OTHER VOICES

Some vets are trying to get the truth out about Iraq:

Operation Truth, which has connected soldiers with journalists from the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and National Public Radio, among other outlets, employs five staffers and has an advisory board whose members include Jesse Ventura and Paul Bucha, a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Issues that Rieckhoff says are ripe for exploring in the media include the high number of wounded soldiers, the true number of military suicides, the Kurdish region, and more feature stories about the ways soldiers are deeply affected by the war.

Journalists, he adds, "haven't protected, or embraced, or really publicized" soldiers who have come forward with stories. Many troops are worried that speaking out "is going to affect their career, their families, their livelihood — and they're scared. The press should be trying to propel those voices and encourage those voices, not necessarily sculpt them, but give them a platform."

| |