Idaho National Guard tells soldiers to stick to approved themes when dealing with media

By Chuck Oxley
Associated Press/ 7/14/2004

BOISE, Idaho (AP) The Idaho National Guard has issued a set of talking points for soldiers to use when speaking to the media, reminding them to focus on support for the war in Iraq and confidence in American troops.

In this month's newsletter to the 116th Brigade Combat Team, the unit's public affairs officer told soldiers that referring to the approved themes ''adds continuity to the message we are portraying as a unit.''

The five ''command themes'' are:

pride in being on active duty

support for the U.S. presence in Iraq

confidence in American troops

commitment to unified forces

appreciation for families and employers

''Those are the messages we want out there right now,'' Capt. Monte Hibbert, who wrote the article, said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Fort Bliss, Texas, where he is training with 2,000 other Idaho National Guardsmen for a one-year tour in Iraq beginning this fall.

Hibbert said he did not intend to restrict soldiers' comments to the media.

''We just give them guidelines,'' he said. ''They can talk about how the deployment is affecting them personally, and they're free to express their opinion.''

Charles Sheehan-Miles, director of the Washington-based organization Veterans for Common Sense, said that is not how most soldiers perceive the message.

''I suspect it's going to be received with a good deal of cynicism,'' he said. He said the military is increasingly ''trying to control the message, because the leaders and the Pentagon have taken a lot of hits on the war, and they want a more positive message.''

Val Limburg, a journalism ethics and law professor at Washington State University, was untroubled by the talking points.

''In private-sector companies, you wouldn't expect employees to disclose things that might be harmful to their employer,'' Limburg said. ''Now if they're asking them to be deceptive to cover up something that was wrong that would be wrong and unethical.''

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