Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 9:25 AM

Subject: Support Our Troops w/attached Response

To All:

    The below e-mails came via friends of friends currently serving in OFI.

    There is not much more that I can add to the quotes taken from the below

e-mails except to pass them on as requested; and, remember our troops and

what they are doing this Memorial Day holiday.

    "Are you all afraid of being shown a different view of things?  I would be more than happy to sit down with

any of you and discuss our different views.  Or does the thought of finally having your facts straight scare you? 

I choose to actively engage this minority."

S/F, Mike

*************************************************************************************

From: Phil Mooney moondawg1975@yahoo.com
Subject: Fwd: Support Our Troops!
Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 14:22:04 -0700 (PDT)


Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 22:43:35 -0400
From: "Eric Leininger" ecleininger@verizon.net
Subject: Support Our Troops!
 
Hello,
 Please allow me to express my VIEW!  Way too often in this country the boisterous minority is given the largest platform to present their outrageous opinions.  Case in point, Rosie O'Donnell on ABC's The View said, "Six hundred fifty-five thousand Iraqi civilians are dead.  Who are the terrorists?"  She went on to further insinuate that American soldiers are the terrorists. ABC has given her the platform to spew this type of filth for far too long.  For my own peace of mind, I can no longer sit back with passive anger.  I choose to actively engage this minority.

 Four years ago, I voluntarily left my family and friends to help preserve our country's unparalleled freedoms.  I consider serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom to be one of my life's greatest privileges. I mention my service humbly, as the sacrifices during my deployment pale in comparison to that of so many of our troops and their families.  My desire is only to add first hand credibility to the character of our soldiers.  As a prior infantry soldier in Iraq, I know that we take extreme measures to protect innocent Iraqi lives.  For anyone to contradict this does a great disservice to those young men and women putting their lives in unimaginable danger on a daily basis.  As well, I promise you that American soldiers have more compassion for the suffering of the Iraqi people than Rosie O'Donnell could ever fathom.  I doubt that Rosie has ever listened to an 11 year old Iraqi boy tell how he is left to care for his family because Saddam's regime murdered his father and older brother.  Why then is she given a daily platform to speak on topics she has little to no knowledge about?  Shame on ABC!

 Along with freedom of speech comes our freedom to choose whom we allow to speak in our homes. That is why, as of today, ABC programming has been removed from my family's television guide.  We are fine with giving up some of our favorite programming (even settling for listening to the Buckeyes football team on the radio next fall - ouch!).  However, we are not o.k. with continuing to give the
minority the loudest voice. May God Bless America!

Sincerely,
Eric Leininger

P.S. Please forward my message to everyone you know!
**********************************************************************

From: Phil Mooney  
Subject: response to "support our troops"
Date: Thu, 24 May 2007 11:40:40 -0700 (PDT)

I’m writing this letter in response to a letter my
friend sent out on the comments made by Rosie
O’Donnell. His letter got a response from a senior
writer at eWeek on the west coast. He said that his
letter was misguided and needed some perspective

andhe of course felt that he was a professional on the
matter of the war and what Rosie O’Donnell had said.

I have watched these so called professionals on the

war voice their opinions on an immediate withdrawal

of troops from Iraq.

My question is how many of them have been there to

see what is going on? It’s a little too easy to sit in your

nice soft office or cubicle and call us the terrorists. I say

“us” because unless they plan on moving to another country,

they are Americans also and they have a voice to protest

what’s going on. Before you go flapping your jaws though

remember this. “Get your facts straight”. That’s what my

friend was told about his letter.

You want to speak out on how immoral the war is, but

how many of you have actually been there? How many

of you have stood in an Iraqi town and received praise

from kids and adults for finally freeing them? Have you

been hugged by a teenager that is grossly deformed from

a grenade that was tossed into his uncle’s store by Iraqi

soldiers because his uncle spoke out against his government?

Here’s my perspective for all you media types that
like to run your mouths about how terrible your
government is. I apologize ahead of time because I’m
not as soft as most Americans. You talk about how much
of a disaster the war has been up to this point and
want to tuck your tail and run. I have the perfect
solution for your problem. We need to let the brave
men and women of the U.S. Military do what we have
been trained to do. I believe that the media
unknowingly ties our hand behind our backs. Which in
turn ends up costing more and more lives.

You sit back and protest and show mostly the negative

aspects of the war before realizing how much of a negative

impact one-sided media has. I feel everybody deserves the
freedom of speech and should express their opinions.
Maybe people should educate themselves on both sides
first. I admit that I don’t watch very much tv, but I
have yet to see somebody like Rosie O’Donnell have a
debate with someone like myself that has actually been
there.

Are you all afraid of being shown a different view of things?

I would be more than happy to sit down with any of you and

discuss our different views. Or does the thought of finally