. This could be a potential influence on his attitudes towards you (especially since your hold political views disimiliar to his own).
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Bingo
More importantly (for me), I noticed the last time that Col. Boylan has a very -- how shall we say? -- idiosyncratic grammatical style. It would be very hard to replicate (though obviously not impossible). This email -- from start to finish -- sounds exactly like the last ones he wrote.
That would convince me of its authenticity. Long story short, you and others bloggers and journalists caught them with their political shorts showing, and they don't like it. It is predictable that he would single you out for this "special attention".
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Ask Centcom to respond?
Maybe the PAO at Centcom would be interested in what a PAO in Iraq is doing. It would be interesting to see if there would be a response (pao@centcom.mil).
Or ask Admiral Fallon for a response:
Commander
US Central Command
7115 South Boundary Blvd.
MacDill AFB, FL 33621-5101
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Now that Glenn's established that this Col Boylan character
is the Political Cadre assigned to him, as evidenced by the overtly political content of the email sent by this Colonel from Iraq, I think we can rest the case.
The Army of Occupation (at least its officer corps) in Iraq is fully politicized, sent to spread ideological Truth to the benighted -- whether they are backwards Natives or backwards "citizens" back home.
This may be one of the inherent dangers of an all volunteer force bent on Imperial Conquest. The White House has long used the United States Military as a private army, and the Military, in turn, has rarely resisted. The President demands fealty from his troops and specific loyalty to his Person, and for the most part, he gets it. Silly notions of duties and oaths to the Constitution are obviously childish.
And now we see Political Cadres infiltrating all branches of the service to ensure ideological and political Purity.
Well. Isn't that special?
Bad enough the White House has a private mercenary army ready to battle for their God and King, laying waste and slaying foe in the process. The regular armed forces are being (have already been?) "synchronized" as well.
We should all be understanding Col Boylan's unsolicited email for what it is: a warning and a threat.