Secretary of Defense Warns: Bad War Press Hurts Obama’s Reelection Effort

Sometimes, a headline is published that just makes the reader go “DUH!” Something so blatantly obvious you just have to wonder how long the rocket scientist who wrote took to figure out a simple and obvious truth.

Such is the case in a recent Stars & Stripes headline, Panetta to Warn That Bad Press Hurts War Effort.

Those of us who served in Vietnam, recalling how our service and effort over there was distorted, misreported, blown out of proportion and sometimes outright fabricated can look at such a headline and say, “ya think?”

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the launch of the War on Terror in both Afghanistan and Iraq, we have repeatedly witnessed the lamestream media once again picking and choosing how they report our Troops efforts and service.

After the 9/11 Terrorist attacks, we invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven and seek capture of Osama bin Laden. October 30, 2001 saw the New York Times run A Military Quagmire Remembered: Afghanistan as Vietnam, already distorting our Troops actions.

Quagmire became a familiar description applied both to Iraq and Afghanistan while Democrats in the House and Senate joined in labeling the war “lost,”, a “quagmire,” “mismanaged” and even to the point of identifying our Troops as “cold blooded murderers,” as did now deceased Pennsylvania Democrat Representative Jack Murtha in 2006.

2003 and 2004 saw an even more concerted effort since it was a presidential election year and Democrats unleashed self proclaimed “war hero” John ‘f’in Kerry (who is rumored to have served in Vietnam) running on an anti-war ticket reminiscent of his early 1970’s anti-war effort.

A brave group of aging Vietnam Veterans, Swift Vets and POWs for Truth stood up to expose Kerry’s nefarious claims, only to be faced with distortions, lies and misrepresentations from both the lamestream media and Democrat Party who thought Kerry was their “ace in the hole” to regain power.

Kerry’s “the wrong war, in the wrong place at the wrong time” repeat of the words once spoken by General Omar Bradley and former President John F. Kennedy failed to unseat President George W. Bush.

That did not deter either the Democrats or the lamestream media who continued their denigration of President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and the Troops, even to the New York Times full page ad labeling General Petraeus as “General BetrayUs.”

We saw Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin stand up and make a floor statement on our Troops in Guantanamo,

“If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.”

Bad war press seemed to be the norm as long as George W. Bush was in office and even after he left we still see bad press concerning his leadership, crediting Barrack Obama with successes set in place by Bush.

For example, the claim of Obama got the Troops out of Iraq. No mention that they left under a Status of Forces Agreement negotiated and signed by Bush before Obama was in office.

And now we see Obama trying to score political points with the killing of Osama bin Laden, taking all credit for himself when he did little more than watch it on television as the intelligence set place by Bush led US Navy Seals to bin Laden, prompting some to condemn Obama’s grab of all credit to himself.

The lamestream media can’t be bothered to report that, though.

Going back to Secretary of Defense Panetta’s warning we see that he isn’t so much concerned about how the media has continually misreported out Troops efforts as much as he is about how the Troops themselves act. We read,

“When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta travels Friday to visit soldiers at Fort Benning, Ga., he’ll personally remind them of the harm that lapses in judgment and unwisely publicized photos and videos can inflict on the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. ‘We live in a world where these kinds of isolated incidents can become a headline in 15 seconds,’ Panetta said in an interview Monday. ‘And that can do tremendous damage’.”

No, he isn’t so much concerned over what the lamestream media reports as he is over what individuals do that might make the press.

Of course, when Bush was in office, we heard cries of “the Troops have free speech too” and how important it was that their words be heeded. As Marine Sgt. Gary Stein discovered, that same sentiment does not apply now that the Obama regime holds power.

We saw how ‘bad war press’ affected the outcome of the Vietnam War. We see how such ‘bad war press’ elongates the current War on Terror, costing more lives on both sides. We have seen how such “bad war press’ was an integral part of the lamestream media’s first amendment right to Freedom of the Press.

But now, it doesn’t seem to be as much of an integral part.

The difference?

Obama seeks reelection, Democrats wish to hold power in the Senate and Democrats have hopes of retaking power in the House of Representatives.

Make no mistake, Panetta’s “warning” has more to do with winning an election than with actual concern over our war effort.

The only war that matters to Democrats is the war to radically change America into what we never were.