USMC Lt. General Pitman's Letter of Apology

I received an e-mail today which purportedly is a letter written by General Chuck Pitman, USMC, although an earlier version has been circulating for more than two years. The letter did not originate with Pitman. This sarcastic, Muslim-baiting list of offenses against us was initiated by Dr. Mike S. Adams, Professor of Criminology at North Carolina University. Adams posted the letter on Townhall.com back on June 14, 2004.

The "Letter of Apology" has been altered several times, probably whenever it was e-mailed anew. Apparently, Pitman was involved in some revisions before passing it on. He and Adams need to get their facts straight.

You might be asking, "Who is this Pitman." So glad you asked. The man spent 38 years in the USMC in several theatres of war. He's a genuine war hero with ribbons, badges, pins, and commendations to prove it. He was wounded on one of his missions - the secret, unconstitutional (aren't they all?) incursion in Laos during the Viet Nam war. He is retired from the military. Now he is CEO of a company he founded, Eagle Management Systems, a defense contractor - which means he is still in the war business. The corporation seeks government contracts.

This ever-changing Letter of Apology calls for answers because of its untrue history, arrogance and bigotry. Because you, the reader, might not have the text before you, I will simply insert my version of the truth as I encounter the points in the letter.

The US did not intervene in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Kuwait to defend Muslims. We were defending sovereignty and liberty.

Many Arabs and Muslims do not live in "squalor under savage dictatorships." Many live under kings who provide them with free health care and education through university. Saddam did that in Iraq, and women were included on an equal basis.

Only a few of the schools in the Arab world preach hatred for the US, and that is a result of our involvement in Palestine, Iraq and Kuwait. We seem to hear hate for Arabs from some of our most influential people, too.

Arafat was not "kicked out of every Arab country." And he was immensely popular in Palestine. He did not "high-jack the Palestinian cause." America has paid a high price for ignoring the 50 year slaughter of Palestinians.

Pitman - and/or Adams - criticize Michael Moore by ridiculing his weight problem. Well, of course, they never face Moore's ideas. Most of them refused to see Fahrenheit 911. When I watched the movie, there were only eight people in the theatre. It's so much easier to attack the source than the facts.

Pitman's letter refers to the UN scamming the poor people of Iraq with the "food for oil" program. Truth is that US corporations were deeply and heavily involved in profiteering on that one. Read Harpers magazine's expose of March, 2006. And anyone fretting over the poor people of Iraq should consider that we blockaded food and medicine to that population for more than 10 years. At least 1.5 million children and people in ill health perished as a result. It was called THE SANCTIONS. We'll face redemption for that crime someday as surely as we deny its maginitude and significance today.

The innocent people dying daily in Iraq might have been spared had we not invaded and unleased the factions now engaged in a virtual civil war.

The Letter of Apology is pure emotion and hate. We read of rape rooms and 72 virgin rewards. That's debatable. Pitman says we were just "making fun of a few prisoners at the prison camps." Explore that one. What happened to the WMD and the human shredding machines?

Pitman needs to get out more. He should read more widely. He's locked into the military-industrial complex.

So who wrote most of the "apology?" Was it Dr. Adams or Lt. General Pitman or a neocon propagandist in the Pentagon or - as some suggest - a teenager?

You can find the Letter of Apology by Lt. General Chuck Pitman by a Google search.