Liberal blogger
Markos Moulitsas ("Daily
Kos") appeared on CNN's Reliable Sources this morning
(Sunday, June 18, 2006). Host Howard Kurtz asked Kos about
a comment he made on his blog a couple of years back. In April 2004,
in a thread about the coverage of the brutal murders of four Americans
in Fallujah,
Kos posted a comment in which he wrote (bold mine), "I feel
nothing over the death of merceneries. They aren't in Iraq because
of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq
a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them."
In part, here's how Kos responded to Kurtz. Video is at
Expose the Left.
KOS: ... [I]n a way it’s funny that they have not updated their
talking points in two years. And so they want to keep resurrecting
an old quote. There’s nothing I can do about it. What I can do is I
can say the fact is the reason, the context for that quote, was
solidarity with my brothers and sisters in arms, Marines and
soldiers. I wore combat boots. I served during the first Gulf
war. And people are making a choice between private armies and
mercenaries. I make my choice. I stand behind our men and women in
uniform, and I’m not going to apologize for that. But they’re going
to keep resurrecting that, and that’s fine. That’s what they do ...
Kos' remarks that "I wore combat boots" and "I served during the
first Gulf war" may have led some viewers to believe that he was sent to
the Middle East during the conflict. He was not. His period of service
occurred during the same time as the first Gulf war, but
Kos himself stated in
an article earlier this year that he "missed deploying to the Gulf
War by a hair." Moulitsas proudly served in the Army from 1989 to 1992,
and his service and sacrifice should be commended.
Hopefully this post will be helpful to those CNN viewers who may have
misinterpreted Kos' words.