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Dead U.S. Soldier in Anti-War Video 'Alive and Well'

January 08, 2007 8:00 AM

American_soldier_nr An Iraqi insurgent propaganda video, containing what is described as a Christmas message from a U.S. soldier taped just before he was killed, appeared on dozens of Web sites and on the al Jazeera network.

But a lot about the video does not add up, including the fact that ABC News found the supposedly dead soldier is "alive and well" and present for duty, according to a U.S. Army spokesman at Fort Campbell, Ky.

"There are a whole bunch of lies on that tape," said Lt. Col. Ed Loomis at Fort Campbell. "It is nothing but a total fabrication."

A producer at al Jazeera said it would change its description of the video after learning from ABC News that the soldier was not dead.

The tape begins in dramatic form with the title "Lee's Life for Lies."

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.

It is supposedly a Christmas greeting from a U.S. soldier, Specialist Lee Kimball Tucker, sent to his family in Florida before he was killed.

First there are scenes of Tucker celebrating his birthday with his buddies.

Then a cut to an attack on a U.S. Army humvee and its aftermath.

An insurgent narrator says the insurgents found a computer flash drive in the wreckage that belonged to Tucker and purports to play it.

A voice says, "Dear Mom and Dad, I'm so glad I could send you my third Christmas greetings letter."

Watch the beginning of the Iraqi Insurgent Video.

Lt. Col. Loomis told ABC News that while the pictures appear to be authentic, it was a case of Tucker's identity being stolen in Iraq.

The voice identified as Tucker says he and his fellow soldiers became violent and reckless searching for insurgents.

"The crimes by our soldiers during break-ins started to merge, such as burglary, harassment, raping and random manslaughter," says the voice. "Why are we even here? The people hate us."

Watch the video where the voice, purported to be Tucker's, describes U.S. soldiers turning to violence.

Laura Mansfield, an Arabic language analyst and publisher of a newsletter "Strategic Translations" that tracks jihadi websites, said this is a new trick in the jihadists' propaganda campaign.

"This is part of a very shrewd campaign to reach a U.S. audience, soldiers and voters," she said. "It is in English and forgives most soldiers and Americans, calling on them to help end the war."

Also on the tape is a description, supposedly from Tucker, of how soldiers buy their way out of dangerous night patrols and gun turret duty with cash and drugs.

"The marijuana-rolled cigarettes are the rare currency capable of buying or changing anything. The drugs goes all around here," says the voice.

And it ends with a final denunciation of U.S. leaders and policy.

"What we are doing here is so disgraceful; our acts are shameful," says the voice. He then signs off, "Specialist Lee Kimball Tucker."

Watch the video where the voice professes his anti-war sentiments.

All very powerful from a dead soldier, except for the fact that Lee Kimball Tucker is not dead.

His family says he returned from Iraq in May and was with them over the holidays so he would not have been sending any messages home.

There will be an internal investigation at Fort Campbell to determine how the insurgents got a hold of the home video of the soldiers, and Fort Campbell officials are urging all soldiers to take further precautions against identity theft.

Tucker's mother Pam of Fort Worth, Texas, told ABC News that Tucker is not anti-war and that he could be returning to Iraq later this year.

January 8, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (158)

User Comments

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Nothing that Michael Moore hasn't already done.

Posted by: Charlie | Jan 8, 2007 11:11:40 AM

Are you sure that video wasn't posted by Cindy Sheehan and some of the Democrats?

Posted by: Chris | Jan 8, 2007 11:14:56 AM

Everything on the terrorist network al Jazeera is propaganda! Must Arabs that watch it and read it believe it to be true!!!

Posted by: Tom | Jan 8, 2007 11:19:57 AM

and to think that a liberal minded person would take al-jazeera's word for it before our own military. our enemy knows how to use the liberal mind for their benefit by fabricating things like this but some will still live in denial as to who the enemy really is and how dangerous and desperate they are.

Posted by: keith | Jan 8, 2007 11:19:59 AM

Has anyone noticed that the terrorists and the loony left are saying the same things? I'm not saying they're in cahoots, but honestly, this is ridiculous.

Posted by: Senor Bueno | Jan 8, 2007 11:23:15 AM

I bet the anti-war people are upset, nothing will brighten their day up as a dead soldier; something they can claim as their call, but the reality is they hate the troops as much as they hate the country.

Posted by: Tom | Jan 8, 2007 11:31:22 AM

Now is the time to finesh the job , this is some desperate stuff we must be getting close. They can't beat us unless we quit.

Pressure on Iran dry up the weapons and money aid to the bad guys in Bagdad.

Cut the supply line into Iraq. Hammer Iran, Syria etc .....

Posted by: Steve in South Carolina | Jan 8, 2007 11:36:37 AM

So much BS! The Pentagon Propaganda campaigns on the US Home Audience are so stupid, but Americans believe it. UBL who?

Posted by: Brian Fejer | Jan 8, 2007 11:37:14 AM

More propaganda from the insane lives of the anit-war crowd.

Posted by: Sandy | Jan 8, 2007 11:44:27 AM

We need to fight fire with fire. We have to beef up our response to this type of propaganda. And the most dangerous problem right now is the fith estate.

Posted by: Zig Grutza | Jan 8, 2007 11:44:33 AM

Strange

This Al Qaeda tape although total BS sounds a lot like american news footage from Iraq on any given night.

Posted by: mike loughman | Jan 8, 2007 11:46:45 AM

The voice sounded an awful lot like Dick Durbin.

Posted by: coolcad | Jan 8, 2007 11:48:55 AM

Interesting tactic... Unfortunately Iraqi insergents appear to be getting much more media savy then we might of expected.

Too bad Al Jazeera seems to broadcast anything, without checking any facts.

Posted by: Andrew | Jan 8, 2007 11:49:28 AM

How interesting it is that there are no comments on this artical. If this was a true event, and our soldiers were proven to be murderers, rapiest and the rest, you would see this on every left wing blog in the world. Thank God this soldier is alive. I pray this story didn't cause his family or friends any distress. This should magnify what dispicable people are fighting against us. They will go to any lenghts to defame our fine young men and women in the Armed Services.

Posted by: Windyjo | Jan 8, 2007 11:52:47 AM

Imagine that, the insurgents and Arab press lie. This should shake the ground in the newsrooms of Western news outlets who have given so much credit to terrorist videos and propaganda.

Posted by: Brian Marshall | Jan 8, 2007 11:59:47 AM

...what I find most interesting about this story is that there is fundamentally no difference between propoganda from an "insurgent" aka follower of the radical Islamic cult & their agenda and what we see every day from the liberal mass media & their agenda. Both camps are desperate for U.S. failure in Iraq & know that a campaign to demoralize Americans against the effort represents the most critical field of battle.

Posted by: dogsoul | Jan 8, 2007 12:18:36 PM

It seems that AlQueda not only copies Hitlers deadth squads, they are also becoming proficient at Propraganda that Hitler was very good at turning out outright lies, that those who do not think for themselves will believe hook line and sinker. Ben Laden had very bad kidneys and had to have dialysis daily. That is why he is dead. there haas been no video of him, and the taped messages are put together to make us believe that he is alive. I bet that Ben Laden has been enjoying the 72 virgins waiting for Saddam to join him with ALLA. The truth is the U.S. probably hit him when he was trying to escape from Afghanistan.

Posted by: Thomas RCoffman | Jan 8, 2007 12:23:46 PM

No way....you mean that al-Jazeera isn't telling the truth? Holy Crap...that's where out media sources most of their information.

Strange how our public here is ready to believe a network that does this type of thing before they believe the word of their own country.

Posted by: The Stout Republican | Jan 8, 2007 12:24:08 PM

YouTube has the video, and the person that posted them provides this link to the site that created this video.

Posted by: Adam | Jan 8, 2007 12:27:09 PM

With the widespread availability of computerized editing software, people should not be surprised by the concept that psychological warfare is no longer the sole proprietary of funded government militaries.

What is surprising however is that I do not this film was designed to recruit internally for insurgency but is quite obviously aimed at the populace of the West. However, I think a language and cultural barriers have made for a less than authentic propaganda piece. Who would say “The marijuana-rolled cigarettes” for instance?

People learn from their mistakes and it’s scary to think that we will probably only see slicker productions of this nature in the future.

Posted by: ian | Jan 8, 2007 12:28:51 PM

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