For anyone who still believes anything the NYT prints...

An dishonest article that parses statements from a young soldier who sacrificed his life for a cause he believed in to make it appear he was war weary. It states that he rejected a $24k bonus--but barely mentions he was serving his 3rd tour. From the New York Times:

Another member of the 1/5, Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr, rejected a $24,000 bonus to re-enlist. Corporal Starr believed strongly in the war, his father said, but was tired of the harsh life and nearness of death in Iraq. So he enrolled at Everett Community College near his parents' home in Snohomish, Wash., planning to study psychology after his enlistment ended in August.

But he died in a firefight in Ramadi on April 30 during his third tour in Iraq. He was 22.

Sifting through Corporal Starr's laptop computer after his death, his father found a letter to be delivered to the marine's girlfriend. ''I kind of predicted this,'' Corporal Starr wrote of his own death. ''A third time just seemed like I'm pushing my chances.''

But Corporal Starr's WHOLE message was:

Obviously if you are reading this then I have died in Iraq. I kind of predicted this, that is why I'm writing this in November. A third time just seemed like I'm pushing my chances. I don't regret going, everybody dies but few get to do it for something as important as freedom. It may seem confusing why we are in Iraq, it's not to me. I'm here helping these people, so that they can live the way we live. Not have to worry about tyrants or vicious dictators. To do what they want with their lives. To me that is why I died. Others have died for my freedom, now this is my mark.

Read the whole story at michellemalkin.com

The family is disheartened by the misrepresentation and unsupported innuendo the NYT employs.

This is worse than bias. It's a sickness. To prey upon those who have died in a cause they firmly believed in and were enthusiastic about and twist their message to conform to an alleged "news" organization's own political agenda is unconscionable. The New York Times continues to confirm that it's a propaganda arm of the anti-war, anti-Bush--and yes, anti-American, left. Look for more (and more flagrant) distortions as success continues in Iraq and the left becomes more desperate for evidence of failure.