RUMSFELD SET UP; REPORTER PLANTED QUESTIONS WITH SOLDIER (DRUDGE SIREN)

What I am suggesting is that although there may have been some soldiers who were cheering, you do not know how many cheers were from off-camera media.

Oh, so it was the media cheering on the question.

Thanks for clearing that up Ms Marple.

who cares if he was set up? we need to face the reality that we are going about this iraq situation all wrong and stop trying to defend our actions and continue doing it wrong. you cant defend the money and lives we are wasting in iraq. its wrong and it needs to stop.

Oh I see, so we're "going about this iraq situation all wrong" because Peter Jennings told you so.

It's amazing how many people think that wars are supposed to be sterile, perfect things. They're bloody and messy and there are plans which have to be constantly updated because reality doesn't go along with the plans.

Liberals have basically said all along that we shouldn't have gone to war in Iraq because it's difficult. Yes, it is, but thank God we have a president who has the resolve to see it through rather than throw in the towel because some weiner journalists whine and cry.

You dont think the enemy know that they videotape their IEDs going off and know what to use!

The soldier regardless of who helped him did the right thing by bringing this to the surface.

Rumsfeld should also be commended for answering the question and promising to take care of the problem.

Cool...that will be one more facility going toward overtime production.

Still.....the Pentagon bid process is regulated by the "enlightened" folks on capitol hill.

They are involved with final approval.

While congress will dodge their share of the blame....this will force a vote we won't hear about...

That vote should be to make the process to bid for armor...a quicker one.

"Oh, so it was the media cheering on the question"

I have to back MM on this one Joe. I've seen it with my own eyes.

Do not think for one minute that they didn't use a guy with a Southern accent on purpose to ask this question. This SPC Wilson was just what the doctor ordered for the Left. The Left uses willing Red Staters to push their agenda. They didn't use a Marine from Marin County California to ask this. A marine from Pinkoville would be dismissed as a Pinko. A Marine from TN reading off the Left's talking points is perceived differently by Middle America. And his ex-wife made a point of saying that She and her ex both voted for Bush. That reminds me a lot of what was going on during the election. Remember Rassman was a Republican.

Everybody that came forward to kick Bush and the administration in the nuts was a "Republican who wasn't hostile to Bush"-- they were just "concerned" about the way things were going and thought Kerry (Hanoi John) was the Man for the moment. This is the old game plan-- right in time for Kerry's trip to Iraq.

The Left is pretty damn skillful. The Left lost the election, but they are more committed than ever to making America lose the War.

I say take Wilson off the front lines. He is a little too friendly with the Leftwing media.

Oh yeah, you support the troops alright:

Big difference in supporting the troops and the administration that sent them there bucko. I support the troops. The families of those that have died and those that have come home without limbs. I support them through prayer and well wishes. But don't expect me to rah-rah, wave the flag, and support a police action that didn't need to happen. Support of the troops does not now, nor has it ever, meant complicit support of the administration that sent the troops into harm's way. You're confusing nationalism with patriotism. But to most 'conservatives' there's no line there anymore is there? To be clear, this is more Wilsonian nonsense that has been going on for close to one hundred years now. Didn't work in the long term then, won't work in the long term now.

But you keep telling me what I do and do not support will you? It's a laugh a minute..

Here's another point of view of someone in the trenches:

Secretary's Call

Much has been made of Donald Rumsfeld's "talking to" by a disgruntled National Guardsman in Kuwait yesterday. Believe me, this is nothing new. When I was at SEAL Team FOUR in Little Creek, VA the entire base was compelled to attend a CNO's (Chief of Naval Operations) Call at the base theater. We all sat in the back and settled in for an hour or so of boring speeches by high ranking Navy muckety mucks. We were wrong. After a canned speech by the CNO, he opened the floor to questions from sailors much in the same way Rumsfeld did. What happened next will forever live in my memory.

First, some 3rd Class Petty Officer complained to the CNO that he had been passed over as LPO (Leading Petty Officer) of his division. He explained the situation in excruciating detail, remembering to point out the the Leading Chief who had promoted another 3rd Class who was a few months below him in rank to the vaunted LPO slot. Witnessing this idiot making a complete ass of himself was akin to watching an impending car wreck in slow motion. I have been admonished for jumping the Chain of Command before, but this was amazing to watch. I barely remember the CNO's response, because I was so busy laughing my ass off while trying to keep quiet.

But that was only the beginning. After 2 or 3 more asinine complaints similar to the above mentioned, another 3rd Class dropped a bomb that left me on the floor. She stood up in front of hundreds of sailors and described how she and her compatriots had spent the entire day cleaning up their building and adding that they had been forbidden from using the restroom all day so that it would not be sullied on the off chance that the CNO would stop by for a visit. But she wasn't done, not by a long shot. She then added that it was very inconvenient that high ranking officers always pick Friday afternoons for these sort of visits, and inquired as to why this was the case since she had better things to do. She wrapped up by asking if he, the CNO, was actually going to visit her command after the substantial labors she and her comrades had endured on his behalf. I $hit you not. I do remember the CNO's answer to that one. He asked her who her CO was, and she proceeded to point directly at a man wearing khaki that was at this point cowering behind the seat in front of him. The CNO promptly motioned for the CO to join one of his staff officers offstage, and assured her that he would, in fact, come by to inspect the building. By this time a pall of silence had decended upon the entire building, and several hundred people mouthed the words, "No F*cking Way!" in silent unison.

The highlight of the session was something that I will remember as one of the coolest moments I have ever witnessed in my life. At the time, the Navy was drawing down post-Gulf War, and there was a 15 year retirement option available to sailors. A Chief stood and told the CNO that his wife, another Chief, had recently died of cancer. He went on to say that he was at 14 years, six months of service and had two chidren at home who were mourning the recent loss of their mother. The Chief said that his unit was scheduled to deploy soon, and that although he had requested to stay home to care for his children, his CO refused and was compelling him to either deploy or leave the Navy. Once again, there was a pall in the room, but this time the air was thick with derision and scorn for a CO that would do such a thing. The CNO once again asked this Chief to point out his CO in the crowd, and with a snap of his fingers he dispatched another aide to start heading in his direction. While the aide was enroute, the CNO said, "Chief, you're retired." The audience immediately erupted with cheers and applause that did not relent for several minutes.

I am not going to criticize this National Guardsmen for having a legitimate complaint about the equipment he must use to fight in Iraq, but taking it up with the SECDEF on TV is unsat. Does he really think that Rumsfeld wouldn't rather have 2 armored hummers for every soldier? Like he said, it's a matter of physics rather than a matter of desire. There is a time and place to make these kind of inquiries, but this was neither.

UPDATE: I have seen and heard the media reports about how Rumsfeld was set up by the embedded reporter, but it really doesn't change anything. Nobody forced that Sergeant at gunpoint to ask such an inappropriate question of the SECDEF, and if it wasn't him today, it would have been some other guy tomorrow. I'm telling you that every time junior enlisted gets direct access to senior leadership in these type of forums, there is always somebody who can't help himself or herself from asking questions like this.

Rush seemed incredulous that there were soldiers in the military that had complaints, but for all of us veterans this is SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). Military bureaucracy is pervasive no matter what branch or field of service, and the troops will always have more than enough things to bitch about. That doesn't mean that they aren't committed to doing their jobs, it's just a way to let off steam and allieviate frustration. Finally, as I was listening to Rush, a former Guardsman called in and set him straight, but civilians can never understand what it's like to be in the service.

It's unfortunate that the MSM was there to record this very common occurrance just so it could be blown out of proportion, but this will be forgotten as soon as the Scott Peterson jury decides to give Scotty the needle.

You have a video or link showing that? Put it up.

What truth? I accept the Humvees may be on their way. But does that somehow nullify the fact that not all of these 'uparmored' Humvees are not already there? Or somehow nullify the soldier's question?

Instead of praising the fact we live in a country were a soldier can ask tough questions to his leadership - and praising a leadership unafraid to take tough questions from their citozen soldiers during war time - and praising the fact that our leadership is initiating those question by its citozen soldiers - we go ballistic because a tough question was asked? We want Saddam like live love fests where people clap for fear of being the first to stop clapping?

Wow. What story are you following?

I'm following a story where our troops are free to ask "tough questions" of their SOD, and asked such a question, which the SOD answered in a straightforward manner, and where the anti-American media ginned up the situation to begin with, reported it as if it were a spontaneous event, and then twisted the story to give the false impression that the SOD was embarrassed by the question and sidestepped it when what he did was answer it head on.

I'm ticked that the "journalist" exploited the NG troops and that the media, in typical fashion, has misreported the situation in an attempt to undermine our war effort.

"we need to face the reality that we are going about this iraq situation all wrong and stop trying to defend our actions and continue doing it wrong. you cant defend the money and lives we are wasting in iraq. its wrong and it needs to stop."

I'm really tired of these bovine excrement type of statements from un informed people who have no clue other than what's been spoon fed to them by the MSM!

CA2...since you seem to be such a military expert...what is YOUR plan to make Iraq better and how is it a better plan than the current one?

I've been there...boots on the ground in Iraq and I CAN defend and I WILL deffend the lives of my friends and the money spent to try and better the lives of the people in Iraq and I DEFY you to show me proof where it's been a waste. I will NOT let you and others like you spit on the graves of my fellow soldiers with your insepid comments.

"You have a video or link showing that? Put it up."

Ok a little clarification. I have been to events such as this in Iraq while I was there where the downright disrespect by the MSM there to the military leaders was almost palpable.

I wasn't at this one particular incident...but I have been at such events last year where the only cheering on a touchy subject WAS done by the MSM.

Thanks for posting another prespective ...

Last, during WWII would we have broadcast this information to Hilter?

So I take it by your statement you support government control of the media in certain cases. Yep, that's a conservative position... In no instance is it acceptable unless Congress, and not the President, suspends habeas corpus and the First Amendment. And this would only be in the direst of emergencies. Is fighting a third world power a dire emergency now? Also, fighting an industrialized nation and fighting a third world nation are a world of difference. Do you somehow not think the terrorists knew about these flaws before they came to light in this question and answer session?

I guess the big boys need a farm team.

I wasn't aware there were any East Tennessee papers with the resources to send a reporter to Iraq to follow the Tennessee troops.

I was very hard on our local paper and its staff for their AP antiwar propaganda continuum and their response was very heavy duty favorable coverage for the 278th deployment.

Oh, I see.

Actually, the troops did cheer the question. In every war, things like this have happened. The Tanks in WWII stunk. Korea was a nightmare of miscues. This Humvee problem is serious, but Iraq has been pretty damn good compared to other American wars.

These guys aren't in a Korean Winter with no food or ammo, they aren't in crappy tanks getting massacred by German Panzers. All in all, things have been better than average. The whining has been greater than average, The Media has been terrible. The loyal opposition has been traitorous.

The Humvee thing should be addressed. The troops have more body armor than ever before in Human history-- perhaps some units don't have as much as other units (and that is an issue) but they have more body armor than any American infantry units have ever had in previous wars.

There is no doubt, we would be better off if the Clinton troop cuts hadn't happened. And we'd be better off if the adminstration and Pentagon after Mogadishu had uparmored the entire fleet of Humvees and light and heavy trucks. It's a tough order to ask Bush to undo all the harm that was heaped on the militay in the 8 years of Clinton. It's hard to ask Bush to snap his hands and fix it all, but it is legit to say, "You could have done a better job fixing the damage Clinton created."

Yeah by focusing the terrorists on the Humvees, even more than they already are. Maybe they'll use 6 RPG's against the upgraded ones. Rather than 1 or 2.

That answer doesn't even make sense to my statement. However, do you not believe these people have the capability to learn? They are, contrary to belief by some 'conservatives', human beings the same as us. Eventually armor or not, unfortunately they will learn.

BTW, you gave the idea for a solution on what these evil SOBs should do, not me. Are you supportive of the troops? I think we should call your patriotism into question next....

When do you think the trouble with the Humvees was first known?

One word: Mogadishu. Why did any Humvee leave the factory without Armor after 1993? Why was the military starved in the 90s?

Bush deserves to take heat, but the real question is "How did we get here?"