Posted on 12/09/2004 9:22:17 AM PST by Nascardude
Edited on 12/09/2004 10:05:10 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
RUMSFELD SET UP; REPORTER PLANTED QUESTIONS WITH SOLIDER
Thu Dec 09 2004 11:49:38 ET
Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Edward Lee Pitts is embedded with the 278th Regimental Combat Team, now in Kuwait preparing to enter Iraq, and is filing articles for his newspaper. Pitts claims in a purported email that he coached soldiers to ask Defense Secretary Rumsfeld questions!
From: EDWARD LEE PITTS, Chattanooga Times Free Press military reporter
Sent: Wednesday, December 8, 2004 4:44 PM
To: Staffers
Subject: RE: Way to go
I just had one of my best days as a journalist today. As luck would have it, our journey North was delayed just long enough see I could attend a visit today here by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. I was told yesterday that only soldiers could ask questions so I brought two of them along with me as my escorts. Before hand we worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armor their vehicles going into combat have. While waiting for the VIP, I went and found the Sgt. in charge of the microphone for the question and answer session and made sure he knew to get my guys out of the crowd.
So during the Q&A session, one of my guys was the second person called on. When he asked Rumsfeld why after two years here soldiers are still having to dig through trash bins to find rusted scrap metal and cracked ballistic windows for their Humvees, the place erupted in cheers so loud that Rumsfeld had to ask the guy to repeat his question. Then Rumsfeld answered something about it being "not a lack of desire or money but a logistics/physics problem." He said he recently saw about 8 of the special up-armored Humvees guarding Washington, DC, and he promised that they would no longer be used for that and that he would send them over here. Then he asked a three star general standing behind him, the commander of all ground forces here, to also answer the question. The general said it was a problem he is working on.
The great part was that after the event was over the throng of national media following Rumsfeld- The New York Times, AP, all the major networks -- swarmed to the two soldiers I brought from the unit I am embedded with. Out of the 1,000 or so troops at the event there were only a handful of guys from my unit b/c the rest were too busy prepping for our trip north. The national media asked if they were the guys with the armor problem and then stuck cameras in their faces. The NY Times reporter asked me to email him the stories I had already done on it, but I said he could search for them himself on the Internet and he better not steal any of my lines. I have been trying to get this story out for weeks- as soon as I foud out I would be on an unarmored truck- and my paper published two stories on it. But it felt good to hand it off to the national press. I believe lives are at stake with so many soldiers going across the border riding with scrap metal as protection. It may be to late for the unit I am with, but hopefully not for those who come after.
The press officer in charge of my regiment, the 278th, came up to me afterwords and asked if my story would be positive. I replied that I would write the truth. Then I pointed at the horde of national media pointing cameras and mics at the 278th guys and said he had bigger problems on his hands than the Chattanooga Times Free Press. This is what this job is all about - people need to know. The solider who asked the question said he felt good b/c he took his complaints to the top. When he got back to his unit most of the guys patted him on the back but a few of the officers were upset b/c they thought it would make them look bad. From what I understand this is all over the news back home.
Thanks,
Lee
EDWARD LEE PITTS FILED STORY ABOUT THE TROOPS BEFORE THE POW-WOW WITH RUMSFELD
Developing...
Did you notice that Spc Wilson kept looking at the paper in his hand, reading the question that Pitts wrote on it?
Soldiers always have grievances. The problem come when the MSM tries to make those grievances into an indictment of the adminstration's handling of the whole war. Wilson was played like a fiddle by Pitts.
Yes, heaven help anyone that tells the truth and speaks their mind.
Yep, right on! That troop could have been at least a little bit deferential and still have gotten his question across. Jeez, I wouldn't have talked to a 2LT like that in a public forum.
As far as I'm concerned, the guy was a whiney-butt, same as you see in every group. They always get more attention than the pro's, and require a helluva lot more time and attention to keep pointed the right direction.
justshutupandtakeit (great handle, by the way),
The issue is not about accountability at the top, at least not in this thread.
The issue, in my opinion, is military behavior. My dad was a 30 year Naval Veteran of three wars, and I spent 4 years in the USN myself working the flight deck on a bird farm, so my view is colored by this. I think what this soldier did in collaborating with this reporter was wrong. If he spoke out on his own, he had all my respect. But he was being used as a tool by a reporter with an agenda and an appetite for personal fame and advancement. That puts his behavior in the realm of being at odds with the UCMJ in a wartime situation.
And by the way, he wasn't a 19 year old guy. He was a 31 year old who should have known better. He won't be punished for it, I think, but he should be, in my opinion.
See the post by Steel Wolf at #921 for a concise and accurate (in my opinion) analysis, from someone who knows.
Exactly what problem is being ignored?
The equipment is being manufactured as we speak, and was before the question was even asked.
The problem is being addressed. THAT is what is being ignored.
AOL, I remember when all the AOLers discovered the internet, usenet news turned into nothing but noise when all the AOLers came on line. I was an old timer in usenet news in 92. In fact I may be one of the very first internet posters. 1984 ish.
Texkat,
What the soldier said may or may not be true, it is irrelevant. The issue is a breach of military unit cohesiveness initiated and encouraged by an embedded reporter with an agenda.
By the way, if I were over there, I would no doubt be scrounging for iron plate and glass to supplement the armor on my vehicle. Any military person would do it to increase their chances of survival. Heck, the Marines make a living at improvising with what they have. But you most likely won't hear them address the Secretary of Defense in that fashion.
"Tuff"? Cute.
So how about those borders eh?
Borders? What borders? We don't need no stinkin borders.
Uh huh. Nobody ever debated nuttin', ever. There was no thought, no opinions were voiced amongst or betwixt the grunts. Never ever.
The argument that disagreeing with another person's b*tch is somehow a$$kissing the brass is as old as organized military. It's the standard misdirect for those lon the losing side of an argument.
Sorry for jumping in, TRguy. He/she's getting on my nerves too.
YOU were the one whining that the GOP outsourced all our jobs and ruined the steel industry when it was Clinton. I know. I was handing out petitions in 1999-2000 to STOP PNTR from being passed and signed by Clinton. Where were you?
"If I were a soldier overseas wanting to defend my country, I'd want to ask the secretary of defense the same question. And that is, 'Are we getting the best we can get us?'" ~President BushWhy do you refuse to comment on this?
Because that's not the question Spc Wilson asked. He asked a VERY different question:
"Now why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromise ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles and why don’t we have those resources readily available to us?" ~Spc WilsonNotice those are very different in tone and demeanor. One is respectful, the other is agenda-driven and sounds like it was written by a liberal reporter out to make his mark (turns out it was!).
Appears that way. Just another Rather wannabe trying to make a name for himself....at the expense of troop morale, unit cohesion, etc. BTW, I did some looking around for some info on this guy and found very few pieces with his byline. One I read was yukking it up for a new AIDS clinic somewhere in your neck o' the woods.
I wasn't aware there were any East Tennessee papers with the resources to send a reporter to Iraq to follow the Tennessee troops.
Could this guy be a pool reporter If so, I don't have a clue how these guys get paid.
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.
I remember that. Apparently your efforts produced a more "fair and balanced" appraoch?
FGS
EXACTLY!!! You have clarified the problem of this whole story more than any 10 posts on here.
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