I would say having a reporter 'set up' a soldier to ask questions is the epitome in phony events!!
Exactly.
The shame falls on the reporter that hid behind a soldier and not on Rumsfeld who had the leadership courage to have an open question forum or on the soldier that was manipulated by that reporter.
The U.S. military showed moral courage and the news media showed moral cowardice.
It is far better to have such a situation than having the U.S. military and the news media competing with each other to see who displays and most cowardice and deceit.