They've been back about a week. Have you heard anything? I hadn't, so I looked. Surprise: the Truth that they found was that they couldn't leave the arms of their military escorts. The truth is that Iraq is an absolute mess.
The Truth Tour was organized by Rightalk.com, Move America Forward, and right-wing consultants Russo, Marsh & Rogers,
http://www.rmrweb.com/index2.asp
"A contingent of conservative talk radio hosts is headed to Iraq this month on a mission to report "the truth" about the war: American troops are winning, despite headlines to the contrary," as Fox News heralded it on July 6, 2005.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,161463,00.html
Let's see. Who was on the trip? Buzz Patterson (RIGHTALK), Melanie Morgan(KSFO), Martha Zoller(WDUN), Mark Williams(KFBK), Brad Maaske (KMJ) and Michael Graham(WMAL)
What did they report? Read below.
Morgan, talk radio host for KSFO Radio in San Francisco and co-chair of Move America Forward, reported on July 13 that a girl who had gotten wounded in an ambush & burnt over much of her body was being treated by US medics and was getting better. But remember, there are no civilian casualties.
http://www.ksfo560.com/viewentry.asp?ID=333513&PT=hosts
Brad Maaske's report on July 14 attempted to make up for the lack of news with a surfeit of exclamation points:
"Wow, What a Day!
This has been the most incredible trip of my life! I have met the most wonderful people and have learned so much first hand. A Doctor, Captain Daniel Green, at Forward Operating Base Prosperity, one of Saddam's Palaces, decided that the only way we were going to see Iraq properly was to have unfettered and total access to anyone in Baghdad, from the lowest soldier to the Chief of Operations.... and we did!"
[NOTE: NO ACTUALY MEETINGS WITH IRAQIS...]
"My day started at 7:00 AM as I was going out on foot patrol with the Iraqi Army. Over the course of the day I went on 3 patrols and saw several trouble spots in the red zone.
Others in our group were taken to see the reconstruction projects as well as going on patrol and visiting an orphanage in the red zone adopted by our American Soldiers! I was 1/2 mile from the suicide bomber.
You should be so proud of the wonderful job our soldiers do. Children flock to the Humvees whenever they stop. It is no wonder the murdering terrorists have gone to the softest targets of all, children accepting candy and gifts from our soldiers!
Over the course of 18 hours we saw more than we could absorb. We are all still checking our notes, recordings and videotape to share what we have learned.
Its 2:30 AM and we are now back in Kuwait. Many of us have had less than 10 hours sleep since Monday. One thing is certain, there is a ways to go, but, we are making significant progress towards turning Iraq over to the the Iraqi's." [sic]
[NOTICE THE IMPLIED "PHEW! BACK IN KUWAIT!"]
http://voicesofsoldiers.com/article.php?story=20050714191925566
Martha Zoller had much the same experience talking to soldiers but not seeing any Iraqis
http://www.accessnorthga.com/articles/afullstory.asp?ID=94127
Everyone knew they wouldn't be actually talking to any Iraqis. The plan was to broadcast from U.S Central Command headquarters in the's Green Zone and to travel with the troops. Not to wander around and report on happy Iraqis.
Mark Williams, talk show host for KFBK in Sacramento said the they would report "what we see and what we are told," but their collective feeling is that there is mostly good. This according to the Fox story linked above.
Michael Graham filed a "I just spent a week in Iraq and Kuwait" in NRO on July 21 and said over and over again that the soldiers were saying things that "the MSM" wasn't reporting but, strangely, Graham won't report what they actually said either.
To wit:
"Again and again, from "white-collar" soldiers working in the relative safety of Camp Victory at the Baghdad airport to the "real" soldiers patrolling Route Irish (a.k.a the "Highway of Death"), I heard that America and their Iraqi-army allies are winning the war against the insurgents. I was told again and again by the soldiers themselves that their (our) cause is just, the strategy is working, and the enemy they fight represents evil itself."
[DO YOU SEE ANY DIRECT QUOTES HERE? I DON'T]
"In other words, I heard things seldom heard on CBS or read in the pages of the New York Times."
[SUCH AS?.....]
"It was only a week, and I have my obvious Bush-supporting, troop-cheering biases, but how much closer can a reporter get to delivering unspun, bias-free objective reporting than live-mic broadcasting instantly back to the states? No edits or filters or editorial meetings. Just the young men in the hot desert telling what they've seen, what they've heard, and what they now believe based on those experiences."
[SUCH AS?......]
"I'm proud to say that, for a week, the soldiers had their say. If I were the editor of a major daily newspaper or a national network, I would be concerned that what they said is so contrary to what I am printing or broadcasting."
[AND THEY SAID WHAT, EXACTLY?....]
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/graham200507210803.asp
So. It is now July 25.
What was the purpose of the Truth Tour, exactly? Does anyone think that one of these truth-tellers will tell us the real truth of their tour?