Remind me again what we're fighting for?

posted by The Sailor @ 5:09 PM Permalink

A bit of follow up to Bill's excellent post below about the military punishing wounded vets for speaking the truth.

It isn't an isolated occurrence, the military is also telling soldiers who haven't been wounded (yet) to only say what they are told to say:

Soldiers told to stay out of debate

Military press officers are telling U.S. troops to stay out of the fray if reporters ask them about the congressional debate concerning their future in Iraq.

A "public affairs guidance" memo sent to units in Iraq from the Baghdad command offers talking points for soldiers if asked what they think of the nonbinding resolution passed by the Democratic-controlled House on Feb. 16 opposing the Bush administration's troop increase in Iraq.
[...]
U.S. troops are instructed to "not make public comment" about the vote beyond a brief set of recommended talking points.

While there are more limitations on free speech when serving in the military than we civilians face, they do not extend to forcing soldiers to serve as sock puppets for the current misAdministration.

Let's go to the money quote:

Army Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a spokesman for the Multinational Division-Baghdad, said [...] it is not an order and knows of no cases in which soldiers were punished for varying from public affairs guidance.

Yeah right, they weren't 'ordered' just 'instructed.' If the military can remove from the public eye, silence and punish wounded vets in America? Just imagine what they can do to a soldier in a war zone.