Ugly Reporting Wrongs Rumsfeld (Fog of Journalism)

It may not have been conscious sabotage of the defense secretary, but it's hard to believe otherwise.

Nowhere was the media's irresponsibility on the Iraq conflict more acutely demonstrated than in the barrage of ugly news reports on Donald Rumsfeld's exchange in Kuwait with Spc. Thomas Wilson, an exchange that is still reverberating across the country.

Those who pay close attention to the news are almost certainly familiar with the reported encounter. Spc. Wilson, an airplane mechanic with the Tennessee Army National Guard, asked the secretary an important question: ". . . A lot of us are getting ready to move north relatively soon. Our vehicles are not armored. We're digging pieces of rusted scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass that's already been shot up . . . to put on our vehicles to take into combat. We do not have proper armament [sic] vehicles to carry with us north."

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said in his home state of Mississippi on Wednesday: "I am not a fan of Secretary Rumsfeld. I don't think he listens to his uniformed officers."

Although Lott didn't have a huge majority, he always ran the Senate as if the Democrats were in charge. Most of us weren't really fan of Lott in those days.

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), a strong Bush supporter on the campaign trail this year despite past differences, got the latest round of criticism under way by saying he had no confidence in Rumsfeld.

Can you imagine this clown as the standard bearer for Republicans in 2008? What a nightmare that would be!

Then a prominent moderate Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (news, bio, voting record) of Maine, was critical of the Pentagon (news - web sites) for insufficient armor protection for troops in Iraq.

Isn't she one of those blathering females that Ann Coulter referred to as an air head in bygone days? Wasn't she a supporter of clinton during his impeachment?

Rumsfeld got himself into trouble last week by appearing to brush off a soldier headed to Iraq who complained that military vehicles did not have sufficient armor and troops were having to piece together scraps of metal for extra protection.

Seems to me this story was half truth enough to be called a lie.

"As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time," Rumsfeld had told the soldier in Kuwait.

As you know we go into legislative battle with many of the Rinos we have, not literate Republicans we want or wish to have at a later time. If trends continue though...

Little more than two weeks ago, Bush told Rumsfeld that he could stay on as defense secretary in the president's second term.

Makes it sound as though Bush was doing Rumsfeld a favor. Bush no doubt realizes that Rumsfeld was as bright a star as he had in the first term or as any President has had in a good long time.

"We're digging pieces of rusted scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass that's already been shot up . . . to put on our vehicles to take into combat."

It is very interesting that no one seems to have asked Spc. Wilson whether he or his unit has actually been "digging" up these pieces in actual fact, or was this just the question that he was "put-up" to asking by the reporter?

I mean nothing negative in any way against Spc. Wilson, it's just that having read how he came about asking this question and all the circumstances surrounding him being setup to be picked to ask it, is there any actual fact behind it?

I don't doubt whatsoever that the troops are doing all kinds of things like scrounging... what troops throughout history haven't done that? I just would like to know if this particular soldier and his unit have been actually doing what he implied they were having to do, or if there was more "put up" to the question than we have been given to believe.

I'd sure like to know the truth, not the MSM/Dimmocraps version of it.

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