You are absolutely correct, I believe the message you posted is probably a
fake.  The main reason for believing that is that it is full of Democratic
Talking Points.  Let's fisk the message that appeared in the Washington Post
on Wednesday, 5 July, the same day it was purportedly written in Iraq.

"Forgotten Sacrifice         By F. John Duresky
A few days ago, as I do every day in Iraq, I listened to the commander's
battle update. The briefer calmly and professionally described the day's
events. Somewhere in Iraq, on some forgotten, dusty road, an insurgent
fighting an occupying army detonated an improvised explosive device (IED)
under a Humvee, killing an American soldier. The briefer fielded a question
from the general and moved to the next item in the update."

There is no need to qualify the insurgent as someone "fighting an occupying
army", the word insurgent by itself is enough, unless someone wants to make
a point about "occupiers" as if the US military should not be there in the
first place.  So, adding the bit about occupying army denotes an agenda and
it is also high on the list of Democratic Talking Points, a trait that is
very visible in this message.

"The day before that, in America, a 15-year-old's incredibly rich parents
planned the biggest sweet 16 party ever. They will spend more than $200,000
on an opulent event marking a single year in an otherwise unremarkable life.
The soon-to-be-16 girl doesn't know where Iraq is and doesn't care.
 
That same day an American soldier died in Iraq."

An "Air Force captain" uses the word "opulent"?  This story is a few years
old.  There was indeed a father whose company had just gone public, who
threw a lavish bat mitzvah for his daughter.  What made the story "sordid"
is the company has a subsidiary that was manufacturing bullet-proof vests.
Many people were saying the man had gotten huge amounts of no-bid contracts
and had ripped off the government.  10 seconds of digging on the web showed
that was not the case.

I wonder where the "Air Force captain" got the story, if this is a new one.
Then again, this type of stuff occurs frequently, with the roaring economy
and virtually full employment, lots of people are getting rich.  And if the
15 year old girl doesn't know where Iraq is, (if that is truly the case,)
that is a failure of the educational system and the teachers.

"Two days earlier, a 35-year-old man went shopping for home entertainment
equipment. He had the toughest time selecting the correct plasma screen; he
could afford the biggest and best of everything. In the end, he had it
installed by a specialty store. He spent about $50,000 on the whole system. 
He has never met anybody serving in the military nor served himself, but
thinks we should "turn the whole place into a parking lot." That day,
another American soldier died in Iraq."

One wonders where the "Air Force captain" gets all this information, but
even if it's true and it may very well be, what's the point of this comment?
See my earlier paragraph about the economy and employment.  However, one of
the Democratic Talking Points is that the president has not asked people to
make sacrifices in this time of war.  According to the Democrats, the
economy should come to a halt and everybody should be roughing it out.  Just
like in WWII, we should be under strict rationing, not buying plasma TVs.
The Democrats simply cannot fathom the size of the economy. The war itself
is a small portion of it.

We also see the beginnings of another favorite Democratic Talking Point
here, when the "Air Force Captain" starts mentioning that the person in the
story was not in the military.

"Three days earlier, some college students had a great kegger. There were
tons of babes at the party, the music was awesome. Everybody got totally
blitzed, and many missed class the next day. The young men all registered
for the draft when they were 18, but even though our nation is at war, they
aren't the least bit worried about the draft. It is politically impossible
to conscript young people today, we are told. That day, another 
American "volunteer" died in Iraq."

Now we are finally getting somewhere.  If I add the days listed here and
backup from when the article appeared, it's end of June.  Classes have let
out long before that especially for the college folks mentioned here.  You
will notice that this is aimed solely at men, ("tons of babes"), the writer
seems to forget there are lots of women in the military; could it be because
the writer is not in the military?

We also encounter a very favorite Democratic Talking Point, the issue of
conscription, the draft.  At least it as now evolved away from "When Bushy
is reelected, he will reinstitute the draft."  Only Congress can do that.
So now, the point has evolved to "it is politically impossible."  Could it
be the writer knows nothing about the US government?

The US military is made up exclusively of volunteers and that irks the
Democrats, big time.  No one in the military would put the word volunteer in
quotation marks in such an article.  This further underlines the probability
this piece was not written by an "Air Force captain".

"Four days earlier, a harried housewife looked all over town for the perfect
accessory for her daughter's upcoming recital. Her numerous chores wore her
out, but she still found herself preoccupied. Her oldest son is having
trouble in his first year of college, and he has been talking of enlisting
in the Army. She is terrified that her child will go off to that horrible
war she sees on TV. She and her husband decide to give their son more money
so he doesn't have to work part-time; maybe that will help with his studies.
That day, another soldier died."

Yet another Democratic Talking Point, only losers enlist in the military.  I
also notice this "Air Force captain" has a problem with Americans living
their lives as usual.  And he uses the word "harried"?

"Yesterday millions of Americans celebrated Independence Day. They attended
parties and barbecues. Families came together from all across the country to
celebrate the big day. Millions of dollars were spent on fireworks. At
public events, there were speeches honoring the people who served and those
who made the ultimate sacrifice. These words mostly fell on bored ears. 

While the country celebrated its own greatness, other Americans were still
fighting in Iraq."

Well we now know for sure when this message was written, it definitely was
on Wednesday, July 5th.  Perhaps the writer never attended college, which
makes him ineligible to be an "Air Force captain".  Again we have here an
example of someone who has a problem with Americans being Americans.

And as for the bored ears thing, let me tell you that was not the case at
the outdoor concert we attended on Monday night, with lots of patriotic
music and thunderous applause for the servicemen and women.

And what's with "its own greatness?"  Can he just say "its greatness?"  Is
he questioning something here?


"Today Americans go back to their normal business. The politicians in
Washington have made sure the sacrifices of the war are borne by the very
smallest percentage of Americans. They won't even change the tax rates to
prevent deficits from running out of control. Future generations will pay
the cost of this war."

Bingo, some more Democratic Talking Points here.  Yes, the military now
makes up less than one percent of the population.  Even that small number
makes for the most powerful military on the planet and in history.  Are the
Democrats saying they want a larger military?

The next Talking Point is very telling:  "Tax rates!"  Why is an "Air Force
captain" writing about "tax rates"?  Everybody else would talk about tax
cuts, except that we now know tax cuts increase revenues to the Treasury.
So now we go after "tax rates".  This single line is for me the telling
point about this article.  This mythical "Air Force captain" was too clever
by half.

"Many Americans feel strongly about the war one way or another, but they
aren't signing up their children for service or taking the protest to the
streets. What can they do? It is they whom we in the military trust to
influence our leaders in Washington."

Now that the cat is out of the bag, there is no reason to hold back.  The
"Air Force captain" clearly doesn't understand about volunteering; parents
do not sign up their children for service.  One now wonders in which country
the writer lives.

"Today, as on every other day in Iraq, American servicemen are in very real
danger. Our country is at war. Mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and
children are worrying about their loved ones in a faraway land. They all
hope he or she isn't the one whose luck runs out today.

The writer is an Air Force captain stationed in Iraq."

And now we get to the end.  Again, I draw your attention to the use of the
word "servicemen", are the servicewomen not in danger there?  Is the writer
not aware there are many women in the military, in Iraq?  Maybe the writer
has never been to Iraq. The mythical "Air Force captain" does try to
recognize that at the end, but it's rather clumsy.

On the other hand, all the real messages and letters that I have seen from
real servicemen and women will have their name and rank and most times,
their unit and place of assignment in Iraq.

Until such time as it is confirmed that F. John Duresky is indeed a CPT
USAF, a pilot, and that we know which unit he is with and where he is
assigned in Iraq, I do not believe this message was written by any member of
the US military currently serving anywhere.

The media has been making stories up for way too long, I fear this yet
another example of media fabrication.


Denys

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