[Mb-civic] Fwd: Nothin' Like a Good Yarn...

[mark.petracca at verizon.net]

this is worth a post!

Begin forwarded message:

> From: harboc at adelphia.net
> Date: October 14, 2005 1:15:00 AM EDT
> To: hart bochner <harboc at adelphia.net>
> Subject: Nothin' Like a Good Yarn...
>
> Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged
> By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
> Thu Oct 13, 7:18 PM ET
>
>
> 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."
>
>
Mark Petracca
PetRock, Inc.
4 West 83rd Street
NYC 10024
212-877-7330
www.CultureCatch.com

“In our every deliberation, we must consider the
impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” 
                                        Iroquois Confederacy maxim

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