Perhaps they had not been introduced before was because they are from different states and this was the first time they had been invited to the same event..Perhaps you are so jaded that you cannot accept that the moment was genuine and unplanned..
The symbolism of having an Iraqi there was planned, the symbolism of having parents of a military man who had given his all was planned(The mother had written to the President)..
The moment absolutely could not have been planned..Mrs Norwood reached down to hug the Iraqi woman whose father had been executed by Saddam..
i already tried that logic MEG....
Perhaps they hadn't been introduced before for the exact same reason TV shows doing suprise meetings NEVER have the people meet before, to get a genuine unrehearsed reaction on camera. There's nothing jaded about it, it's Occams Razor, the simplest solution is the most likely, and the simple solution is that they did this the exact same way live TV has been doing this type of thing for 40 years.
You're 2/3 of the way there. The symbolism of having each of them was planned, now why shouldn't there be a plan to have them meet on camera instead of off so that IF some genuine emotional response happens it does so ON camera where it will help send a message to all of America?
Of course the exact moment itself couldn't have been planned, but what you can plan is to create possibilities. Sewing the seeds and bringing the water and hoping something sprouts. That's live TV, that's emotion based TV, that's good TV.