Matthis Chiroux and the Winter Soldiers

Seems we have another soldier refusing assignment to Iraq and another disengenuous attempt to slant the story by our friends in the lib'ral media. To wit, here's how AFP covered the statement of Matthis Chiroux, testifying at the Winter Soldier on the Hill event:

"I was from a poor, white family from the south, and I did badly in school," the now 24-year-old told AFP. "I was 'filet mignon' for recruiters. They started phoning me when I was in 10th grade," or around 16 years old, he added.

Chiroux joined the US army straight out of high school nearly six years ago, and worked his way up from private to sergeant. He served in Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, and the Philippines and was due to be deployed next month in Iraq. On Thursday, he refused to go, saying he considers Iraq an illegal war.

I don't pretend to know what any of these guys have been through and don't begrudge them their hard-earned opinions. This is still a free country. They are engaged in an activity that would result in, at the least, enhanced interrogation in many other countries. My beef here is with AFP.

Nowhere in the story does it say what Mr. Chiroux did in the service--he was a photojournalist. Why leave that out? Too embarrassing? Furthermore, the first few quotes make it seem he was almost tricked into military service by evil recruiters but it fails to provide any background, like this:

First, he would join the U.S. Army. Then, he would use his G.I. Bill benefits to enroll in college to pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer. After college, Matthis planned to become a public defender and dabble in politics.

Well, guess it was too much to ask any further questions exploring that political bent. They also failed to mention his father was a Navy vet who should have acted as a junkyard dog barrier to protect, as he called himself, the filet mignon.

And as Beerintheheadlights reminds us, the AFP forgot to mention the assembled group around Mr. Chiraux were members of IVAW as part of the Winter Soldiers on the Hill event, a John Kerry Vietnam rehash hosted by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group of left wingers chaired by Congressman Barbara Lee of Berkeley (although an official House search turns up not much). So there you go. Decide for yourself.