I agree with you that everyone has a right to express his/her opinion on the wisdom or not of this war. Veterans have as right to express their opinions, too. They have their own unique perspective.

I served four years in the Army and one in RVN as a young man. I have strong opinions about those experiences. I have no problems listening to colleagues with whom I served express opinions about that war that are different from mine.

But this post was about a news story which offered the reporter's slanted opinion (that Iraq is like Vietnam) and supported it with what he intended to be an "authoritative" witness who had been in the military.

The witnesses point of view, while it lent total support to the story's point of view, lent zero authority.

And that is the point. As stated in the post, this was an editorial/opinion piece disguised as a news story.

FYI, the M-16 was not a "piece of crap" the problem with the firing of the weapon was the powder in the ammunition it was using, Thanks to your liberal buddy Mac intire, he overroad the experts and insisted on using ball powder rather than the stick powder recommended by the experts. A lot of guys were killed by Macintires insistance.

Phillips:

You sound like you are still in the "starship" Beam me down scitty" I don't want to be near Phillips any longer.

Please explain how this one soldier's opinion is any more or less relevant than any other citizen of this country soldier?

My dad recalls being in Vietnam & a reporter's coming to his unit & asking about the M-16, which had been getting a reputation for jamming.

"No, it's a fine weapon, you just have to take care of it" was everyone's response, until the reporter found one general malcontent who hated his rifle & everything else. "Oh, yeah, it's a piece of crap," etc.

Naturally, that guy ended up being quoted most prominently. "Rifle Working Just Great" isn't a news headline.

If this kind of thing strikes you as "media bias," get over it. Or go read the last couple of days' posts at Eschaton, and see some right-wing media bias exposed.

'Hey Soldier, we'll give you five thousand bucks to say that Iraq is Viet Nam...'

First, is that any one with a smidgen of military experience is an 'authority' on Iraq or terrorism (especially if their opinion is contrary).

Second, that we should be amazed that there are people in the military that have their own opinions and think for themselves.

So they found one guy with past military experience that feels this way. So what?

NEWS: - Bush Urges Up-or-Down Vote on Alito - Kerry's Call for Filibuster Praised and Panned - Pentagon Can Now Fund Foreign Militaries - Hamas, Like Fatah, Wants All of 'Palestine' - EU Approves Ban on 'Homophobia'; Christians Remain Silent...

Sure, you go get your gun and be on the front lines when it comes, but until you actually served in the military (which by the way I did) you have no right to judge whether or not an ex-service member has the right/no right to voice his opinion.

You might be surprised that not everyone in the military is republican.

It is The Soldier, not the reporter,

Who has given us Freedom of the press.

It is The Soldier, not the poet,

Who has given us Freedom of speech.

It is The Soldier, not the campus organizer,

Who has given us Freedom to demonstrate.

It is The Soldier, not the lawyer,

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is The Soldier who salutes the flag,

Who serves under the flag and
Whose coffin is draped by the flag
Who allows the protester to burn the flag