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A Pencil to a Knife Fight
Howdy, this is Subsunk, guest blogging for Blackfive while he is traveling. Matt asked for a little assistance and I am honored to attempt to help. Matt will still be posting, but he will be busy until later this month, so he was kind enough to offer me the chance to sound off. Some of you may know I tend to sound off too loud, too often anyway. Thanks, Matt.
Have you ever wondered what passes through a journalist’s mind when there is an otherwise slow news day? Something like, “I gotta get a good story or I won’t be able to feed myself or impress the blonde at the hotel bar with my press credentials and otherwise good looks and charm”. So when your editor requires you to print up something on the President’s video conference with the troops, you really need to find the hidden “gotcha” part of the story to make it interesting, right? Sounds like what reporters are supposed to be for, correct?
Well this evening we have another chapter in the never ending echo chamber that is the MSM. And it is being echoed far and wide, much as they nurture every teapot tempest into a raging 3-ring media circus. It all begins with the NY Times and continues with CNN all the way through Fox News:
NY Times Bush Uses Video Hookup to Bolster Troops in Iraq By BRIAN KNOWLTON
WASHINGTON, Oct.13 - President Bush used a new tool - a videoconference hookup - to rally American troops in Iraq today, telling them that they were helping to "defeat a backward, dark philosophy with one that's hopeful."
"We put in motion something that can't be stopped, and that is the march of freedom," Mr. Bush said, while standing at a podium in a room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, and addressing a large video screen.
………
On the screen today could be seen 10 soldiers of the army's 42d Infantry Division, based in Tikrit. They sat stiffly in three tight rows, joined by an Iraqi officer, apparently atop a building, under a blue-gray sky.
While the president asked the troops a half-dozen questions, appearing to do so extemporaneously, the troops evidently had prepared their answers. The format did not lend itself to more frank exchanges.
………….
The event seemed designed both to bolster the troops' morale - "You've got tremendous support here at home," Mr. Bush said, before repeating that point later - and to underscore the determination of the United States in its mission in Iraq, as well as the importance it places on the referendum.
………….
Overall, the presentation was less than smooth. The soldiers sat rigidly, and initially with fixed expressions, though they loosened up after Mr. Bush cracked a few jokes. When the only woman present, Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo, mentioned Mr. Bush's visit to New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the president interrupted to ask whether she had been there. When she said that she had, he quipped, "Yeah, I thought you looked familiar."
……….
The soldiers assured Mr. Bush that their work was going well.
Capt. Brent Kennedy told Mr. Bush that as part of Operation Saratoga, more than 1,250 polling sites were being secured for the vote on Saturday. Capt. Steven Pratt of Idaho spoke of "impressive" cooperation with Iraqi forces and promised "a very successful and effective referendum vote."
Capt. David Williams of Los Angeles said that his Iraqi counterpart had assured him that "the Iraqi people are ready and eager to vote in this referendum."
Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, was asked later about the seemingly rehearsed nature of the soldiers' comments, and specifically whether they "were coached in terms of who would answer what question and how they would pass the microphone."
Mr. McClellan acknowledged that the troops had been briefed on "what to expect," but appeared to take umbrage at the suggestion that the troops' comments were "not sincere."
"The troops can ask the president whatever they want," he said.
According to Geoff Earle of the New York Post - who served as a pool reporter in the room with the president - a deputy assistant to the defense secretary, Allison Barber, could be heard before the event began asking one soldier, "Who are we going to give that (question) to?"
……………..
CNN:
Bush seeks to rally U.S. troops in Iraq
Pentagon officials coached troops before video conference
Thursday, October 13, 2005; Posted: 4:13 p.m. EDT (20:13 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush sought to rally U.S. troops in Iraq ahead of Saturday's vote on new constitution and to brace them for an expected surge in violence, saying "the enemy understands that a free Iraq would be a blow to their vision."
…………..
The president engaged in a question and answer session with 10 American servicemen and women and one Iraqi soldier, whom he saw on a large video screen set up in a room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House.
"Do the Iraqis want to fight, and are they capable of fighting?" he asked. He was told they were.
"The Iraqi army and police services, along with coalition support, have conducted many and multiple exercises and rehearsals," Capt. Stephen Pratt of Pocatello, Idaho, told Bush. "Along with the coalition backing them, we'll have a very successful and effective referendum vote."
1st Lt. Gregg Murphy told the president that at last January's elections to select an interim government, "We had to lead the way. This time, they're doing everything. ... They've got it laid out."
While polls show declining support for the war, Bush told the soldiers: "You've got to know, the American people are standing strong with you," Bush said.
Troops coached
The exchange was carefully choreographed.
Before it began, a Pentagon official coached the troops, telling them the president planned to ask questions on three topics: The overall security in Iraq, how they were preparing for the vote on Saturday and how much progress had been made in the training of Iraqi troops.
……………
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
Fox News
Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged
Thursday, October 13, 2005
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.
………………
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."
Fox News video even pontificates about how upset Pentagon officials are that the event was scripted, and that administration officials are upset “things went so wrong”.
So lets think about this. If you have 30 minutes to be on camera, on national TV, speaking to the President of the United States, would you want to make sure you don't look like a fool? What is the best way to make sure you don’t look like an idiot? Practice, maybe? I mean Lord knows we practice fighting fires on ships, we practice setting up ambushes as grunts, we practice jumping out of airplanes with parachutes on our backs and over 75 pounds of gear which we might never need to use strapped to our bodies. We practice carrier landings, night time bombing raids, land navigation using only our wits and some tree moss. Sometimes it prevents you from looking stupid in front of your Mom, or your girlfriend, or your Commanding General. And sometimes it just saves your life, because you know what’s happening next.
Since American soldiers are human (to most rational folks anyway), they react to embarrassment and anticipation pretty much like you would if you had a big presentation to give or you were about to hit up the big boss for a raise, or maybe like you were about to get an award or some praise at work. You want to look and act your best, and maybe have a few short words prepared if called upon.
So heaven forbid we should try to figure out who is going to answer which question the President is going to ask. And oh, yeah, maybe if I get a certain question(s) to answer, because it happens to mesh with what I'm doing in Iraq at this particular moment (like training Iraqi soldiers), I might look smarter if I have already figured out what I'm going to say. Less “uhhhs”, “yeahs”, and “Oks”, and stammering and picking your nose when you finally get to speak in front of 50 million people watching the teleconference – in front of the most powerful man on the planet. And of course, officers as spokesmen for the troops would be just plain wrong. Let’s find the youngest enlisted man we can, straight out of boot camp, to represent the military types and make us look confident, intelligent, and like professional geniuses. Not that boots can’t handle themselves pretty well in a knife fight, but when exactly did we begin teaching advanced military strategy and press relationship training in boot camp or even their first MOS school or A-school, or whatever the grunts call their first training school? A knife fight is easier and less messy.
If it was you, wouldn’t you want to be prepared? Wouldn’t you plan who is going to answer which question? (Since the President doesn’t want to make you look stupid either, he’s given you the questions he is going to ask in advance. When I went through the media preparation course, that was a perfect opportunity not to look stupid.) If your job, livelihood, career, or life depended on this one opportunity, wouldn’t you want to be prepared?
Only in the press world would we think pre-scripted answers and rehearsing the passing of the microphone is a bad thing. Because we wouldn’t really want to look sharp, decent and respectful. We’d rather look like the White House or Pentagon press briefing feeding frenzy of sharks, I mean, reporters who ask the same inane question with the obvious answer, over and over, in slightly different language, to see if they can trip up the General briefing the press, or make Scott McClellan look bad. I guess obviously that is more dignified, intelligent looking, and filled with the decorum attendant a discussion with the President of the United States. --- Not!!
Since the daily White House and Pentagon press briefings look more like a teenage food fight or a Saturday night dance hall brawl – you know, shoot your way in, cut your way out – we’d rather our troops look more like reporters than real professionals.
But that’s just me talking out loud. And you know what they say about me and the press. Empty barrels make the most noise.
Press On, gents. To Victory.
Subsunk
UPDATE:
SGT Rob Long of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, and a member of the teleconference weighs in on his blog. Let's see how accurate this speculative post was compared to his experience.
Out here.
Subsunk
October 13, 2005 • Permalink
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» AP Response to Bush Teleconference Staged! from Small Town Veteran
I won't steal any of Dafydd's thunder with an excerpt. Just go read it. Update: Jason van Steenwyk has related thoughts here, as does Lorie Byrd here. Update 2, 10/14/2005: Dafydd and Jason may have beaten her to it, but [Read More]
Tracked on Oct 14, 2005 6:13:14 PM
