A Top U.S. General in Iraq Blames Public's Antiwar Views on the Media

[sabra]

Source: E & P

NEW YORK Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, said Thursday, back in the U.S. on leave at Fort Stewart, that the war in Iraq is "a winnable mission" if the the media would only cooperate.

"If the American people are informed properly," Lynch told reporters after he arrived home on leave, "I believe they will be supportive of the mission. But they're not getting the right story. As a result, they're anti the war."

The media use a "filter" that downplays information about American successes: "All I'm seeing when I watch TV ... is the bad news and not the good news."

...

"We would not have put soldiers in harm's way if we didn't think this was a winnable mission," he said.

"If you're getting your news from the national media, you're not getting the whole picture. To say you support soldiers, but not the war is just silly. I believe Americans, if they knew everything, would be supporting the mission."


Read more: http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003645142

[Mythsaje]

1. WE probably know more than you do, dumbass. n/t

[NanceGreggs]

2. Ain't THAT the truth!!! n/t

[dickbearton]

41. Like Betrayus, this guy is another Bush stooge...

He is part of the problem rather then the solution. If his
view of the MSM is any indication of his mentality and
judgment in general, the war is lost. This guy's judgment is
unsound, but he looks like a good ass licker. 

[saigon68]

54. Yes This Puppet War Criminal wants just "nice" Reporting GRAPHIC PHOTO

He won't allow any reality photos stories to show children are being turned into pulp

And old Grandmothers are being blasted to bits

No views of US soldiers being shredded either

What an ass clown

Maybe more photos like this are needed to discredit this "ass-licker"

PS this guy is dead

[clixtox]

51. General Whats-His-Name said "properly"...

Not honestly.

The truths are now getting exposed, finally, after years of media lies, obfuscation and just plain ignoring what was happening and not happening.

The media lap-dogs are squirming out of the grasp of the junta!

Shrub is getting so nuts that no one skilled like Rove is still looking after him.

Shrub is getting flushed down the toilet...

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. he must be smoking something

if this is success, what constitutes quagmires, total clusterfuck disasters and general screw-ups?

[Mythsaje]

5. I thought that WAS General Screw Up talking...

Maybe I'm wrong.

:evilgrin:

[Vilis Veritas]

21. That would be afghan hash...nt

[BOSSHOG]

4. With all due respect General

and as a military retiree I respect your rank and status, "if the American people were informed properly" from six months before we went to Iraq until the present, we would be out of Iraq now and bush and cheney would be either in jail or hanged. With all due respect sir.

[Mythsaje]

7. My dad's response would probably be

"Sir, fuck you, sir."

Course, he wasn't very good at "due respect" when he was IN.

[BOSSHOG]

12. I was well trained

to talk truth to power. I often got my ass in a bind for such actions but I'm now here and still drawing a pension. Thank you very much tax payers, I certainly respect you.

[Mythsaje]

13. I'd guess my dad barely managed to hang on through his stint...

He was in Vietnam back before America really knew there WAS a Vietnam. And he's notorious bad at taking shit from ANYONE.

[BOSSHOG]

16. God Bless your Dad

and I greatly appreciate his service. I sometimes took shit, but I never forgot it and often tossed the shit back when the appropriate moment came. Nothing more powerful then the truth.

[Mythsaje]

18. I appreciate it too...

A couple of years ago he looked at me and said, "I'm so glad you never joined the service." He wasn't always so glad, but I think he realized how bad it would be. I would've done something stupid.

[eleny]

6. "if the the media would only cooperate"

:scared:

[papau]

24. -right - should not show violence or death - or even discuss -heck 8% of Baghdad is "controlled" by

us (and Iraqi military) - focus on that kind of good news - it was only 7% before the surge - the surge is making a difference.

(do I need a sarcasm emoticon?)

[IsItJustMe]

8. He can't help it. He watches FAUX.

[Frances]

9. In June, I was on a long plane ride sitting next to a soldier

He slept most of the way and I was careful not to interrupt his sleep. I also was careful not to say anything when he woke up. I figured he would start a conversation if he needed to talk.

About 15 minutes before landing, the soldier started a conversation with me. He said that he was just back from Iraq where everyday soldiers were being killed for Bush's war. He said he'd gladly give his life for his country if there was a good reason, but that this war was not a good reason.

I wish I could have thought of something positive to say but all I really said was, "I don't know what I can do."

[shain from kane]

10. You ass kissing chickensh*t generals are afraid to allow the media to show caskets being

unloaded at the airport, because you know that no one would support your ch*ckenshit war, if the truth was revealed.

[Solly Mack]

11. Gee, I get my info straight from the mouths of soldiers

and you are FOS

[alfredo]

71. And from truth tellers

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=56566&mesg_id=56566

[babylonsister]

14. I'm so damned sick of these mouthpieces. nt

[reality based]

15. The general is mixing into politics with those comments. Keith told them not to do that last night.

[El Supremo]

17. How about a face to go with this fucker. pic>>

Here is his bio:
http://www.stewart.army.mil/3DIDWeb/Division%20Staff/BioLynch.htm

The telling part is this: "...he obtained a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering focusing on Robotics."

[shain from kane]

20. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, Kilroy was here.n/t

[Vilis Veritas]

23. MIT Graduate.

I wonder if he knows the newest MIT Star? jes kidding...

Looks like he is a 2 star general. Bucking for his third. Bet he gets third out of this one.

No Fear.

[dickbearton]

43. As I said, a Bush Brownnose...

General Roboto lacks sound judgment.

[coalition_unwilling]

64. REMF Ticket Puncher . . .

'REMF' - acronym that grew out of the Vietnam War. Means "Rear Echelon MotherFucker"

[Shipwack]

19. Wait, haven't we heard this before...?

Oh, here we go...

Newspaper reporters and television commentators were free to question the wisdom of fighting the war. Military leaders accused their critics of being "unpatriotic" and guilty of "helping the enemy." The Generals were especially angered by the way the media covered the Tet Offensive. General Maxwell Taylor wrote later: "The picture of a few flaming Saigon houses, presented by a gloomy-voiced telecaster as an instance of the destruction caused in the capital, created the inevitable impression that this was the way it was in all or most of Saigon."

Admiral Grant Sharp was another critic of the mass media. He argued: "The reality of the 1968 Tet offensive was that Hanoi had taken a big gamble and had lost on the battlefield, but they won a solid psychological victory in the United States." Sharp believed that the biased reporting of the Tet offensive convinced the American public and the government that the war was being lost and the only option was to withdraw from Vietnam.

One of the most influential acts during the war was the decision of Life Magazine to fill one edition of its magazine with photographs of the 242 US soldiers killed in Vietnam during one week of the fighting.

It was this type of reporting that encouraged General William Westmoreland, commander of US troops in Vietnam, to accuse the mass media of helping to bring about a National Liberation Front victory. However, defenders of the mass media claimed that reporters were only reflecting the changing opinions of the American people towards the war.

More at this website...

The more things change...

[coalition_unwilling]

65. General Giap of the NVA always said that every military action

undertaken, including Tet '68, was not just military but also done with an eye to its effect upon domestic American politics. Westmoreland had said in November '67 on the runway at Saigon's airport that he could "see the light at the end of the tunnel." (Eerie shades of Darth Cheney saying the Iraqi insurgency was in its 'last throes'.) The media didn't make up that Westmoreland quote - you can see it for yourself in a clip in Stanley Karnow's "Vietnam: A Television History".

So if Westmoreland said he could "see the light at the end of the tunnel," and the NLF and NVA were able to launch simultaneous attacks in every single provincial South Vietnamese capital just two months later, sounds to me like Westmoreland had more than a few screws loose. The media didn't do that.

The scholarship on the issue demonstrates pretty conclusively that the American public had soured on the Vietnam War well ahead of when the media lost faith in it. I credit the anti-war movement with helping cause the shift in public opinion then, much as I do now. I have been vigilling 2-3 times\week since Feb. 2003, have been physically assaulted and received death threats while doing it. But public opinion has now decisively turned against the war and it wasn't the media's doing. For goodness' sake, the LA Times was still taking a pro-war stance on its op ed page until Michael Kinsley took over the editorship of the page. The LA Times to this day continues to run pieces by that RW neo-con crank Max Boot.

[Jacobin]

84. Thank you for finding that. I was remembering those articles

from back then and how they only served to prolong the carnage and idiocy

[TwilightGardener]

22. "We would not have put soldiers in harm's way"??? WE? Did I elect General Lynch

to set policy? Does he have any say in policy? No--he's a goddamn soldier. A high-ranking one, but a soldier nonetheless, and he is there at the will of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!! Civilian control of the military, General Asshole--and the media is NOT to be complicit in promoting your mission, either!

[coalition_unwilling]

66. Lynch's not a "solider" in any meaningful, honorable use of the term.

He's a boot-licking REMF.

Calling Lynch a "soldier" does a disservice to real soliders, imho. But maybe I'm just getting cranky about all the Stalingrad\Vietnam rhetoric of the current officer corps above rank of Captain.

[HuffleClaw]

25. "To say you support soldiers, but not the war is just silly"

well, if THIS is his level of comprehension...

[rodeodance]

26. this General needs a civic lession!

[Roland99]

27. Imagine if we saw what really goes on (Dahr Jamail et al(

The wonks would take over the media 100%

[SpikeTss]

28. Has he ever heard of facism?

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, said Thursday, back in the U.S. on leave at Fort Stewart, that the war in Iraq is "a winnable mission" if the the media would only cooperate.

Because, by definition, this is one of the key elements of all real fascist states, from Nazi Germany to Mussolini's Italy.

[dickbearton]

45. Exactly, this guy might not only be a Brownnose, he might be a Brownshirt...

He needs more then a civic lesson, he needs sound judgment.

[Botany]

29. Winning?

1 million Iraqis dead
2.25 million Iraqis have left the country
2 million are homeless inside Iraq
8 million face little water, food, medical care, shelter problems
on going civil war

3,800 dead Americans
35,000 wounded, sick, injuried, or mental cases have had to be air lifted out of
country

our southern flank is now open because the Brits are going home

Turks and Iranians have bombed, shelled, and sent troops over the border to fight
the Kurds

Less than 1/2 of Baghdad is "safe"

al Qaeda and anti western terrorists are now stronger
Iran is much more anti western and radical

***********************************
So do those #s look good Gen. M.I.T.?

[coalition_unwilling]

68. "Our Southern flank is now open" - not so sure the other flanks

are that much better.

Reminds me of one of my favorite jokes of all time:

Q: What were Custer's last words?
A: "Where the fuck did all those Indians come from?"

[hedda_foil]

30. Lynch is bucking for another couple of stars.

Every quote of his is maximuized for suck upedness.

[Ediacara]

31. If the media would only report on all the cars that DON'T have bombs, we'd win this thing....

:eyes:

[mitchum]

32. Yeah, the death, destruction and expense has nothing to do with it

[gomezcat]

34. They are like the cop in South Park "move on, nothing to see here"

What's next for these nutters? Are they going to expose members of the "Leftist Media" as being suicide bombers? Fucking unreal. They really, really need to get a grip.

[TankLV]

77. and LIES...

and don't forget POLAND!!!

[1trackmindGOP]

33. Your right!

They are too scared to go outside the green zone where the real news exists...it is too dangerous. Actually the American people are more informed than ever, we clearly understand we were lied into Iraq and Republicans are standing in the way of correcting the situation...and unfortunately the replacements we put in don't have the balls to stand up to the fascist neocons.

[keopeli]

35. You HAD the entire media in your palm and then LIED us into a war. The medias not at fault, you are

Take some responsibility.

Let's have military leaders who say, "the media is not reporting as we would like them to, because they no longer trust us after the many falsehoods that were revealed in the past few years. In the end, the Bush Administration and Military are to blame for the most poorly managed and conceived war in US history. We must find a way to get our message across in spite of our past. This can not happen without a new president."

Imagine...

[pattmarty]

36. He's kidding right? Right?

[Skittles]

82. he's blaming the same media that cheer-led us into war

that is how f***ing stupid conservatives are

[L0oniX]

37. Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch ...on drugs or just another war monger lier?

[olddad56]

38. I'd blame the anti war views on ......

The fact that we illegally invaded another country, we have killed over 1 million of their civilians, over 3000 of our soldiers, and spent almost a trillion dollars, and have noting to show for it.

But, I guess I learned that from the media, so there you go.

[Danger Mouse]

39. Now THIS is comical.

:rofl:

[bobthedrummer]

40. "The Taguba Report" from findlaw.com

http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/iraq/tagubarpt.html

"Reality vs. perception management: the tinfoil controversy" (1-6-2006)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x71919

IMPEACH CHENEY FIRST

[IndianaGreen]

42. Translation: Why can't the media be more like Faux?

Sorry general, but even the GAO saw the surge as a failure!

[Mad_Dem_X]

59. That's how I read it too. nt

[Xipe Totec]

44. Judge not, that ye be not judged.

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye.

MATTHEW 7:1-5:

Translation to the vernacular:

STFU, General.

[bemildred]

46. Another "ass kisser". nt

[bluestateguy]

47. The dumbshit American people supported this war for two years

I, on the other hand, was against the war before I was against it.

[Ilsa]

48. Then why bother sending real troops if the whole war is just a PR hoax? nt

[Theduckno2]

49. The media has filtered out American successes for four years. Hmmmm

So for over four years of unreported American successes this is the Iraq we have to show for it?

I'm sure that had Riverbend been aware of all these successes, her and her family would have chosen to stay in Iraq. :sarcasm:

You are never supposed to actually think about what they say. Let's see cholera, militias in power, ethnic cleansing, trigger-happy mercenaries and we're missing the big picture.

[SpikeTss]

50. Couldn't have said it better!

You are never supposed to actually think about what they say.

[Ilsa]

53. Exactly. Riverbend and what, four or five million other Iraqis? And why

don't these people who think it's so wonderful over there go and crank up some businesses? Raise their kids there? Teach at the University in Baghdad? Start up a Baptist Church?

[coalition_unwilling]

69. If this is success, what would "failure" ("not an option") look like? -n/t

[Oddball]

52. SSDD- Iraq and Vietnam

Idiots like this general were also saying that Vietnam was Winnable and that the media lost that war.

We'd still be in Vietnam if the sane people hadn't forced an end to that fiasco.

[tabasco]

55. This is what happens when the military is politicized.

The Bush administration has promoted generals to top positions based on loyalty, not competence.

A result of this policy is a loss of efficiency in the military as competent and courageous generals are replaced with cowardly lackeys. All officers not loyal to a political party will be shunned.

Another result is a group of loyal yes-men at the top ranks all trying to outdo each other in sucking up to the boss (see General Rick Lynch). They will not express an opinion contrary to the boss. It is full steam ahead with whatever reckless policy the boss decrees. This is the politicization of the military and the destructive consequences that Keith Olberman commented on.

The Bush oil mafia has corrupted every corner of our government and, sadly, the military as well.

The Democrats better realize what the are up against and start fighting for this country.

[ShortnFiery]

56. Yeah it's all the media's fault for cheer-leading and supporting this war.

What negative press? A smattering from Bill Moyers on PBS? :eyes:

No General, you corporate ass-kissing whores OWN the M$M. :thumbsdown:

[tanyev]

57. The media was plenty cooperative for the first few years of the war.

How come you weren't able to wrap it up after 6 weeks of flower and candy throwing, General?

[unhappycamper]

58. Sorry Rick. That canard's been used.

The mission should be changed to "Get the fuck out of there ASAP".

The media's been cooperating with you for years.

[november3rd]

60. Dear General Lynch,

Shut up and follow orders.

[Canuckistanian]

61. They're anti-war DESPITE the media

And Gen. Lynch really should know better than to use a tired old Vietnam tactic.

It doesn't even make sense.

[Auntie Bush]

62. The General's name should give someone a good idea.

Sorry Agent M....couldn't resist...just fooling...I'm harmless...honest!

[coalition_unwilling]

63. F**king sociopathic baby killer -n/t

[young_at_heart]

67. then show us the good news----just tell Faux Noise about it

Does he think we're stupid? We can't support this "mission" because it wasn't anything like WW-2, for example. Could he tell the "latest" mission---because it's very unclear just what that is.

[beltanefauve]

80. Bingo, we have a winner

Just what, exactly, is the "mission"? And why is it that, four years later,* and his minions are still trying explain it to us and why we should, "Stay the course"?

[alfredo]

70. It's never the neo cons fault. They are completely blameless

by their own account.

[moondust]

72. He clearly doesn't get it.

To say you support soldiers, but not the war is just silly.

Anybody this clueless on the difference between policy and carrying out policy has no business commanding troops.

[NotGivingUp]

73. FUCK him to fucking hell! I am just so sick of all these fuckers. n/t

[Binka]

83. Pithy & Spot On Reply

Total FUCKWITTAGE. I have FUCKWITTAGE FATIGUE!

[depakid]

74. Up is down, black is white

If the corporate media had done its job, we wouldn't have been lied into this disastrous war in the first place- and generals like Lynch wouldn't have to embarrass themselves by apologizing for their defeat.

[SKKY]

75. He's right. We don't know everything. But we do know that...

1. There were NO weapons of mass destruction.
2. Iraq had NOTHING to do with 9/11.
3. Saddam Hussein DID NOT try to by Uranium from Niger.
4. There were NO mobile weapons labs able to attack on 45 minutes notice.

And that to me is enough to know that many of my fellow service members, and likely me in the not too distant future, were thrown into the middle of an ill-conceived, ill-prepared, perhaps even illegal war from which we have no clear exit strategy.

[beltanefauve]

81. Also,

the war has not "paid for itself" from the oil revenues, there were no "smart bombs" to minimalize the "collateral damage", and we were not greeted as "liberators". These are some of the lines we civilians were handed as they tried to drum up support for the war.

[TankLV]

76. No you fuck wad general - we won't ever support this because it's an ILLEGAL WAR OF CHOICE BASED ON

LIES!

Even if it was going "well" - we'd still be against it - not as many as are now, but I would be PROUD to say I have always been against it from the get-go.

It was a LIE - it was WRONG - it IS Criminal!

But you'll never get it...

[PA Democrat]

78. Since I have been anti-war since the day Bush started talking of shock & awe, I'd say I am antiwar

DESPITE the media.

[llmart]

79. Geez, here we go again......

whining about why doesn't the media report all the wonderful things happening in Iraq? Maybe because there's nothing wonderful happening in Iraq.

It's just too difficult for these guys to admit that this fiasco was all for naught and their time in Iraq was all for naught. When they finally come home they'll have to convince themselves that they actually did something there in order to come to terms with their lives.

The military has been used and abused by BushCo.

[Semper_FiFi]

85. Perhaps Americans oppose the "mission"...

because they were lied to. The media did it's fair share of lying and covering up. But now only Faux news tries to spin the facts on Iraq. Americans aren't buying it.

I didn't buy it then...I was opposed to this filthy and illegal war from the get-go. I just couldn't believe that other people were not willing to open their eyes to the truth.

[Lilith Velkor]

86. Prove it - let the troops use email again - or STFU, General.