ROVE'S 2006 TV Swiftboating of Iraq Begins; FIGHTIN' DEMS to the Rescue!

[FrenchieCat]

Rove's 2006 election plan got into gear this week and started revving it up in Minnesota.

The Plan?
Justify the current War in Iraq by linking 2001's 9/11 terrorism to today's Terrorists in Iraq via the usual suspects; talking heads on Teevee, written op-eds in Newspapers, ads with Veterans touting success; Perform saber rattling aimed at Iran, and emphasize to the American people that it is the Republicans and this Administration that can keep America Safe, because Democrats aren't "into" National Security.

In Minnesota, veterans take to TV to build Iraq war support
BRIAN BAKST
Associated Press

ST. PAUL - As images of smoke pouring from the World Trade Center flash by, Lt. Col. Bob Stephenson boils down the Iraq war to a battle to squash the al-Qaida terrorist network.

"You'd never know it from the news reports," Stephenson says firmly. "But our enemy in Iraq is al-Qaida, the same terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on 9-11, the same terrorists from the first World Trade Center bombing, the USS Cole, Madrid, London and many more."

Stephenson, a Marine reservist from Woodbury who spent five months in Iraq, delivered his message as part of a television ad that debuted Thursday in Minnesota. The 60-second spot aims to shore up support for the war by touting accomplishments, such as recent Iraqi elections.
snip
The ad was paid for by the conservative Progress for America Voter Fund, which will air it on network and cable stations in Minnesota over the next week. The Washington-based interest group wouldn't reveal the amount it spent, but spokesman Stuart Roy said the average television viewer should see it 10 times - a hefty number as ad rotation goes.

For now, Minnesota viewers are the sole target audience. Roy said the group hasn't decided whether to reach into other states.

Minnesota's 2006 U.S. Senate race is shaping up to be one of the nation's most competitive, but Roy insisted that wasn't a factor in choosing the state.
snip

Stephenson, who was stationed at the Camp Kalsu air base and didn't see combat during his tour, said in an interview that Americans are mostly hearing about death tolls, security problems and other negative aspects of war. He said the ad is a chance to convey the other side.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/13832571.htm

FIGHTIN' DEMS fighting Back, right here! :patriot:

TROOPS BACK FROM IRAQ BEING DEPLOYED ON FRONT LINES OF SPIN WAR
Last update: February 16, 2006 – 11:10 AM
Nick Coleman

snip
But for those devoted to political spin more than truth, there was a positive development in the war, a development which, oddly, took place on TV sets in Minnesota.

A commercial featuring veterans of the war in Iraq began airing here, telling viewers that the war in Iraq is against the terrorists of 9/11 and that it is going swimmingly.

These are dubious assertions, given that the war was billed as a war against Saddam Hussein and that it had cost the lives of 2,267 Americans as of Friday (almost 1,800 since the president said the mission was accomplished).

But more curious than the dubious assertions is the agenda of this big-bucks ad campaign: Who is paying for this pro-war propaganda?

News reports identified the sponsor as "the conservative Progress for America Voter Fund," but that barely scratches the surface. Progress for America is a campaign front for President Bush, meaning we have reached the point when the money men for a president who no longer faces election keep spending on spin to try to shore up support for a mistaken elective war.

Fellow Americans, the Swift Boating of Iraq has begun.

"This is a political organization that is using troops for a political agenda," says Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). "These ads are trying to prop up the president's flagging agenda. That seems like a cheap trick. It's the same kind of thing he does when he keeps goes around giving speeches in front of the troops."

His group, formerly known as Operation Truth (ex-Gov. Jesse Ventura is on the board of advisers), is a nonpartisan organization that supports the military while "empowering" veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars "to use their credibility and experiences to speak truth to power."

To Rieckhoff, a combat platoon leader in Iraq, these ads do not speak the soldiers' truth.

"The troops do not overwhelmingly support the president in Iraq," says Rieckhoff, who notes that polls show the troops' approval sinking to the low 50 percent range. "And the CIA said there is no link between 9/11 and Iraq. They still say that.

"So this ad is simply not true."
http://www.startribune.com/357/story/240370.html

We've got to stay ahead of them this time, and hit back hard every step of the way!

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) PAC right here!
http://www.iavapac.org/index2.html
General Clark is on the Board being the General that he is in this War on our Democracy.

Taking back the house and the Senate in 2006 is crucial......and so

"THE WAR HAS BEGUN!"

SEND THIS TO ANY AND ALL....JOURNALISTS, TV PERSONALITIES, TALKING HEADS, THE DNC, THE DCCC, THE DLC, AIR AMERICA (IN PARTICULAR RANDI RHODES, AL FRANKEN (he's from Minnesota!), SCHULTZ, STEPHANIE MILLER, ETC., ETC., ETC..... AND BLOG IT!

and if you don't have the time.....just Spread it this simple quote........

"THIS AD IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE!" :patriot: