The fact that these are "letters to the editor" is one thing that differentiates them from the standard "please use our website, send an e-mail, and make your voice heard" type thing. Letters to the editor conditions for acceptance usually stipulate that you must be the author and that you haven't sent them to any other newspapers (this in part for copyright and other legal purposes). They want to hear what _your_ thoughts are, in your own words. Newspapers generally will require you provide contact info so they can call you back and verify you are the author (and that you haven't sent it to anyone else). I've been contacted for my few letters to national newspapers that were considered for printing (one actually made it, although they cut it a bit; Imagine that? Me too wordy?). This is not the first "astroturf" (i.e. fake "grassroots" opinion) campaign to be uncovered supporting Dubya or his policies. There was one a while back that was a form-letter taking about how great a president Dubya was and how he was showing "genuine leadership". IIRC, that one was engineered through a Republican-sponsored web-site that encouraged sycophants to use the web-site to e-mail in letters to the editor using their prepared text scripts (and promised "Republican team leader" points good for baseball caps or such for sending enough of these, and more if they got published. Google "astroturf letters to the editor" for more one this deceptive and dishonest practice. Newspapers, when they uncover such, are usually embarrassed, and they should have been on their guard for this. But maybe they let their guard down a bit to give these servicemen a chance to be heard. Bad move; I suspect the maladministration may be behind this latest "astroturf" as well; I'm not convinced the local commander came up with this idea on his own. . . . Cheers, -- Arne Langsetmo
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