Smearing "Midwest Heroes"

Why am I not particularly surprised. Powerline blog with a piece related to an Op-Ed maligning Midwest Heroes.

It's hard to imagine a less controversial exercise of freedom of speech than this message of support, by three servicemen who have returned from active duty in Iraq, for their mission there. But to liberal Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman, their defense of their own service in Iraq was out of bounds. Coleman's column today attacks the ad and the servicemen who made it as "devoted to political spin more than truth." Coleman writes:

The news [from Iraq] was grim: There were 2,500 insurgent attacks in December, and although there are peaks and valleys in the numbers, each peak is said to be higher than the peak before.

But for those devoted to political spin more than truth, there was a positive development in the war, a development which, oddly, took place on TV sets in Minnesota.

A commercial featuring veterans of the war in Iraq began airing here, telling viewers that the war in Iraq is against the terrorists of 9/11 and that it is going swimmingly.

These are dubious assertions, given that the war was billed as a war against Saddam Hussein and that it had cost the lives of 2,267 Americans as of Friday (almost 1,800 since the president said the mission was accomplished).

Of course, the video doesn't say the war is "going swimmingly;" it says our soldiers are "making real progress." Do the statistics that Coleman quotes refute that assessment? Not at all. If there were 2,500 insurgent attacks in December, that was below the monthly average for 2005. More important, the terrorists' attacks are becoming less effective. Currently, fewer than 10% of the attacks on American troops result in casualties, down from 25% to 30% a year ago. American casualties and fatalities declined last year, compared to 2004.

Coleman's article is pretty much the usual. Can't argue the message, so throw mud at the messengers. Have a look.