WAR AS PHOTO OP
The President of the United States wanted the military to facilitate three types of news reports: of Iraqis celebrating the arrival of victorious American troops, of allied shipments of humanitarian supplies to the Iraqi population, and of the newly discovered arsenals of WMD. The White House seemed secure in its cause and confident of victory. Bush was convinced that grateful Iraqis and disclosed WMD would provide the White House with the ultimate photo op…Tommy Franks instructed that specially trained public affairs camera crews should be prepared to document discoveries for immediate release to the media. The administration was not only convinced that Iraq had WMD but was planning its discovery as a photo op.
--COBRA II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor, Pantheon Books, 2006.
Bush could have spoken with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki by secure videoconference from Camp David. Instead…it was powerful political theatre, choreographed by an experienced team that played up the drama and secrecy of the moment, and were rewarded with a day of relatively unfiltered cable news coverage. The trip…unfolded with the precision of a campaign event, complete with the image of the commander-in-chief addressing cheering American troops.
--"In Iraq Visit, Bush Seizes on a Step Forward," Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, June 14, 2006.
By now, Americans surely know the difference between a presidential publicity stunt and a true turning point in this ever-lengthening war.
--"Too Soon to Cheer in Baghdad," editorial, New York Times, June 14, 2006.
I'm not sure they do.
In order to truly assess the meaning of Bush's surprise visit to Iraq--such a surprise that even the Prime Minister was only told literally FIVE MINUTES before he was shaking hands in front of the ubiquitous cameras--one needs to look past all the glory of triumphant press conferences and dramatic B-roll footage and theatrical tales of reporters kept cloistered in hotels before being spirited away in the night to Air Force One with no idea where they were going.
Look past it…into the eyes of Prime Minister Maliki. There is where you will find truth.
In truth, he was caught in a terrible vise and given no time whatsoever to prepare remarks or even facial expressions before being shoved before the cameras and microphones with his hand caught firmly in the president's.
As usual, Bush's good intentions--and I'm even somewhat skeptical on that count but will give him the benefit of the doubt--stomps all over a more sensitive, nuanced, and well-studied appraisal of just what it means for him to steal the prime minister's thunder just two days after Maliki announced he had finally appointed ministers to hold the last three crucial government posts--interior (police), defense (army), and national security.
Had Bush's photo-op and campaign staff--(for he is always, always campaigning for something; in this case, the '06 mid-term elections in which his party's fortunes are tied directly to his own)--had they stopped to think for, oh, FIVE MINUTES that one of the reasons the previous puppet government in Iraq was so scorned by the majority of the Iraqi people is precisely BECAUSE it was an American hand-picked puppet government.
The elections in January of '05 that were so crucial to the future of Iraq were crucial BECAUSE the people elected were put in office by the Iraqi people.
The most important segment of Iraqi society that needed the most to trust this new government was the INSURGENCY, that group of hardened resistance fighters who are trying to kill Americans like my son.
They had to respect that this government was elected by the people of Iraq, and in time, would be able to assume the management of that government.
Granted, it was their own bickering and jostling that kept that same government frozen in impotency for more than a year, a critical year in which the Sunni-led insurgency's relentless attacks on the Iraqi populace of Shi'ite Muslims were answered by death-squad Shi'ite militias that infiltrated the security forces of that government and proceeded to murder as many Sunnis as possible, regardless of innocence.
Which is the working definition of a Civil War.
Finally, just a couple of months ago, that logjam was broken, and Prime Minister Maliki has moved forcefully to take back his country from chaos and confusion. An astute politician in his own right, he used the good news of the American killing of the bloodiest terrorist the Sunnis had ever produced--Abu Musab al-Zarqawi--to announce his choices to fill the final ministry positions.
Those positions had been in hot dispute for a couple of months now, with Sunnis and Shi'ites, sectarians and clergy, fighting for the right to run the police, army, and security forces of Iraq. Had it not been for his brilliant timing of the announcement--immediately following the news of the death of Zarqawi--they'd be fighting over those positions still and maybe for always.
Instead, the logjam broke, and the prime minister moved swiftly to order up thousands more Iraqi Army troops into the besieged city of Baghdad to restore order, promising, as he did so, to unify the police force into a national organization with identifiable badges and vehicles.
Maliki had the momentum going, the rhythm underway. He visited Basra, now one of the most violent cities in a southern province rich with oil wells, where Shi'ites are battling Shi'ites for control of those riches, and threatened strong action if they did not get their act together and cut it out.
He was decisive and strong--the things all people apparently like to see in their leaders.
But you know, it seems there was only one force on the face of this planet capable of throwing off Maliki's rhythm, of tripping him headlong, of stealing his thunder and casting everything he was doing into doubt right there in front of the TV cameras, and it was not a Sunni terrorist or a police death squad or an assassin or even a political opponent.
It was President George W. Bush.
What Bush did, when he literally swooped in out of nowhere and barged into the room followed by a phalanx of television cameras and tag-along reporters…was effectively CASTRATE Prime Minister Maliki.
He might as well have leaned over and attached the marionette strings himself, because from that moment on, Maliki will look like a Bush stooge to those in his government who are the most resistant to a unified Iraq--those insurgents who are trying to kill my son and 130,000 other sons and daughters who are fighting in Bush's photo op war.
"Thank you for having me," Bush replied as the two men shook hands and beamed for cameras…During brief and somewhat subdued remarks, the prime minister responded, "God willing, all of the suffering will be over, and all of the soldiers will be able to return to their countries with our gratitude for what they have offered."
--"In Baghdad, Bush Pledges Support to Iraqi Leader," Jonathan Finer and Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post, June 14, 2006.
"I have come to not only look you in the eye; I have also come to tell you that when America gives its word, it will keep its word."
Presumably, Bush was saying Iraqis can trust his administration not to abandon them prematurely. But Iraqis have had to live with the chain of disasters traceable to an attitude Rumsfeld expressed when he responded to an ominous outbreak of postwar looting by saying glibly, "Stuff happens."
--"Bush's Baghdad Visit," editorial, Boston Globe, June 14, 2006.
Has no one else considered the utter IRONY of the president of the most powerful country in the world, who launched an unprovoked invasion into the country it has been occupying for almost four years, dropping out of the heavens, showing up unannounced with reporters and cameras in tow, and shoving the prime minister of said country in front of the television cameras five minutes later, saying, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME???
Did Maliki have any CHOICE?
At the time that Bush made his remark about looking Maliki in the eye, he was not looking into Maliki's eye, but into the eye of the television cameras. He glanced Maliki's way as he spoke, but he was eye to eye with his political constituency back home, not the prime minister.
Just so we don't doubt the REAL meaning for this trip, Karl Rove, the squirming snake of a political hack whose fist is always firmly up his boss's butt like Frank Oz and Miss Piggy--gave another flamethrower speech in which he claimed that, if Democrats had their way, Zarqawi would be let go, because Democrats are known for cutting and running.
Interesting. When you read COBRA II, the definitive study of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the respected ex-military authors write: As for the war itself, the plan projected that the major attack would take 45 days. Another 90 days was allocated for completing the destruction of Saddam's regime, meaning the war could last as long as 135 days. At that point, the United States would transition into reconstruction, according to CENTCOM officials.
In fact, Rummy was confident that the United States would be ready to begin a major troop drawdown in SEPTEMBER OF 2003, six months after the invasion. By fall, he assumed we'd only need 30,000 troops to hang around while Iraqi oil money rebuilt the country into a mini-U.S.
30,000 by September '03.
In other words…the administration was planning to…what? CUT AND RUN?
Is that what they're calling legitimate troop drawdowns these days?
If Bush is serious about finding the right policy balance for Iraq, he will order an end to petty and divisive political tricks. There are Republicans who want to withdraw now from Iraq and Democrats who are willing to stay until the worst outcomes have been prevented. The fate of Iraq is too important to America and the world to be determined by the dishonest slogans of politicians.
--"Bush's Baghdad Visit," editorial, Boston Globe, June 14, 2006.
Bush stayed, in all, about five hours--just enough time for rapid high-risk security transit to and from the airport in special forces helicopters, TWO photo ops for the television cameras with the hapless Maliki in tow, and one weepy photo op session in front of cheering troops and of course, the ubiquitous cameras.
I don't think there was a whole lot of time for the substantive policy discussions that Bush touted as his reason for visiting Iraq in the first place, but he did say, after leaving Maliki, that he had been told that the Iraqis were very concerned that the Americans would pull out too soon and "there'll be a vacuum."
Really? Is that what they said?
That's not what Maliki said when he had 30 seconds to give unprepared on-air remarks FIVE MINUTES after meeting the president. He said he hoped we could all go home soon.
I guess something just got lost in the translation.
The next day, hundreds of Iraqis loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shi'ite cleric with a militia 100,000 strong, who has fought American troops twice--filled the streets in anti-American demonstrations, claiming that Bush was an "unwelcome guest."
But that's okay. Just in case WE DON'T GET IT YET, Bush used the opportunity to mention September 11th REPEATEDLY in his remarks following the visit.
"These (9-11 widow) broads are millionaires…reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis. I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."
--remarks made by right-wing hag Ann Coulter on the TODAY show, to Matt Lauer
Coulter claims that because some of the 9-11 widows campaigned for John Kerry, that they are taking political advantage of their tragedy.
"Right after September the 11th, I knew some would forget the dangers we faced…I vowed that day, after September the 11th, to do everything I could to protect the American people…"
--remarks made by President Bush following his trip to Iraq, yet another of countless inferences that Iraq was directly tied to 9-11, which has been proven wrong over and over and over again.
I would also like to point out, if I could? That every single state of the union address, Bush has had a GRIEVING MOTHER OF A SOLDIER OR MARINE LOST IN IRAQ or an ACTIVE-DUTY AMPUTEE sitting in the audience to be shown on-camera as being in support of his policies.
Grief-arrazis, indeed.
The White House is turning to a strategy that proved successful in the elections of 2004, insisting Mr. Bush will stay the course while at the same time making Iraq a proxy for the broader national security debate.
--"In Iraq Visit, Bush Seizes on a Step Forward," Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, June 14, 2006.
Not content to settle for a dazzling photo-op display of wartime prowess, Bush called a rare press conference this morning so that he could drag out the media attention and news cycle for another day or two. In that press conference, Bush repeated AGAIN the administration's peevish contention that all Americans get to see is bad news from Iraq.
Apparently, there is no irony too small to be lost on this administration. All the media tells is bad news, and yet, that very media was herded onto Air Force One in the dark of night and hustled 6,000 miles away for a touch-and-go photo op in Baghdad and then back home again because, apparently, the security situation is too dire to risk letting anyone in the president's party stay overnight.
So far, more reporters and camera crews have died in Iraq trying to seek out good news stories than DURING THE ENTIRE VIETNAM WAR. Two major network correspondents are recovering from life-threatening wounds that killed soldiers who had been protecting them at the time.
But the mantra is repeated, and that same news media dutifully reports it.
Don’t get me wrong. I WANT Prime Minister Maliki and the fledgling government of a devastated Iraq to SUCCEED. I want my son's and his buddies' sacrifices to count toward something tangible that they can take increasing pride in through the years.
I want to be wrong. I really do.
But as long as this administration CONTINUES--after THREE YEARS and more than 20,000 deaths and injuries to Americans and countless other Iraqis--as long as they continue to regard this war as a POLITICAL PHOTO OP rather than a serious, sensitive, and delicate matter of diplomacy backed by strength, then I will not, I can not, support this president or his policies.
I'm not willing to gamble my son's blood on an election-campaign photo-op war.
I'm just very sorry that this president is.
--COBRA II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor, Pantheon Books, 2006.
Bush could have spoken with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki by secure videoconference from Camp David. Instead…it was powerful political theatre, choreographed by an experienced team that played up the drama and secrecy of the moment, and were rewarded with a day of relatively unfiltered cable news coverage. The trip…unfolded with the precision of a campaign event, complete with the image of the commander-in-chief addressing cheering American troops.
--"In Iraq Visit, Bush Seizes on a Step Forward," Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, June 14, 2006.
By now, Americans surely know the difference between a presidential publicity stunt and a true turning point in this ever-lengthening war.
--"Too Soon to Cheer in Baghdad," editorial, New York Times, June 14, 2006.
I'm not sure they do.
In order to truly assess the meaning of Bush's surprise visit to Iraq--such a surprise that even the Prime Minister was only told literally FIVE MINUTES before he was shaking hands in front of the ubiquitous cameras--one needs to look past all the glory of triumphant press conferences and dramatic B-roll footage and theatrical tales of reporters kept cloistered in hotels before being spirited away in the night to Air Force One with no idea where they were going.
Look past it…into the eyes of Prime Minister Maliki. There is where you will find truth.
In truth, he was caught in a terrible vise and given no time whatsoever to prepare remarks or even facial expressions before being shoved before the cameras and microphones with his hand caught firmly in the president's.
As usual, Bush's good intentions--and I'm even somewhat skeptical on that count but will give him the benefit of the doubt--stomps all over a more sensitive, nuanced, and well-studied appraisal of just what it means for him to steal the prime minister's thunder just two days after Maliki announced he had finally appointed ministers to hold the last three crucial government posts--interior (police), defense (army), and national security.
Had Bush's photo-op and campaign staff--(for he is always, always campaigning for something; in this case, the '06 mid-term elections in which his party's fortunes are tied directly to his own)--had they stopped to think for, oh, FIVE MINUTES that one of the reasons the previous puppet government in Iraq was so scorned by the majority of the Iraqi people is precisely BECAUSE it was an American hand-picked puppet government.
The elections in January of '05 that were so crucial to the future of Iraq were crucial BECAUSE the people elected were put in office by the Iraqi people.
The most important segment of Iraqi society that needed the most to trust this new government was the INSURGENCY, that group of hardened resistance fighters who are trying to kill Americans like my son.
They had to respect that this government was elected by the people of Iraq, and in time, would be able to assume the management of that government.
Granted, it was their own bickering and jostling that kept that same government frozen in impotency for more than a year, a critical year in which the Sunni-led insurgency's relentless attacks on the Iraqi populace of Shi'ite Muslims were answered by death-squad Shi'ite militias that infiltrated the security forces of that government and proceeded to murder as many Sunnis as possible, regardless of innocence.
Which is the working definition of a Civil War.
Finally, just a couple of months ago, that logjam was broken, and Prime Minister Maliki has moved forcefully to take back his country from chaos and confusion. An astute politician in his own right, he used the good news of the American killing of the bloodiest terrorist the Sunnis had ever produced--Abu Musab al-Zarqawi--to announce his choices to fill the final ministry positions.
Those positions had been in hot dispute for a couple of months now, with Sunnis and Shi'ites, sectarians and clergy, fighting for the right to run the police, army, and security forces of Iraq. Had it not been for his brilliant timing of the announcement--immediately following the news of the death of Zarqawi--they'd be fighting over those positions still and maybe for always.
Instead, the logjam broke, and the prime minister moved swiftly to order up thousands more Iraqi Army troops into the besieged city of Baghdad to restore order, promising, as he did so, to unify the police force into a national organization with identifiable badges and vehicles.
Maliki had the momentum going, the rhythm underway. He visited Basra, now one of the most violent cities in a southern province rich with oil wells, where Shi'ites are battling Shi'ites for control of those riches, and threatened strong action if they did not get their act together and cut it out.
He was decisive and strong--the things all people apparently like to see in their leaders.
But you know, it seems there was only one force on the face of this planet capable of throwing off Maliki's rhythm, of tripping him headlong, of stealing his thunder and casting everything he was doing into doubt right there in front of the TV cameras, and it was not a Sunni terrorist or a police death squad or an assassin or even a political opponent.
It was President George W. Bush.
What Bush did, when he literally swooped in out of nowhere and barged into the room followed by a phalanx of television cameras and tag-along reporters…was effectively CASTRATE Prime Minister Maliki.
He might as well have leaned over and attached the marionette strings himself, because from that moment on, Maliki will look like a Bush stooge to those in his government who are the most resistant to a unified Iraq--those insurgents who are trying to kill my son and 130,000 other sons and daughters who are fighting in Bush's photo op war.
"Thank you for having me," Bush replied as the two men shook hands and beamed for cameras…During brief and somewhat subdued remarks, the prime minister responded, "God willing, all of the suffering will be over, and all of the soldiers will be able to return to their countries with our gratitude for what they have offered."
--"In Baghdad, Bush Pledges Support to Iraqi Leader," Jonathan Finer and Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post, June 14, 2006.
"I have come to not only look you in the eye; I have also come to tell you that when America gives its word, it will keep its word."
Presumably, Bush was saying Iraqis can trust his administration not to abandon them prematurely. But Iraqis have had to live with the chain of disasters traceable to an attitude Rumsfeld expressed when he responded to an ominous outbreak of postwar looting by saying glibly, "Stuff happens."
--"Bush's Baghdad Visit," editorial, Boston Globe, June 14, 2006.
Has no one else considered the utter IRONY of the president of the most powerful country in the world, who launched an unprovoked invasion into the country it has been occupying for almost four years, dropping out of the heavens, showing up unannounced with reporters and cameras in tow, and shoving the prime minister of said country in front of the television cameras five minutes later, saying, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME???
Did Maliki have any CHOICE?
At the time that Bush made his remark about looking Maliki in the eye, he was not looking into Maliki's eye, but into the eye of the television cameras. He glanced Maliki's way as he spoke, but he was eye to eye with his political constituency back home, not the prime minister.
Just so we don't doubt the REAL meaning for this trip, Karl Rove, the squirming snake of a political hack whose fist is always firmly up his boss's butt like Frank Oz and Miss Piggy--gave another flamethrower speech in which he claimed that, if Democrats had their way, Zarqawi would be let go, because Democrats are known for cutting and running.
Interesting. When you read COBRA II, the definitive study of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the respected ex-military authors write: As for the war itself, the plan projected that the major attack would take 45 days. Another 90 days was allocated for completing the destruction of Saddam's regime, meaning the war could last as long as 135 days. At that point, the United States would transition into reconstruction, according to CENTCOM officials.
In fact, Rummy was confident that the United States would be ready to begin a major troop drawdown in SEPTEMBER OF 2003, six months after the invasion. By fall, he assumed we'd only need 30,000 troops to hang around while Iraqi oil money rebuilt the country into a mini-U.S.
30,000 by September '03.
In other words…the administration was planning to…what? CUT AND RUN?
Is that what they're calling legitimate troop drawdowns these days?
If Bush is serious about finding the right policy balance for Iraq, he will order an end to petty and divisive political tricks. There are Republicans who want to withdraw now from Iraq and Democrats who are willing to stay until the worst outcomes have been prevented. The fate of Iraq is too important to America and the world to be determined by the dishonest slogans of politicians.
--"Bush's Baghdad Visit," editorial, Boston Globe, June 14, 2006.
Bush stayed, in all, about five hours--just enough time for rapid high-risk security transit to and from the airport in special forces helicopters, TWO photo ops for the television cameras with the hapless Maliki in tow, and one weepy photo op session in front of cheering troops and of course, the ubiquitous cameras.
I don't think there was a whole lot of time for the substantive policy discussions that Bush touted as his reason for visiting Iraq in the first place, but he did say, after leaving Maliki, that he had been told that the Iraqis were very concerned that the Americans would pull out too soon and "there'll be a vacuum."
Really? Is that what they said?
That's not what Maliki said when he had 30 seconds to give unprepared on-air remarks FIVE MINUTES after meeting the president. He said he hoped we could all go home soon.
I guess something just got lost in the translation.
The next day, hundreds of Iraqis loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, the firebrand Shi'ite cleric with a militia 100,000 strong, who has fought American troops twice--filled the streets in anti-American demonstrations, claiming that Bush was an "unwelcome guest."
But that's okay. Just in case WE DON'T GET IT YET, Bush used the opportunity to mention September 11th REPEATEDLY in his remarks following the visit.
"These (9-11 widow) broads are millionaires…reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis. I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."
--remarks made by right-wing hag Ann Coulter on the TODAY show, to Matt Lauer
Coulter claims that because some of the 9-11 widows campaigned for John Kerry, that they are taking political advantage of their tragedy.
"Right after September the 11th, I knew some would forget the dangers we faced…I vowed that day, after September the 11th, to do everything I could to protect the American people…"
--remarks made by President Bush following his trip to Iraq, yet another of countless inferences that Iraq was directly tied to 9-11, which has been proven wrong over and over and over again.
I would also like to point out, if I could? That every single state of the union address, Bush has had a GRIEVING MOTHER OF A SOLDIER OR MARINE LOST IN IRAQ or an ACTIVE-DUTY AMPUTEE sitting in the audience to be shown on-camera as being in support of his policies.
Grief-arrazis, indeed.
The White House is turning to a strategy that proved successful in the elections of 2004, insisting Mr. Bush will stay the course while at the same time making Iraq a proxy for the broader national security debate.
--"In Iraq Visit, Bush Seizes on a Step Forward," Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, June 14, 2006.
Not content to settle for a dazzling photo-op display of wartime prowess, Bush called a rare press conference this morning so that he could drag out the media attention and news cycle for another day or two. In that press conference, Bush repeated AGAIN the administration's peevish contention that all Americans get to see is bad news from Iraq.
Apparently, there is no irony too small to be lost on this administration. All the media tells is bad news, and yet, that very media was herded onto Air Force One in the dark of night and hustled 6,000 miles away for a touch-and-go photo op in Baghdad and then back home again because, apparently, the security situation is too dire to risk letting anyone in the president's party stay overnight.
So far, more reporters and camera crews have died in Iraq trying to seek out good news stories than DURING THE ENTIRE VIETNAM WAR. Two major network correspondents are recovering from life-threatening wounds that killed soldiers who had been protecting them at the time.
But the mantra is repeated, and that same news media dutifully reports it.
Don’t get me wrong. I WANT Prime Minister Maliki and the fledgling government of a devastated Iraq to SUCCEED. I want my son's and his buddies' sacrifices to count toward something tangible that they can take increasing pride in through the years.
I want to be wrong. I really do.
But as long as this administration CONTINUES--after THREE YEARS and more than 20,000 deaths and injuries to Americans and countless other Iraqis--as long as they continue to regard this war as a POLITICAL PHOTO OP rather than a serious, sensitive, and delicate matter of diplomacy backed by strength, then I will not, I can not, support this president or his policies.
I'm not willing to gamble my son's blood on an election-campaign photo-op war.
I'm just very sorry that this president is.
posted by Deanie Mills at 2:06 PM
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