Spin 101 by The Guardian

Garry Trudeau, writing in the Doonesbury cartoon strip, tackles the tough and delicate subject of US wounded in Iraq.

Trudeau said he came up with the storyline because he wanted to illustrate the sacrifices that American soldiers were making.

So Trudeau is trying to take a negative, US wounded, and turn it into a positive, the sacrifices that are made during war.

Not to be out done, John Plunkett, writing in the greatest spinning machine of all time - The Guardian, takes a negative turned positive back into a negative. Did you follow that? Look what his headline reads:

Iraq cartoon challenge to Bush

The Doonesbury cartoon strip, long the scourge of US presidents, has caused more trouble for George Bush with a storyline that will leave an all-American hero seriously injured in Iraq.

Bush and all of America are all too painfully aware of the "nearly 4,000 [real] wounded troops in Iraq"; they are all heroes. This comic strip uses an all around American type guy, who through this injury, will "sacrifice" the ability to do the things he holds most dear; his athletic ability.

"Trudeau said the character he created 36 years ago would cope with the injury "probably the same way so many wounded vets seem to - with gratitude for having had one's life spared, empathy and respect for those who have suffered worse, and a grim sense of humor indispensable to fending off despair".

So where is the "challenge to Bush" , Mr. Plunkett? We already have 4,000 "real" wounded.

The only problem any of the newspapers voiced was this:

Newspaper editors have already expressed concern about the strip, not necessarily because of the storyline but because of its colorful language.

And what was that strong language?

US newspaper editors were divided over the use of the phrase "Son of a bitch!". "If you look down and suddenly part of your leg's been blown away, you're certainly not going to say, 'Goodness gracious!'" said Tampa Tribune editor and vice-president, Frank Denton. "In fact, 'Son of a bitch!' is fairly mild compared to what I'd say."

As I have said before, war is a horrible business and rightly so; otherwise we would practice it at the drop of a hat. No one wants to die or be maimed but the US has an all volunteer force. The ones in Iraq today were under no illusion when they joined that they may one day be put in harms way. After all the first gulf war was barely 10 years ago. Some of those serving in Iraq today were in that war, had a relative killed or injured in that war or knew someone who was killed in that war.

So why do they serve and risk death and injury? Because they believe in freedom and they believe freedom is worth the ultimate sacrifice.

Only a low life organization like The Guardain would try and spin this against Bush and by extension America.