Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged?
Hmm...
That doesn't sound very flattering now, does it? "Staged" in particular is a term with a lot of negative connotations. But lets take a closer look at some information provided further down the article:
Ok, so far we have the questioning session being rehearsed, but lets apply some common sense to the situation. What was gone over was the order in which the questions would be asked and answered along with who was going to answer each question. Makes sense, doesn't it? That way you don't have the soldiers talking over one another nor do you end up with a soldier answering a question he wasn't expecting to be asked.
This is standard operating procedure for most major media interviews. The participants almost always know what is going to be asked them and the order in which it will be asked. I hardly think any of this warrants the "staged" charge issued in the headline of this article.
But lets read a little further and see what else the AP has to offer in support of it:
Well none of that seems to support a "staged" charge. Lets see what's at the tail-end of the article:
It might come as a surprise to Rieckhoff, but being an officer in Iraq is no more a picnic in a park than being one of the "boots on the ground" is. Plus, Bush meets with plenty of soldiers. He makes regular visits to hospitals here in America where wounded soldiers back from Iraq are recovering, not to mention the regular visits he pays to the families of fallen soldiers. I'm sure he has no trouble getting the "real opinions" of these people.
Regardless, Reickhoff's point is without merit as is the "staged" claim made in the AP headline. It was clearly stated that these soldiers were not told what to say and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest otherwise.
Update:
Here's something else to consider: If the Bush administration was going to "stage" something like this, why would they Assistant Defense Secretary Allison Barber directing the soldiers in plain sight of the press who were watching the event? Wouldn't they have all their "ducks in a row," so to say, before they went in front of a media establishment that is inclined to be negative about pretty much everything Bush does (to put it mildly)?
The fact that no effort was made by the Bush administration to hide exactly how this teleconference was set up tells us that it was all routine procedure and that its being blown out of proportion by a media establishment which is grasping for any sort of negative angle on the war in Iraq.
Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged
WASHINGTON (AP) - 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.
That doesn't sound very flattering now, does it? "Staged" in particular is a term with a lot of negative connotations. But lets take a closer look at some information provided further down the article:
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.
Ok, so far we have the questioning session being rehearsed, but lets apply some common sense to the situation. What was gone over was the order in which the questions would be asked and answered along with who was going to answer each question. Makes sense, doesn't it? That way you don't have the soldiers talking over one another nor do you end up with a soldier answering a question he wasn't expecting to be asked.
This is standard operating procedure for most major media interviews. The participants almost always know what is going to be asked them and the order in which it will be asked. I hardly think any of this warrants the "staged" charge issued in the headline of this article.
But lets read a little further and see what else the AP has to offer in support of it:
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."
Well none of that seems to support a "staged" charge. Lets see what's at the tail-end of the article:
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."
It might come as a surprise to Rieckhoff, but being an officer in Iraq is no more a picnic in a park than being one of the "boots on the ground" is. Plus, Bush meets with plenty of soldiers. He makes regular visits to hospitals here in America where wounded soldiers back from Iraq are recovering, not to mention the regular visits he pays to the families of fallen soldiers. I'm sure he has no trouble getting the "real opinions" of these people.
Regardless, Reickhoff's point is without merit as is the "staged" claim made in the AP headline. It was clearly stated that these soldiers were not told what to say and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest otherwise.
Update:
Here's something else to consider: If the Bush administration was going to "stage" something like this, why would they Assistant Defense Secretary Allison Barber directing the soldiers in plain sight of the press who were watching the event? Wouldn't they have all their "ducks in a row," so to say, before they went in front of a media establishment that is inclined to be negative about pretty much everything Bush does (to put it mildly)?
The fact that no effort was made by the Bush administration to hide exactly how this teleconference was set up tells us that it was all routine procedure and that its being blown out of proportion by a media establishment which is grasping for any sort of negative angle on the war in Iraq.
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