Stories Unfair on Peace Protests

Regarding the Sept. 15 article, “Military recruiting spawns competing Northfield protests:This is not the first time I have been troubled by The Press' coverage of peace demonstrations. I was involved in a march on the Boardwalk last year, and a number of us were interviewed. But when the article appeared in your paper, the number of marchers was about cut in half, and none of our interviews was printed, other than the one with our leader, Norm Cohen. What was printed were most of the few negative remarks made on the sidelines.What was not stated in the Sept. 15 article is that we are not protesting against the troops, but against the Bush administration's policy of pre-emptive war. We support the troops, support help for their families, support more body and vehicle armor, support better medical care for the returning wounded and for those still suffering from previous wars, and we abhor the government's under-the-radar cuts in services.The statement by the father across the street from us — that it was “horrible that the peace group planned to protest the people who are fighting to protect the peace group's right to protest” — makes it evident that he doesn't understand our mission or our Constitution. None of the signs we carry says anything negative about our fighting men and women. I think I speak for most of us when I say that we supported the invasion of Afghanistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden, but we are opposed to the war in Iraq. We did not believe it was necessary, and all the information that has come out lately merely reinforces that belief. Regrettably, if the media had done their job early on, with some real investigative reporting, things may have turned out differently.

BETTIE J. REINA

Milmay

Letter printed in Press of Atlantic City, September 24, 2005.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/opsed/story/5605869p-5586590c.html