At Fort Benning, a Quiet Response to a Presidential Visit

[meegbear]

The pictures were just what the White House wanted: A teary-eyed President Bush presenting the Medal of Honor posthumously to a slain war hero in the East Room, then flying here to join the chow line with camouflage-clad soldiers as some of them prepare to return to Iraq.

There are few places the president could go for an unreservedly enthusiastic reception the day after unveiling his decision to order 21,500 more troops to Iraq. A military base has usually been a reliable backdrop for the White House, and so Bush aides chose this venerable Army installation in western Georgia to promote his revised strategy to the nation while his Cabinet secretaries tried to sell it on Capitol Hill.

To ensure that there would be no discordant notes here, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, the base commander, prohibited the 300 soldiers who had lunch with the president from talking with reporters. If any of them harbored doubts about heading back to Iraq, many for the third time, they were kept silent.

<snip>

Soldiers being soldiers, those who met the commander in chief Thursday saluted smartly and applauded politely. But it was hardly the boisterous, rock-star reception Bush typically gets at military bases. During his lunchtime speech, the soldiers were attentive but quiet. Not counting the introduction of dignitaries, Bush was interrupted by applause just three times in 30 minutes -- once when he talked about a previous Medal of Honor winner from Fort Benning, again when he pledged to win in Iraq and finally when he repeated his intention to expand the Army.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011100389.html

[babylonsister]

1. I want to know just who this admin thinks it's kidding with these

smarmy photo ops. Again, the soldiers are being used to prop up this failure. I'm feeling very sorry for them because they have no say in the matter. Welcome to the new Amerika.

[gratuitous]

3. Well, it would take some courage . . .

But a soldier who really, truly objected to being used as a prop to sucker others into the same mess he's in could stand up, and in a clear, well-modulated voice, denounce the President for being a fool. It would probably mean some time in the brig and a dishonorable discharge, but if I was in that position, I'd have to sit down and think about the choice for a while. I like to think I'd stand up.

[stanwyck]

5. Not all soldiers appear at these infomercials

they're hand-picked. Anyone suspected of embarrassing the administration is nowhere in sight.
You know, like the soldier who stood up to Rumsfeld when he visited Iraq. He asked Rummy why tanks weren't sufficiently armoured against IEDs and told how he and others had to scavenge for metal to fortify their vehicles.
Rumsfeld's response: It's early. I'm an old man. Ha Ha.
So, this was a very lukewarm response from what was supposed to be a friendly audience. Not good for Bush.
My son is a Marine -- now on his THIRD tour to Iraq. And let me tell you, the troops don't support Bush the way Faux and the Bushies would like you to think they do.
That's another carefully crafted myth. Like these military staged events. (but, hey, Bush has nowhere else to go. He has to avoid mainstream America. Too many disenchanted folks who might, shudder, say something...can't have that.)
This audience was vetted, warned, and orchestrated like so much of this phony administration with their vainglorious banners.
It's all propaganda that would make the Third Reich proud.

[Ferret Annica]

9. The Uniform Code of Military Justice

forbids political efficacy while in uniform. However, traditionally only people going against the grain of politics and policy the brass and above get sanctioned for doing this no no.

The problem is military justice is not moored in the concept of impartial justice. If they are short of people, the chain of command closest to the rank and file enlisted members will cover up homosexuality, casual light drug use, alcohol problems, bad checks and domestic woes.

But if there is a surplus of people, heads fly and there are many more who do the duffel bag drag and depart active duty status.

In today's military, they would make you pay dearly for openly showing disrespect and for doing political advocacy toward the Commander in Chief, But they would keep your ass around painting the lower parts of trees and path border rocks white or yellow. Then you would paint the stairs, strip and re-wax the Battalion hallways and so on making considerably less money at a lower rank.

If I sound like I know what I am talking about from experience, I am. Fortunately for me, I took the charges to Special Court martial, I hired a killer lawyer, and I had all charges and specifications thrown out on the grounds the prosecution failed to prove a prima Facie case claiming I flipped the bird and showed disrespect and disregard to orders from superior commissioned officers.

My life was hell until this happens and they really wanted to chop my head off legally, but afterward in a new unit with my mouth welded shut I made sergeant E-5 2 years, 3 months after I first enlisted as a private E-1, so you can win, but the winning process shuts a sane man up.

My problems all started when I mocked Jeremiah Denton , a Republican former Vietnam POW for his proposed chastity centers, a proposal he had while first running for the U.S. Congress. he was speaking to my unit in our hanger.

My immediate supervisors and others who were shocked and angered by my actions are experiences that would make me fear for the life of any who took Bush on in real time. Seriously; bad things man, bad things.

[gratuitous]

10. Bad things, indeed

Worse though, than facing the prospect of going off to Iraq for an indefinite period until you're either finally nailed by a sniper or you go off the deep end because of the chaos and uncertainty? Worse than being used as a prop to gull someone else into the same predicament?

That's why I said I'd have to sit down and think it over. And that I'd like to think I would stand up and object to being used so dishonestly by a criminal cabal. A very similar choice in my mind to being on a high-jacked plane. The episode might turn out okay, but I could be a doomed passenger on the instrument of death for hundreds if not thousands of other people. I'd like to think I'd stand up there, too.

[tanyev]

2. Interesting because last night ABC news led into the story with

the statement that he was greeted with applause at Fort Benning. That's about the same time I flung myself across the room to turn the TV off, so I don't know how the rest of their story went. I just went to look for it on their website, but it's hard to find anything on that crappy info-tainment extravaganza.

[sabra]

4. Bush Speaks and Base Is Subdued

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/12/us/12prexy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Bush Speaks and Base Is Subdued

FORT BENNING, Ga., Jan. 11 — President Bush came to this Georgia military base looking for a friendly audience to sell his new Iraq strategy. But his lunchtime talk received a restrained response from soldiers who clapped politely but showed little of the wild enthusiasm that they ordinarily shower on the commander in chief.

Under the new plan, more than 20,000 additional troops will be sent to Iraq, some from Fort Benning who learned Thursday that they would go earlier than expected. But instead of centering his address on the soldiers’ situation, Mr. Bush seemed to be aiming his talk at ordinary Americans and members of Congress who are skeptical of his proposal.

...

In his speech, Mr. Bush took note of that, saying, “I appreciate the sacrifices our troops are willing to make.” But he did not dwell on sacrifice; a senior White House official said the president did not want that to be the major theme of his talk.

It was difficult to know how the soldiers felt about returning to the war zone, or the president’s new Iraq plan. Though Mr. Bush’s lunch was open to the press, the base commander, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, would not let the troops in attendance talk to reporters. His spokeswoman said the commander wanted “the focus to be on the president.”

[Auntie Bush]

7. What a crock!

"His spokeswoman said the commander wanted “the focus to be on the president.”

Who'd believe that? He was afraid someone would ask an embarrassing question or tell them what they REALLY think. Another lie!

[tinymontgomery]

6. No more photo

ops for this so called commander in chief with the troops (I hope)

[Justyce]

8. "expand the Army" in Iraq, or expand the Army

in general, as in hinting at a draft?

[classysassy]

11. Bring it on

the draft,thats the only way the Bush supporter will turn on that thief(the election and Iraqi oil).