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