"MIDWEST HEROES" AD FACT SHEET
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Progress For America Voter Fund AD Fact Sheet
Progress in the War on Terror
Iraq is Taking Control of Its Own Security
- The Defense Department recently announced plans to cut the number of troops in Iraq by 30,000 as Iraqis take greater responsibility for its own security (USA Today, 1/16/06)
- Iraqi Forces Almost Doubled For December Elections (AP, 12/2/05)
- Iraqi Government Recently Assumed Control Of Its Own Borders (http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/Dec2005/a120105wm1.html, 12/15/05)
Democracy is Taking Root
- 11 million people voted with overall turnout at more than 70% (versus about 56% in the US in Nov ‘04)
- "The day was strikingly peaceful, even in areas normally beset by violence. …"
- Significant numbers of Sunni Muslims, who had prior abstained from voting, participated in the December election Source: The New York Times, 12/16/05
Life in Iraq is Improving
- "An estimated 310,000 Iraqi school children are benefiting from the 784 schools renovated and new schools completed to date" by American Soldiers and contractors (http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/58852.pdf, 1/11/06)
- "Per capita income should soon exceed $1,000 -- nearly double the level in 2003….and more than 30,000 new businesses have been registered." (Robert M. Kimmitt, Op-Ed, "Iraq's Post-Saddam Economy," The Wall Street Journal, 12/9/05)
- A recent poll showed that by a 2-to-1 margin, more Americans believed that news reports were making the situation in Iraq seem worse than it really is (39%) than better than it really is (19%) (Pew Research Center, 12/14/05)
- "…Mr. Bremer said that the media have failed to convey the chaos in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and how much progress has been made. 'We had lots of good news stories every day, and I couldn’t get the press to cover it,' he said." (The Dallas Morning News, 1/28/06)
- LTC John M. Kanaley (US Army in Baghdad) wrote of the "February 10th, 2006 press conference announcing the final verification of December's election results. Although the final allocation of parliamentary seats did not change from last month's tentative reports, the conference was nonetheless significant for American and Iraqi history. What was equally significant was the absence of members of the western press… Since they were unable to report a "disastrous" event of this war, apparently, their budgets did not allow for attendance in Baghdad. The true significance of this announcement is the underlying theme which the anti-war crowd refuses to recognize: the war has been successful and there is verifiable progress within the country of Iraq.” (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/; 2/13/06)
The Troops Support Their Mission
A recent Military Times poll found that:
- Active duty troops "were more upbeat on the war's progress than the public as a whole"
- 73% said the U.S. was very or somewhat likely to succeed in Iraq
- 56% said the U.S. should have gone to war in Iraq
Saddam Hussein’s Brutality in Iraq
- "As Many As 1 Million People [Are] Believed Executed [Under Saddam Hussein's Reign]."
- "17,000 'Disappeared' Iraqis According To Amnesty International." Human Rights Watch Estimates That Saddam Hussein's Regime Gassed At Least 40 Villages And Killed As Many As 100,000 Kurds.
- In The Campaign Against Kuwait, Saddam's Troops Employed All Sorts Of Torture, Including Forced Self-Cannibalism.
Our Enemy In Iraq Is Al Qaeda
- BRIAN ROSS, ABC NEWS: "Zarqawi is the man known to be the al Qaeda chief inside Iraq who is blamed by the US for many attacks there." Source: ABC News' "Good Morning America," 5/13/04
- "[The] leader of the violent insurgent organization, al Qaeda in Iraq, has sworn to destroy the country’s nascent democracy." (The Washington Post, 2/13/06
- "'Now you actually have a wedge, or a split, between the Sunni population and al-Qaeda in Iraq,' said Maj. Gen. Richard Zahner, deputy chief of staff for intelligence for multinational forces in Iraq." (USA Today, 1/26/06
- PRESIDENT BUSH: “The outrage even reached the Jordanian town of Zarqa, birthplace of the terrorist Zarqawi, who heads al Qaeda in Iraq and who was the mastermind of the Jordanian bombing.” (President’s Speech To The National Guard Association, 2/9/06
Terrorist Activities Attributed To The Al Qaeda In The Last Ten Years:
- SAUDI ARABIA June 1996: Bomb at U.S. military base near Dhahran kills 19 soldiers.
- KENYA, TANZANIA Aug. 1998: U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam bombed, killing more than 250 people, including 12 Americans, and injuring 5,000.
- YEMEN Oct. 2000: Suicide bombing of USS Cole kills 17 U.S. sailors.
- UNITED STATES Sept. 11, 2001: Suicide plane attacks on New York's World Trade Center Pentagon near Washington hijacked plane’s crash Pennsylvania almost 3,000 people.
- SPAIN March 11, 2004: 191 people killed, more than 1,800 wounded, in simultaneous explosions in packed trains at three Madrid stations.
- BRITAIN Thursday: (July 7, 2005) Four explosions hit London subway trains and bus.
Source: "Major Attacks Blamed On Al Qaeda Network And Affiliates," Detroit Free Press, 7/8/05
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7 Comments:
Iraq is Taking Control of Its Own Security
* The Defense Department recently announced plans to cut the number of troops in Iraq by 30,000 as Iraqis take greater responsibility for its own security (USA Today, 1/16/06)
So, when the Democrats called for this, we pointed as supporters of cutting and running. What exactly has changed that made the admnistration go along with this? Violence is still just as high, the elections brought extremists legit power, half the country is still without running water or electricity.
* Iraqi Forces Almost Doubled For December Elections (AP, 12/2/05)
From one to now almost two batallions. Whopee do. There were supposed to be 100,000 strong Iraqi force a year ago. We are not quite half-way there. The key to this statement is to not use numbers.
* Iraqi Government Recently Assumed Control Of Its Own Borders (http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/Dec2005/a120105wm1.html, 12/15/05)
Then why are our troops still dying on those borders. Why are those porous borders leaking terrorists daily?
This is nothing but a propoganda spin campaign and since these particular troops decided to throw themselves into it, they are fair game for criticism. That criticism is legitimate from any American citizen. So keep the their protecting my ass and show some respect for the troops line for those who are not in the political arena.
You guys seem to forgot that when sullying the record and character of all the Democratic combat troops like Kerry, Murtha, Clelend, Hackett and now Walz. I guess I can't forget the Republican ones either like McCain.
I don't get why this is an issue.
KSTP's news ratings stink. The 10PM news is behind even Seinfeld reruns on Fox9. This "refusal" to run the ad is a game by KSTP to get all the media in the Twin Cities talking about KSTP. It's a game to get people to turn on KSTP news.
Cripes. It's a free market! They have no obligation to take the money and run the ad.
KSTP? Aren't they some public access station that you can get only after 11pm every third Sunday?
If nothing else, between this and Nick "I've Never Met A Lefty I Didn't Like" Coleman's pieces in the Red Star Tribune, more attention will be paid to the ads than if they had decided to run them. It's a win-win for both Midwest Heroes and the braintrust at KSTP.
"This is nothing but a propoganda spin campaign."
Upset are we that the testimony of those actually on the front lines has punctured the defeatist veil the Left and its accmoplices in the MSM have draped over the war? Inconvenient isn't it, when the players on the field interpret the game differently than those who merely play armchair quarterback?
Good for them. It's about time their side is heard -- loudly and clearly. I am tired of the hyperbolic, extreme, tasteless rhetoric and antics of the characters on the fringe Left -- Sheehan, Dean, et. al. -- going unchallenged by those who actually fight the war.
I am also tired of the radical lefts attacks against our troops. I am glad that military families beyond Cindy Sheehan are standing up and supporting everything the troops are doing in Iraq. The radical left rhetoric is just too much. America needs to start to stand up and say "yes, i support the troops and I want them to finish the job they started and come home safely."
Thank you for posting the FACTS about our progress in Iraq. It's refreshing to see positive news reported on the War - these are the things people don't hear. I guess they don't make good news. And to the people who want to attack these positive results as not being enough - it's clear great progress has been made. The Iraq government has a Constitution, elections, and other aspects of a democracy including free speech. Yes, there are things not complete at this point, but isn't this why we need to stay and make sure the efforts made by our troops are not in vain... To show them we don't believe in them or the mission is the greatest disservice we could do to these men and women (as well as our country) - they need our support to finish the mission and come home leaving behind a stable, safer Middle East.
Thank you for posting the FACTS about our progress in Iraq. It's refreshing to see positive news reported on the War - these are the things people don't hear. I guess they don't make good news. And to the people who want to attack these positive results as not being enough - it's clear great progress has been made. The Iraq government has a Constitution, elections, and other aspects of a democracy including free speech. Yes, there are things not complete at this point, but isn't this why we need to stay and make sure the efforts made by our troops are not in vain... To show them we don't believe in them or the mission is the greatest disservice we could do to these men and women (as well as our country) - they need our support to finish the mission and come home leaving behind a stable, safer Middle East.
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