Bush "Stages" Soldier Teleconference

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Right on par with what his whole administration has been about.

-------------------------------------------------------
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 44 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - It was billed as a conversation with U.S. troops, but the questions
President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in
Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution.

"This is an important time," Allison Barber, deputy assistant defense secretary, said, coaching the soldiers before Bush arrived. "The president is looking forward to having just a conversation with you."

Barber said the president was interested in three topics: the overall security situation in Iraq, security preparations for the weekend vote and efforts to train Iraqi troops.

As she spoke in Washington, a live shot of 10 soldiers from the Army's 42nd Infantry Division and one Iraqi soldier was beamed into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building from Tikrit — the birthplace of former Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein.

"I'm going to ask somebody to grab those two water bottles against the wall and move them out of the camera shot for me," Barber said.

A brief rehearsal ensued.

"OK, so let's just walk through this," Barber said. "Captain Kennedy, you answer the first question and you hand the mike to whom?"

"Captain Smith," Kennedy said.

"Captain. Smith? You take the mike and you hand it to whom?" she asked.

"Captain Kennedy," the soldier replied.

And so it went.

"If the question comes up about partnering — how often do we train with the Iraqi military — who does he go to?" Barber asked.

"That's going to go to Captain Pratt," one of the soldiers said.

"And then if we're going to talk a little bit about the folks in Tikrit — the hometown — and how they're handling the political process, who are we going to give that to?" she asked.

Before he took questions, Bush thanked the soldiers for serving and reassured them that the U.S. would not pull out of Iraq until the mission was complete.

"So long as I'm the president, we're never going to back down, we're never going to give in, we'll never accept anything less than total victory," Bush said.

The president told them twice that the American people were behind them.

"You've got tremendous support here at home," Bush said.

Less than 40 percent in an AP-Ipsos poll taken in October said they approved of the way Bush was handling Iraq. Just over half of the public now say the Iraq war was a mistake.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Thursday's event was coordinated with the Defense Department but that the troops were expressing their own thoughts. With satellite feeds, coordination often is needed to overcome technological challenges, such as delays, he said.

"I think all they were doing was talking to the troops and letting them know what to expect," he said, adding that the president wanted to talk with troops on the ground who have firsthand knowledge about the situation.

The soldiers all gave Bush an upbeat view of the situation.

The president also got praise from the Iraqi soldier who was part of the chat.

"Thank you very much for everything," he gushed. "I like you."

On preparations for the vote, 1st Lt. Gregg Murphy of Tennessee said: "Sir, we are prepared to do whatever it takes to make this thing a success. ... Back in January, when we were preparing for that election, we had to lead the way. We set up the coordination, we made the plan. We're really happy to see, during the preparation for this one, sir, they're doing everything."

On the training of Iraqi security forces, Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo from Scotia, N.Y., said to Bush: "I can tell you over the past 10 months, we've seen a tremendous increase in the capabilities and the confidences of our Iraqi security force partners. ... Over the next month, we anticipate seeing at least one-third of those Iraqi forces conducting independent operations."

Lombardo told the president that she was in New York City on Nov. 11, 2001, when Bush attended an event recognizing soldiers for their recovery and rescue efforts at Ground Zero. She said the troops began the fight against terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and were proud to continue it in Iraq.

"I thought you looked familiar," Bush said, and then joked: "I probably look familiar to you, too."

Paul Rieckhoff, director of the New York-based Operation Truth, an advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and
Afghanistan, denounced the event as a "carefully scripted publicity stunt." Five of the 10 U.S. troops involved were officers, he said.

"If he wants the real opinions of the troops, he can't do it in a nationally televised teleconference," Rieckhoff said. "He needs to be talking to the boots on the ground and that's not a bunch of captains."
http://tinyurl.com/d3h9k

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Take away their ownership and control of the MSM, and these thugs are figuratively dead in the water 5 years ago.

Well, at least the majority of the American people are finally waking up to the truth.

Only the right-wing extremists, religio-crazies, and NRA knuckledraggers who constitute Bush's hardcore base still remain in denial (and even some of these people are saying "enough is enough.")

[Ali G]

So does you tink dat it is right to start a war over BLTs?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by Ali G

So does you tink dat it is right to start a war over BLTs?

Looks like one of errant's bros found his way in here.

[elsid13]

Saw most of the on the News hour, with the aid doing the pre-stage event. It looked really bad, no matter what spin the white house puts on it. I always amazed the way this administration seem to up its collective mouth and insert their foot. They are really dumb at times.

[TheDave]

Originally Posted by elsid13

Saw most of the on the News hour, with the aid doing the pre-stage event. It looked really bad, no matter what spin the white house puts on it. I always amazed the way this administration seem to up its collective mouth and insert their foot. They are really dumb at times.

yet 38% still think they are doing a good job(or whatever the recent poll #'s were)... Not sure what it will take to change their minds

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by TheDave

yet 38% still think they are doing a good job(or whatever the recent poll #'s were)... Not sure what it will take to change their minds

The 38% = the snake handlers, Klan members, NRA knuckledraggers, and NASCAR dads who think Nixon was an honorable man and Deep Throat was a traitor. The same people who love Trent Lott and Tom DeLay.

To these people, politics is nothing more than a football game, and the only rule is to support "Team GOP" - right or wrong.

These people would still support Bush if he ate their children.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Out-Saddaming Saddam
Mr. Bush Goes to Tikrit (Sort Of)

By JEREMY SCAHILL

Just when you think that President Bush couldn't out-Saddam Saddam any more, he goes and does something that proves you wrong. If any Iraqis caught the hilarious videoconference today between Bush at the White House and troops from the 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit, it may have seemed like a high-tech version of a familiar scene from the old days when Saddam used to travel to Tikrit to feel (and more importantly to have others feel) his greatness.

The videoconference was a display of just how far the propaganda system has come since Bush took over from Saddam. Instead of visiting Tikrit, which the president lightly acknowledged he could not safely do, Bush addressed-- via satellite--an adoring bunch of US soldiers that had apparently been given a heavy dose of Kool-Aid before the telecast began. Oh, there was one Iraqi there--Sergeant Major Akeel from the 5th Iraqi Army Division, whose role in the affair was limited to smiling like a good Iraqi and saying to Bush, "I like you."

Under Saddam, Iraqis were bombarded via their TVs with video of the Iraqi leader meeting his generals in Tikrit, overseeing military parades, listening intently to his commanders, examining their weapons, firing a rifle here, swinging a sword there. For Iraqis, Tikrit represented the mother of all locations for the regime's propaganda commercial shoots. Few were those Iraqis chosen to be in Saddam's midst for these staged commercials, but at least Saddam actually went there.

Two and a half years after the US occupation began, there stood President Bush at his podium in the White House in front of a massive plasma screen TV, holding an earpiece to his head (out in the open this time). Before him, beamed in by satellite, were the 10 handpicked soldiers. They sat in three rows, fawning over Bush and delivering glowing assessments of the situation on the ground. At one point, it seemed as if one of the soldiers, Master Sergeant Corine Lombardo, was lifting from one of Bush's "major addresses" on Iraq when she told the president, "We began our fight against terrorism in the wake of 9/11, and we're proud to continue it here."

For much of the videoconference, Bush played Fox's Brit Hume as he "interviewed" the soldiers. A telling moment came when Bush asked the troops, "As you move around, I presume you have a chance to interface with the civilians there in that part of the world. And a lot of Americans are wondering whether or not people appreciate your presence or whether or not the people are anxious to be part of the democratic process. Can you give us a sense for the reception of the people there in Tikrit toward coalition forces, as well as the Iraqi units that they encounter?"

It seems that Bush's presumption about his troops "interfacing" with "civilians in that part of the world" about their anxiousness to "be part of the democratic process" was a pipedream. Captain David Williams responded by telling Bush, "Sir, I was with my Iraqi counterpart in Tikrit, the city Tikrit last week, and he was going around, talking to the locals. And from what he told me that the locals told him, the Iraqi people are ready and eager to vote in this referendum."

Those sentiments, relayed second hand from Williams' "Iraqi counterpart," are contradicted by most independent assessments, to which the White House would never dare listen. Furthermore, it provides yet another example of how detached from reality Bush and his minions in Iraq truly are. There is a simple reason most US soldiers aren't just out there chewing the fat with Iraqi "civilians," chatting about how great democracy is: Iraqis overwhelmingly do not want US troops there. "[Iraqis] aren't sitting in their front rooms discussing the referendum on the constitution," veteran war correspondent Robert Fisk recently said. "The reality now in Iraq is the project is finished. Most of Iraq, except Kurdistan, is in a state of anarchy." Furthermore, Sunni Arab Tikrit, where the soldiers sat during the videoconference, is almost certain to vote a resounding "No" on the US-backed constitution.

And herein lies one of the big farces of Bush's videoconference and the broader narrative the president needs so desperately to be true. The fact is that Washington will never be able to manufacture a multi-ethnic Iraqi military that is somehow going to deliver or enforce "democracy American style" in time for the US to withdraw from the bloody, sinking ship that is the Iraq occupation. The "declare victory and run" option has been gaining steam in Washington as the popularity of the occupation plummets and with key US elections on the horizon. The point of the videoconference appears to have been part of a major White House PR blitz to convince Americans that the Iraqi forces are really taking control of the situation on the ground. Here are just a few of the remarks from the videoconference:

First Lieutenant Gregg Murphy: "But the important thing here is that the Iraqi army and the Iraqi security forces, they're ready, and they're committed. They're going to make this thing happen."

Master Sergeant Corine Lombardo: "I can tell you over the past 10 months we've seen a tremendous increase in the capabilities and the confidences of our Iraqi security force partners. We've been working side-by-side, training and equipping 18 Iraqi army battalions. Since we began our partnership, they have improved greatly, and they continue to develop and grow into sustainable forces. Over the next month, we anticipate seeing at least one-third of those Iraqi forces conducting independent operations."

President Bush: "The American people have got to know -- and I appreciate you bringing that up, Sergeant Major, about how -- what the progress is like. In other words, we've got a measurement system."

Captain Steven Pratt: "The Iraqi army and police services, along with coalition support, have conducted many and multiple exercises and rehearsals...Along with the coalition's backing them, we'll have a very successful and effective referendum vote."

Captain Dave Smith: "Sir, our Iraqi partners have been conducting battalion and Brigade-size operations since April. They have been planning and coordinating with other Iraqi security forces, such as the Iraqi police and local government agencies, preparing for this referendum. Sir, we as coalition forces, we have taken a supporting role only as they prepare to execute this referendum."

At no point during the teleconference did Bush or the soldiers mention that US troop levels in Iraq have been significantly increasing, not decreasing, in recent weeks. There are now more than 156,000 US troops in country. Nor did Bush mention that, according to his own top commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, there is just one Iraqi battalion capable of fighting on its own. Moreover, Bush's portrayal of the readiness of this new, multi-ethnic dream army is proved false by simply reading accounts from major news organizations.

Tom Lasseter from the Knight Ridder news agency recently spent a week on patrol with "a crack unit of the Iraqi army - the 4,500-member 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Division." He reports that, "Instead of rising above the ethnic tension that's tearing their nation apart, the mostly Shiite troops are preparing for, if not already fighting, a civil war against the minority Sunni population." That unit is responsible for security in Sunni areas of Baghdad and Lasseter reports "they're seeking revenge against the Sunnis who oppressed them during Saddam Hussein's rule." He quotes Shiite Army Major Swadi Ghilan saying he wants to kill most Sunnis in Iraq. "There are two Iraqs; it's something that we can no longer deny," Ghilan said. "The army should execute the Sunnis in their neighborhoods so that all of them can see what happens, so that all of them learn their lesson."

While Bush needs this referendum to find something positive to say about the miserable occupation, according to Lasseter's report, "Many of the Shiite officers and soldiers said they look forward to the constitution and December elections for a different reason. They want a permanent, Shiite-dominated government that will finally allow them to steamroll much of the Sunni minority, some 20 percent of the nation and the backbone of the insurgency." Lasseter describes the 1st Brigade, which is held up by US commanders as a template for the future of Iraq's military, like this: "They look and operate less like an Iraqi national army unit and more like a Shiite militia."

This, however, is of little concern to Bush. What is unfolding in Iraq now is a push to give the appearance of a visionary plan, of US soldiers simply advising, training and instructing the commanders of the new democratic, human rights-loving, multi-ethnic Iraqi army. It is what Noam Chomsky calls a "necessary illusion." The videoconference in Tikrit was a crude evolution in the kind of propaganda Iraqi's have lived with for years. But this time, the target audience was in the US.
http://tinyurl.com/dsxg5

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

Only the right-wing extremists, religio-crazies, and NRA knuckledraggers who constitute Bush's hardcore base still remain in denial (and even some of these people are saying "enough is enough.")

Sigh.

So what are you doing to oppose Bush's supporters other than name-calling here on the OM?

Tell all of us what you're doing for real - as opposed to the stuff you post here, which counts for absolutely zero.

[Pat Bowlen]

The way he posts it wouldn't suprise me if he didn't have dozens of Republican corpses in his basement.

[Rohirrim]

Originally Posted by W*GS

Sigh.

So what are you doing to oppose Bush's supporters other than name-calling here on the OM?

Tell all of us what you're doing for real - as opposed to the stuff you post here, which counts for absolutely zero.

I take it you have no opinion regarding Bush's dog and pony show?

[W*GS]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

I take it you have no opinion regarding Bush's dog and pony show?

Gee, stage-managing a "video-op" so it makes the politician look good is sinister and appalling, and something we've never seen until this particularly odious President took office, right?

[bendog]

WJC always looked sheepish when he want out to the military. He knew they hated him, and he wore the hat or jacket, but he seemed ..... humbled/shamed to the extent he could be those things.

I think what irritates people about bushii is that his whole military rah rah is total bull****, but he simply lacks the self criticism ability to know it, and plays the happy cowboy. It's sort of sad how the young guys in the military buy into it, but vietnam was a long time ago, and all that's really passing for fact today about those days is bull****.

[Rigs11]

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

I take it you have no opinion regarding Bush's dog and pony show?

WIGGED continually defends Dubya anytime anyone questions his incomptence by stating that others have done it too. He's a sheep who uses the copout by questioning why others come into a political forum and state how unhappy they are with this goverment. I mean the nerve of people to come into a forum and state how the feel.

[Play2win]

It's sad, George W Bush is living in the past, and he's taking the whole country there with him...

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by bendog

WJC always looked sheepish when he want out to the military. He knew they hated him, and he wore the hat or jacket, but he seemed ..... humbled/shamed to the extent he could be those things.

I think what irritates people about bushii is that his whole military rah rah is total bull****, but he simply lacks the self criticism ability to know it, and plays the happy cowboy. It's sort of sad how the young guys in the military buy into it, but vietnam was a long time ago, and all that's really passing for fact today about those days is bull****.

Yes, it's a shame the self-hatred and cynicism that many took from the Vietnam war doesn't ride high in the minds of our young soldiers.

[bendog]

Well it's a shame they cheer a guy who took a pass so people better, and poorer, than him got killed and had parts blown off. Your hatred is sad.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Rigs11

WIGGED continually defends Dubya anytime anyone questions his incomptence by stating that others have done it too. He's a sheep who uses the copout by questioning why others come into a political forum and state how unhappy they are with this goverment. I mean the nerve of people to come into a forum and state how the feel.

Bingo.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by bendog

WJC always looked sheepish when he want out to the military. He knew they hated him, and he wore the hat or jacket, but he seemed ..... humbled/shamed to the extent he could be those things.

I think what irritates people about bushii is that his whole military rah rah is total bull****, but he simply lacks the self criticism ability to know it, and plays the happy cowboy. It's sort of sad how the young guys in the military buy into it, but vietnam was a long time ago, and all that's really passing for fact today about those days is bull****.

At least Clinton consciously chose to leave himself exposed to the draft - even when he had an offer to join ROTC (hence avoiding Viet Nam.)

The court-appointed pinhead did just the opposite, i.e., made sure his chances of going to Viet Nam were zero.

As for the troops buying into the Kennebunkport Cowboy's phony "war president" image, it's just one aspect of an even bigger con job, i.e., that the republicans care more about the military than the Dems.

Memo to the troops: The republicans care about $$$ for Big Arms - not you.

They care about expensive weapons systems (often of questionable worth) that will line the pockets of their defense industry cronies and donors - not the soldiers and grunts on the front lines.

They care about profits for Hallibuton its stockholders - not you.

Why do you think they sent you into Iraq in insufficient numbers and with insufficient armor and equipment? Why do you think they tried to cut your combat pay? Why do you think they keep slashing the VA budget so you won't get the care that was promised to you when you get out?

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Cheney's Stock Options at $9.2M

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg reiterated his call for Cheney to forfeit his continuing financial interest in Halliburton, in light of the surging value of Cheney's Halliburton holdings. He continues to hold 433,333 Halliburton stock options, now worth $9,214,154.93 (as of Sept 14)

"As Halliburton's fortunes rise, so does the Vice President's, and that is wrong," said Senator Lautenberg. "Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from this administration for work in Iraq, and now they are being awarded some of the first Katrina contracts. It is unseemly for Cheney to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his administration funnels billions of dollars to it."

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/%7Elaut...005915804.html

"Unseemly?"

"Unseemly" has to be the euphemism of the year, Senator Lautenberg.

"War profiteering" is the phrase you're looking for.

[Play2win]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

Cheney's Stock Options at $9.2M

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg reiterated his call for Cheney to forfeit his continuing financial interest in Halliburton, in light of the surging value of Cheney's Halliburton holdings. He continues to hold 433,333 Halliburton stock options, now worth $9,214,154.93 (as of Sept 14)

"As Halliburton's fortunes rise, so does the Vice President's, and that is wrong," said Senator Lautenberg. "Halliburton has already raked in more than $10 billion from this administration for work in Iraq, and now they are being awarded some of the first Katrina contracts. It is unseemly for Cheney to continue to benefit from this company at the same time his administration funnels billions of dollars to it."

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/%7Elaut...005915804.html

"Unseemly?"

"Unseemly" has to be the euphemism of the year, Senator Lautenberg.

"War profiteering" is the phrase you're looking for.

Just Someone please tell me how this is not CONFLICT OF INTEREST...

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Play2Win

Just Someone please tell me how this is not CONFLICT OF INTEREST...

It's not just a blatant conflict of interest - it's war profiteering, plain and simple.

For Injured U.S. Troops, 'Financial Friendly Fire'

Maimed troops now face financial ruin in Bush’s America.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...302166_pf.html

By Donna St. George
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 14, 2005; A01

His hand had been blown off in Iraq, his body pierced by shrapnel. He could not walk. Robert Loria was flown home for a long recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he tried to bear up against intense physical pain and reimagine his life's possibilities.

The last thing on his mind, he said, was whether the Army had correctly adjusted his pay rate -- downgrading it because he was out of the war zone -- or whether his combat gear had been accounted for properly: his Kevlar helmet, his suspenders, his rucksack.

But nine months after Loria was wounded, the Army garnished his wages and then, as he prepared to leave the service, hit him with a $6,200 debt. That was just before last Christmas, and several lawmakers scrambled to help. This spring, a collection agency started calling. He owed another $646 for military housing.

"I was shocked," recalled Loria, now 28 and medically retired from the Army. "After everything that went on, they still had the nerve to ask me for money."

Although Loria's problems may be striking on their own, the Army has recently identified 331 other soldiers who have been hit with military debt after being wounded at war. The new analysis comes as the United States has more wounded troops than at any time since the Vietnam War, with thousands suffering serious injury in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"This is a financial friendly fire," charged Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, which has been looking into the issue. "It's awful." Davis called the failure systemic and said military "pay problems have been an embarrassment all the way through" the war.

Continued at link...

[Pat Bowlen]

Originally Posted by W*GS

Gee, stage-managing a "video-op" so it makes the politician look good is sinister and appalling, and something we've never seen until this particularly odious President took office, right?

It would be more difficult to despise you if you just came out and agreed that it's a pretty sad story. There'd be no shame in it.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Pat Bowlen

It would be more difficult to despise you if you just came out and agreed that it's a pretty sad story. There'd be no shame in it.

Indeed.

However, it's abundantly clear that W*GS suffers from some strange defect of character or reason which prevents him grasping fundamental ethical principles like "two wrongs don't make a right."

(Which would explain his tenacious compulsion to deflect all criticism of an ethically-challenged administration like Team Thug.)

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by The O'W*GS Factor

Gee, stage-managing a "video-op" so it makes the politician look good is sinister and appalling, and something we've never seen until this particularly odious President took office, right?

Heh heh heh!

When it comes to covering for this corrupt, inept administration and minimizing its crimes, you can count on The O'W*GS Factor to be there right until the bitter end.

Let's dispense with his silly right-wing spin straight away:

#1. The stage-managed event in question goes WAY beyond a mere effort to make a politician "look good." The event was yet another attempt by Team Thug to manipulate public perception and opinion of a war which has hitherto claimed the lives of almost 2,000 American service men and women and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians. A war which has drained the nation's coffers to the tune of a half a trillion dollars and counting. This stage-managed event was an effort to mislead the American people about the reality of the situation in Iraq.

#2. Name another administration whose use of photo-ops, fake news, staged rallies and other events even begins to approximate the same degree, frequency and scale as the bush misadministration. Please provide specific examples.

#3. Name another administration about whom this can be said:

GAO: Bush Team Broke Law With 'Covert Propaganda'

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ea..._id=1001219925

By E&P Staff

Published: September 30, 2005

NEW YORK The Bush Administration violated laws prohibiting the use of covert propaganda when it secretly paid broadcaster/ columnist Armstrong Williams to promote its education policies, and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said Friday.

Williams received about $240,000 from the federal Department of Education. Tribune Media Services dropped Williams' syndicated column in January when it learned about the payments.

In its account Saturday, The New York Times said the report "provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities....In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated 'covert propaganda' in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban."

The administration has used your tax dollars to pay for fake news and propaganda.

Name another administration which has done this.

And keep in mind that Armstrong Williams isn't the only instance.