Soldiers say talk with Bush wasn’t a stunt

Administration critics blast rehearsed conversation’ via satellite from Iraq
By Gina Cavallaro

When the White House and the Defense Department said they needed a group of soldiers for a chat on live TV with their commander in chief, the soldiers were carefully chosen.

The five officers, five noncommissioned officers and one Iraqi soldier sat in three neat rows before a camera at one of Saddam Hussein’s old palace compounds in Tikrit, 85 miles north of Baghdad.

The 10 Americans were identified as experts on the three topics the president wanted to talk about Oct. 13: security in Iraq, security for the weekend referendum there and the training of Iraqi troops.

To White House watchdogs, it was a transparent attempt at bolstering the president’s sagging poll numbers.

But that’s not the way the soldiers say it went down…

We specifically brought these guys together because they’re the ones who are working day to day alongside Iraqi army units, said Maj. Rich Goldenberg, the 42nd Infantry Division public affairs officer who coordinated the Tikrit side of the event. We didn’t want to provide soldiers who are out just doing the routine combat missions or cordon and searches or some of the guys who work in the supporting roles. We wanted to tailor this conversation.

But what was billed as a conversation between President Bush and the Task Force Liberty troops may have backfired for the administration, as some say it was a scripted publicity stunt and that the soldiers’ answers were choreographed to match the president’s goals for the war in Iraq and the Oct. 15 referendum there.

Some of that criticism is based on outtakes of comments Allison Barber, deputy assistant defense secretary, made to soldiers before they went on the air with the president.

This is an important time, Barber told the soldiers. The president is looking forward to having just a conversation with you.

As she spoke in Washington, a live shot of the soldiers was beamed into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building from Tikrit the birthplace of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

OK, so let’s just walk through this, Barber said. Captain Kennedy, you answer the first question and you hand the mike to whom?

Captain Smith, Kennedy said.

Captain Smith? You take the mike and you hand it to whom? she asked.

Captain Kennedy, the soldier replied.

And so it went.

If the question comes up about partnering how often do we train with the Iraqi military who does he go to? Barber asked.

That’s going to go to Captain Pratt, one of the soldiers said.

And then if we’re going to talk a little bit about the folks in Tikrit the hometown and how they’re handling the political process, who are we going to give that to? she asked.

While the general areas for discussion were known in advance, Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo said the specific questions were not.

She said the timing of the TV interview made it obvious to the soldiers that their commander in chief wanted an assessment of conditions for the Oct. 15 referendum on the constitution.

[My boss] came to me and asked me if I would be interested in providing an assessment to the president of the United States. And I’m like, well, yes, of course I would.’ I mean, like I’d say no? said Lombardo, the division public affairs operations chief.

The night before the TV event, she recalled, the group sat down and brainstormed about who should address what areas. Some made notes for themselves in case they had time to ask the president other questions.

Nobody told us that. We did that pretty much on our own, she said of the session.

We weren’t told what to say and we were not told we couldn’t say anything, either. There wasn’t any discussion over it, there just wasn’t.

I guess it didn’t come to anyone’s mind to tell the president that the food sucks in the [chow hall], because it doesn’t, but I don’t think it crossed anybody’s mind to tell him that if they felt that way. But we could have.

Before he took questions, Bush thanked the soldiers for serving and reassured them that the U.S. would not pull out of Iraq until the mission is complete.

The president told them twice that the American people are behind them.

You’ve got tremendous support here at home, Bush said.

The soldiers all gave Bush an upbeat view of the situation.

The president also got praise from the Iraqi soldier who was part of the chat. Thank you very much for everything, he gushed. I like you.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the Oct. 13 event was coordinated with the Defense Department but that the troops were expressing their own thoughts.

With satellite feeds, coordination often is needed to overcome technological challenges, such as delays, he said.

I think all they were doing was talking to the troops and letting them know what to expect, he said.

Back in Tikrit, Lombardo admitted not knowing exactly what all the hoopla was based on or what the media was using in their assessment of the TV event.

For her part, she said, it was a welcome chance to talk with the big boss.

I’m very fortunate in that sense that my job position allows me to have a bird’s-eye view of so much that goes on, she said.

Granted, I knew what I wanted to say to him given the opportunity, and I thought about it. I wrote down little bullet comments and I went over it in my head because, you know, I want to be able to sound articulate. I’m talking with my commander in chief, with the president of the United States.

I don’t want to fumble all over the place. I mean, as it was I said North Central New York [instead of North Central Iraq], said Lombardo, who is from New York, home of the 42nd Infantry Division.