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Iraq Vets Respond ... to the New York Times Seven

by KEARNEY | August 25, 2007 at 12:48 pm | 555 views | 5 comments

There is a growing split within the military on the extent to which current soldiers serving anywhere in the world can express their views publically on op ed pages of major news papers. A Group of 7 soldiers, aka the New York Times Seven, serving in Iraq recently did so last Sunday on the Op Ed pages of the New York Times hoping to give the world their insights into progress or lack thereof in Iraq. I always thought that the military were prohibited from engaging in political discourse until they were out of the service, so welcomed hearing from them. However, not all military people liked what they had to say including some Iraqi veterans.

ON SUNDAY, seven soldiers from the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division stationed in Iraq penned a passionate opinion piece in the New York Times that further illustrates the complexity of what is "really" happening in Iraq. Of the almost 3,000 soldiers from the Army's storied 82nd Airborne Division currently serving in the hottest of Iraqi neighborhoods, seven felt confident enough in their misgivings to sign an opinion piece. They should not be surprised that many of their comrades--including the seven undersigned here--find their work to be misguided.

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PEP

at 14:55 on August 25th, 2007

Kearney, you're driving me nuts! (And that's said in a very good way.) You bring us such great material. You have such a keen eye for the news. But....please, oh please, contextualize things. Add your comment. There's a reason you bring to us what you do--tell us why. Tell us your view of what this news means. Have you dropped into the forums to look at discussions there, and add your own if you have questions/comments? If I don't get to start adding more GS flags to your material soon, I'm going to be banging my head against my flags. :) I'm going to go back and add a flag to this story so that I know you'll see this comment. I'll remove the flag when I know you have. But I want to add another kind of flag. Puh-leeeze!

PEP

at 14:55 on August 25th, 2007

needs improvement:

KEARNEY, see my other comment. Help me remove this flag and provide another!

PEP

at 15:43 on August 25th, 2007

story improved:

KEARNEY, thanks for improving your story -- I can see you've put more effort into it. I've removed the flag and now more readers can see it. Thanks for your contribution.

We now have, thanks to the indefatigable Jordan, a thread on using highlight in the Forums section.

It's confusing to me, too, when I see active duty personnel commenting. Have you checked out phrolen's "Shifting Sands" series? He's an Iraq vet. I think you'd enjoy his stuff.

Let us hear more from you!