Someone is getting the idea about the kind of material we need in the blogosphere to show the truth. Here's the description from the YouTube entry.
Another video of my best friend Ritch's 2nd tour in Iraq, This video shows what the liberal media won't, look at the kids face who gets the ball, He is so happy just to have rubber ball! How Spoiled are we in our rich nations, most kids would just be like gee thanks and throw the ball as far as they could. God loves the Iraqi people too and he is showing his love here through my friends Unit through the Marines. Innocent people die in war but We do care about these civilians. Looking through all the pictures I was hard pressed to find one Marine not smiling. This was my friends favorite mission he went on while in Iraq.I'm greedy. I want more. Lots more!
If you're a blogger, it would be great for you to host this video on your blog, too. Let's get this kind of thing out in front of as many people as possible. It's a publicity war and it's up to us to win it.
Update: I sent the links to my previous posts asking CENTCOM to give us stuff like this to the Public Affairs (PAO) groups all across the operational commands in the area and the services. I didn't even get an email response saying, "Thanks, but no thanks." I got nothing. That was rude and pathetically weak.
Recently at work I saw a briefing on our Influence Operations work at CENTCOM and elsewhere. It was totally depressing. A positively Byzantine bureaucracy had been constructed to try and influence public opinion across the globe. It was clumsy and hopelessly out of date. What we need is material like this and a chance for those of us who believe that there is a difference between good and evil to start some viral marketing.
I'll be sending this link to all the same PAO groups. Let's see if they even bother to respond.
Update 2: It just dawned on me that since the Navy has blocked YouTube from its utterly crippled NMCI computer network, some of the recipients of this email won't be able to see the video. How marvelous. Perhaps the next national strategy document ought to be called "Winning the Information War by Tying a Blindfold Around Your Head and Slamming Your Hand in a Car Door Over and Over Again."
There was a story on the news, probably Fox, but might've been CNN or MSNBC - that the govt. is allowing the troops to post their youtube videos, and that they are showing a completely different side of things than the 'mainstream media' Things like what you just showed, things about rebuilding, maybe this is part of that. It is a hopeful sign.
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