The characterization by John Kerry of Americans serving our country in Iraq as unintelligent should not surprise anyone. Liberals and their fellow travelers in the mainstream media have nothing but contempt for our military and Kerry was only validating a consensus opinion among the left. This dirty little secret was verbalized by Kerry, which has forced the print and television media to desperately practice damage control.

Not since the Vietnam War have the mainstream media embarked on a protracted and concerted campaign to systematically demonize and ridicule the U.S. military. The press inflamed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal at every opportunity, exaggerated the details of the episode concerning the flushing of the Koran, continue to perpetuate the myth of alleged ill-treatment of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, and have even besmirched the crippling sacrifices our soldiers have enduring with tasteless unthinking political cartoons.

The liberal press has historically despised and resented the ability of the U.S. military to project power globally and are successfully blunting the efforts of the Bush administration to effectively fight terrorism by any means possible. Printing and reporting negative news exclusively at the expense of our military is shameless and provides the insurgents with impetus to continue their atrocious acts of terrorism.

Our military men and women are only doing their duty and should not be used by Kerry and the liberal media as convenient scapegoats to further their political ideology.

Robert Myers

Hampden