Now, I see absolutely nothing wrong with troops wishing to have this problem addressed conferring with a professional wordsmith to best put together their question prior to the Q&A.
In other words, the soldiers involved knew that asking their embedded reporter how best to compose the question maximized the chances of it being publicized. They perceive a problem, they want to get the word out, they want results.
What in the world is wrong with any of this? Judging by the transcript, the question was posed tactfully, the answer given fully and honestly.
This is not "insubordination", it's an honest plea that, I'd imagine, these soldiers have been making for months on end. The journalist did not "plant" these soldiers, only helped them better refine their question; to suggest otherwise is to suggest this reporter acted as some sort of puppetmaster, pulling the strings of some idiot soldier who can't think for himself.
Many of you Dittoheads get angry when liberals accuse you of being "mind-numbed robots"; suggesting this soldier was just some patsy incapable of independent thought is no less insulting.
If you've read my posts on this subject, I did not criticize the question. I complained (since yesterday--before this reporter revelation and before I was graced with any input from Rush, making your dittohead charge inapplicable to me) about the mischaracterization of Rumsfeld's answer.
It was reported in order to sow seeds of discord between the Pentagon and the troops.
You may not be bothered by this. I am.