Does Maj. Snyder imply there are thousands of other soldiers who have been killed by their own troops but whose death the military tried to take advantage of by falsifying the facts? It sometimes takes a celebrity to bring these issues to the light. The death of a soldier, sailor or airman should not be an opportunity for the militaries to sell a war. Had they been honest up front the Maj. would not be reading so much about Tillman's loss and could concentrate on the loss of over 3,000 others.

Dear Mr. Mazzarella:

I read a lot of newspapers, am very politically involved and, thus, I am very sensitive to issues of bias, impartiality, objectivity, etc., in the media in general and in newspapers in particular. I pay special attention to various newspapers' ombudsmen writings. I have recently started reading your ombudsman columns and other reports and I was specially struck by the quality, reasonableness, logic (and objectivity) of your columns regarding Iraq, Anne Coulter and the Tillman story. While some ombudsmen keep busy either writing "mea culpa's" or defending their newspapers' viewpoints and positions, I have nothing but praise for your approach of explaining, reasoning and genuinely considering both, or all, points of views. Finally, with respect to your fine publication, and notwithstanding letters to the contrary (which you readily and liberally publish), I sincerely believe that the Stars and Stripes deserves perhaps more than any other publication the oft misapplied label of "fair and balanced." You are performing a great service for our men and women in uniform. Thank you.

Major Dorian de Wind (Ret., USAF)
Austin, TX