'Beyond tasteless' cartoon upsets US military

theage: It is a protest with high-level signatures: the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and of its five members have fired off a letter assailing The Washington Post for a cartoon branded "beyond tasteless".

The Tom Toles cartoon was published on Sunday, and depicts a heavily bandaged soldier in a hospital bed, having lost his arms and legs. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in the guise of a doctor, says: "I'm listing your condition as 'battle-hardened'."

Toles said he meant no offence to American soldiers. But the letter to the Post, signed by General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the vice-chairman and the service chiefs of the army, navy, marines and air force, said: "We believe you and Mr Toles have done a disservice to your readers and your paper's reputation by using such a callous depiction of those who have volunteered to defend this nation, and as a result, have suffered traumatic and life-altering wounds."

The cartoon is based on remarks that Mr Rumsfeld made last week. In rejecting warnings that the Iraq war risked "breaking" the army, he said the military was "battle-hardened" and an "enormously capable force". Read more