A "conversation" with the troops
President Bush held a Q&A session with US troops currently in Tikrit via teleconference. It was billed as conversation between the troops and their commander-in-chief. Sadly, the media wasn’t buying it. The Associated Press called attention to the obviously staged nature of the event. Answers to the President’s questions seemed choreographed to give an upbeat view of the situation in Iraq in line with the White House goals.
This is yet another shameless attempt by the Bush administration at political spin. The troops answers were so well scripted, it might have well have been Bush talking to himself. And the worse part is they are using our troops to further their political objectives. Press Secretary Scott McClellan said that while Thursday’s event was coordinated, it was merely to help with technical challenges that may arise such as delays in the satellite feed. He stated that the soldiers were expressing their own opinions. Yea right. More then likely there was a PAO (Public Affairs Officer) standing menacingly off camera to make sure the troops didn’t stray too far from the party line.
And just by coincidence one of the soldiers, Capt. Lombardo, just happened to be in New York City in Nov. 2001 when President Bush attended an event recognizing soldiers for their rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero. She also said that the troops began their fight against terrorism after Sept. 11 and were proud to continue the fight in Iraq (pure propaganda if I ever heard it). Bush even joked, “I thought you looked familiar.” Some coincidence.
In addition, as they say in the real estate business: location, location, location. In an obvious stab at former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the troops were broadcasting from Tikrit, birthplace of the deposed dictator.
Paul Rieckhoff, director of the New York-based Operation Truth, an advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan brought up a good point in the AP article regarding this event. Five out of the ten soldiers involved were officers. In the article, Rieckhoff states, "If he wants the real opinions of the troops, he can't do it in a nationally televised teleconference. He needs to be talking to the boots on the ground and that's not a bunch of captains."
Then there was the token Iraqi soldier in attendance. He was positively gushing in his praise of Bush, “Thank you very much for everything. I like you." Makes you wonder if they had to take away his “Help Me” sign before cameras rolled.
This is a disrespectful misuse of our military. Perhaps if Bush and company had put as much effort into the planning of post-war Iraq, he wouldn’t need to have these “conversations”.
Note: One positive aspect to come out of this is the fact that the media (or at least AP) has finally gotten a whiff of the BS that Bush is shoveling and has decided to tell the American people about it.
Update 10/15/05: More news about this so called “conversation”. Turns out that Capt. Lombardo, the “grunt” who talked about 9/11 and the progress being made in Iraq, is in fact a military spokeswoman for the US Army. So it would seem she was really the Pentagon's leading lady in this highly scripted political farce.
(Originally posted on Yahoo360)
This is yet another shameless attempt by the Bush administration at political spin. The troops answers were so well scripted, it might have well have been Bush talking to himself. And the worse part is they are using our troops to further their political objectives. Press Secretary Scott McClellan said that while Thursday’s event was coordinated, it was merely to help with technical challenges that may arise such as delays in the satellite feed. He stated that the soldiers were expressing their own opinions. Yea right. More then likely there was a PAO (Public Affairs Officer) standing menacingly off camera to make sure the troops didn’t stray too far from the party line.
And just by coincidence one of the soldiers, Capt. Lombardo, just happened to be in New York City in Nov. 2001 when President Bush attended an event recognizing soldiers for their rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero. She also said that the troops began their fight against terrorism after Sept. 11 and were proud to continue the fight in Iraq (pure propaganda if I ever heard it). Bush even joked, “I thought you looked familiar.” Some coincidence.
In addition, as they say in the real estate business: location, location, location. In an obvious stab at former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the troops were broadcasting from Tikrit, birthplace of the deposed dictator.
Paul Rieckhoff, director of the New York-based Operation Truth, an advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan brought up a good point in the AP article regarding this event. Five out of the ten soldiers involved were officers. In the article, Rieckhoff states, "If he wants the real opinions of the troops, he can't do it in a nationally televised teleconference. He needs to be talking to the boots on the ground and that's not a bunch of captains."
Then there was the token Iraqi soldier in attendance. He was positively gushing in his praise of Bush, “Thank you very much for everything. I like you." Makes you wonder if they had to take away his “Help Me” sign before cameras rolled.
This is a disrespectful misuse of our military. Perhaps if Bush and company had put as much effort into the planning of post-war Iraq, he wouldn’t need to have these “conversations”.
Note: One positive aspect to come out of this is the fact that the media (or at least AP) has finally gotten a whiff of the BS that Bush is shoveling and has decided to tell the American people about it.
Update 10/15/05: More news about this so called “conversation”. Turns out that Capt. Lombardo, the “grunt” who talked about 9/11 and the progress being made in Iraq, is in fact a military spokeswoman for the US Army. So it would seem she was really the Pentagon's leading lady in this highly scripted political farce.
(Originally posted on Yahoo360)
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