The Counter-deception Blog

Joseph L. Galloway (jgalloway@krwashington.com), senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers and co-author of the national best-seller "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young." writes

Soldiers use Web to make voices heard
By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY
Knight Ridder Newspapers Posted on Wed, Aug. 11, 2004

WASHINGTON - Two young Army officers with time in Iraq are the brains behind a new Web site called Operation Truth that will be launched later this month.
Former Capt. David Chasteen and 1st Lt. Paul Rieckhoff, who is still serving in the Army National Guard, hope to "educate the American public about the truth of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from the perspective of the soldiers who have experienced them first-hand."
Toward that end they hope that their Web site, www.optruth.org, will provide a forum for soldiers and Marines still serving in Iraq or just returned, to tell their stories, post their digital photos and voice their complaints.
Chasteen, a native of Muncie, Ind., and Rieckhoff, a native of New York City, said Operation Truth is a nonprofit soldiers advocacy organization and is nonpartisan, nonpolitical and not affiliated with any candidate. But, like the soldiers they hope will post on their Web site, they have more than a few bones to pick with those in charge of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rieckhoff told me, "This is just a big, big After Action Review. After an operation in the military we sit down and talk it over. What was good, what was bad and how do we fix what was bad. The only people who ought to be afraid are those who have screwed up."
"The dialogue between soldiers and the people they serve is gone, and we want to restart it," Rieckhoff said. "If the majority of Americans are content to be protected and defended by a small minority of volunteer soldiers then they need to pay attention to those soldiers and take care of them and their families."
Although it is nonpartisan, Operation Truth and the issues it wants to debate before the American people are likely to cause the Bush administration some heartburn. Their brochure says, "We intend to publicize how poorly planned policies and approaches have manifested themselves as problems on the front lines and back at home. We will act domestically to protect our troops and to aid them in their fight to protect us."