"Vets for Freedom," the 2006 Version of Swift Boat Vets

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Geoff Gray writes, "what looks to be a 2006 version of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has formed. The putatively grassroots organization called Vets for Freedom has been offering up decorated, interview-ready soldiers to, as its website puts it, 'promote the unbiased, nonpartisan truth of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, to educate the public and mobilize public support for the Global War on Terror.' Their offensive started in April, when former Bush press secretary Taylor Gross ... tempted newspaper editors ... with inexpensive war coverage—'unbiased perspectives' that 'would not be at any significant cost.' Gross had no takers. Then, over Memorial Day, Owen West, a Goldman Sachs commodities trader, Marine reservist, and adventure-book author published an op-ed in the Times in which he lashed out against war opponents ... . John Stauber, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, thought the Vets’ Website looked suspiciously un-grassroots. ... The group’s Website is hosted by Campaign Solutions, a high-profile political consultancy that does Republican-campaign web work. Clients have included Bush-Cheney ’04 and the Swift Boat Vets. 'Vets for Freedom are the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' of the ’06 cycle, says Stauber."