Traditionally, those in a controversial position who feel their kind and kin have been slandered have responded by digging in their heels against the firm grounding of truth. Nothing inspires our respect for the truth like being the victim of damnable lies.
Occasionally, a party involved in a controversial position under attack from without seeks instead to retaliate with their own lies, justifying their weapon of choice by virtue of the fact that their attackers are themselves liars. I submit that this an obvious conceit of one who feels their position insecure -- one who doubts whether the truth would in and of itself be enough to support their cause. They seize upon a perceived moral rationale for using lies in their arsenal, because they have been eager to gussy up the truth from the get-go.
With that preamble, I would now like to present this interesting article from The Olympian which asks the musical question: why is the U.S. Army mass-mailing smalltown newspapers all over America with bogus frontline missives? From the article:
Sgt. Christopher Shelton, who signed a letter that ran in the Snohomish Herald, said Friday that his platoon sergeant had distributed the letter and asked soldiers for the names of their hometown newspapers. Soldiers were asked to sign the letter if they agreed with it, said Shelton, whose shoulder was wounded during an ambush earlier this year...
Although...he agrees with the letter's sentiments, he was uncomfortable that a letter with his signature did not contain his own words or spell out his own accomplishments.
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