A heartbreaker

September 12th, 2007

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Unwelcome Truth and the Right Stuff
Political Waves

Two of Seven Soldiers Who Wrote ‘NYT’ Op-Ed Die in Iraq
Greg Mitchell, E&P
September 12, 2007

NEW YORK — The Op-Ed by seven active duty U.S. soldiers in Iraq questioning the war drew international attention just three weeks ago. Now two of the seven are dead.

Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance T. Gray died Monday in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad, two of seven U.S. troops killed in the incident which was reported just as Gen. David Petraeus was about to report to Congress on progress in the “surge.” The names have just been released.

Gen. Petraeus was questioned about the message of the op-ed in testimony before a Senate committee yesterday.

The controversial Times column on Aug. 19 was called “The War As We Saw It,” and expressed skepticism about American gains in Iraq. “To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched,” the group wrote.

It closed: “We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.”

Mora, 28, hailed from Texas City, Texas, and was a native of Ecuador, who had just become a U.S. citizen. He was due to leave Iraq in November and leaves behind a wife and daughter. Gray, 26, had lived in Ismay, Montana, and is also survived by a wife and infant daughter.

The accident in Iraq occurred when a cargo truck the men were riding in overturned.

The Daily News in Galveston interviewed Mora’s mother, who confirmed his death and that he was one of the co-authors of the Times piece. The article today relates: “Olga Capetillo said that by the time Mora submitted the editorial, he had grown increasingly depressed. ‘I told him God is going to take care of him and take him home,’ she said. ‘But yesterday is the darkest day for me.’”

One of the other five authors of the Times piece, Staff Sergeant Jeremy Murphy, an Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader, was shot in the head while the article was being written. He was expected to survive after being flown to a military hospital in the United States. ++

Deaths of Soldiers ‘Brings It Home’ For ‘NYT’ Editorial Page Editor
Joe Strupp, E&P
September 12, 2007

NEW YORK — The deaths in Iraq of Sgt. Omar Mora and Sgt. Yance Gray are hitting closer to The New York Times than most, according to Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal. That’s because the duo were among seven soldiers who penned a controversial Times column critical of some elements of the war just last month.

“It brings it home and it reminds you how distant most people are from this war,” said Rosenthal, who said the soldiers sent the column unsolicited to the paper seeking its publication. “It would be ludicrous to say this war has now touched us, but it has in a way. These are guys who had been more public.”

Mora and Gray, who died Monday in a vehicle accident in Western Baghdad, were among seven soldiers who co-wrote the column that ran in August and raised concerns about the operation there.

Among the column’s statements: “In short, we operate in a bewildering context of determined enemies and questionable allies, one where the balance of forces on the ground remains entirely unclear.”

The column sparked a strong reaction from Pentagon officials, who defended the U.S. operation in a statement, but stopped short of punishing the soldiers for speaking out.

Rosenthal said Deputy Editorial Page Editor David Shipley handled arrangements with the soldiers, including making sure they were comfortable with the likely negative reaction.

“They said from the get-go they did not want to be paid for this,” Shipley said, declining to reveal his payment scale, but said most freelance columnists are paid several hundred dollars. “It was a definite statement from them.”

“It was a really wonderful piece, we thought. I am proud of them. I thought it was great and what the Op Ed page is for,” Rosenthal said. “We had heard they got some grief from bosses about writing about this. But this is the 21st Century and people communicate with each other. Not every soldier in Iraq buys this Potemkin war that they are selling.”

Rosenthal added that their deaths drive home the impact the war continues to have on individuals, even with talk of later pullouts and drawn downs: “How many American lives, how many Iraqi lives are enough?”

The military had responded to the Op Ed: “It is important to note that as individuals voice their opinions on matters, that those viewpoints are representative of their personal perspective,” the Pentagon statement said at the time. “With approximately 160,000 Americans serving in uniform here in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, you’ll probably get that many different perspectives if you ask each of them.” ++

“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”
~ Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007

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Entry Filed under: Political Waves