60 Minutes to Air Anti-War Propaganda Piece

CBS and 60 Minutes just can't help themselves. They keep letting their anti-military bias show. Case in point, Lara Logan (not exactly a fan of the military) is doing a piece on 60 Minutes this Sunday about Appeals for Redress. You remember Appeals for Redress? I did a post on them back in October 2006.

They present themselves as a "grassroots" organization when in fact they are another concoction of Fenton Communications. Jonathan Hutto, one of the main spokesmen, was a photographer for the Navy while in Iraq. He was an activist before he was an media darling, working with the ACLU and Amnesty International. In an interview with Revolution, the media outlet for the Revolutionary Communist Party, Hutto had this to say about his fellow soldiers...

The majority of the people who join the military primarily join for economic reasons. Those reservations and misgivings I have about the Iraq war are those that I had when I joined, and that many of us have when we joined. Many of us joined for all sorts of reasons, to straighten out their personal lives, pay off some debts, get some degree or educational opportunity or what have you.

Perhaps some joined to build some street cred for more activist antics? Reminds me of John Kerry and we know how supportive he was of his fellow soldiers.

Then we have Liam Madden, another spokesman. Madden presented Dennis Kucinich with his signed Appeal for Redress. He has been making the anti-war rounds with Sunsara Taylor, who works for Revolution. Apparently Madden was against the war in Iraq before he signed up with the Marines but didn't know that a war with Iraq was a possibility when he signed up.

Boston.com
At 18, just out of high school, Madden decided the Marines was a better option than college, allowing him time to grow up and challenge himself, he said. But he had doubts before the 2003 start of the war "when the current administration started inundating us with fear."
About two years later, he was sent to Iraq for seven months. "Iraq, I never approved of it, but I put my opinions kind of on hold," he said. "My feelings started to intensify and coalesce when I came back to the U.S. and started informing myself more."

Revolution
I went to Iraq opposing the war and I left Iraq opposing the war. I always opposed the war so there was really no development in that or any specific development only I could have gotten from my vantage.

What did Madden experience in Iraq that spurred this anti-war activism? Actually nothing...

"Sergeant Liam Madden is one of them. "I am a marine and my experience there. I felt like seven months of my effort, which was not directly combat-related, my contribution to that war did not lead to a safer and more stable Iraq," says Madden. "I do not think it is necessary for someone to have a traumatic experience in Iraq to realize that the war is wrong."

And the country that he volunteered to defend? How does this soldier really feel about his country?

"I see American history, what you get fed growing up, in American schools and the standard curriculum and furthermore what the news tells you is news, it basically paints America as the knight in shining armor, maybe occasionally misguided, but basically the good guy. A big influence on me was reading Howard Zinn. I’m basically an independent enough minded person to acknowledge that that’s just not so, we’re not always the knight in shining armor and lots of times there’s an agenda to our foreign policy that’s not on the surface."

In the interest of fairness, I do have to report that Appeals for Redress passed out care packages to our active duty military members for the holidays...

"Besides treats like cookies and candy, these care packages will include information on the anti-war movement and resources so that they can become directly involved in ending the war and caring for their brothers and sisters as they return home."

"Suggested items for the care packages include: the Appeal for Redress, Iraq Veterans Against the War flyers, “Iraq for Sale,” and “Sir, No Sir!” postcards telling soldiers how to get their free copy, information on Vets for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Courage to Resist, and the GI Rights Hotline, as well as cookies, candy, and other holiday treats."

No agenda there... Move along...

CBS and 60 Minutes are simply distributing anti-war propaganda that does nothing but undermine the mission and distort the feelings of the military members that did not sign the petition. (current signatures are at approx. 1200).They are using half-truths and avoiding full disclosure on the puppeteers behind Appeal for Redress. If they were truly interested in giving America the whole story, they would include the backgrounds and hidden agendas. But this is CBS - why should we expect anything different?

If you would like to tell CBS how you feel, you can email them at 60m@cbsnews.com.