Posted on 10/13/2005 5:47:20 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2005 – President Bush said today he's looking forward to coming back to Iraq to visit with U.S. troops and to thank "those brave Iraqis who are standing strong in the face of these foreign fighters and radicals that are trying to stop the march of freedom."
The president The president spoke with a group of soldiers from Task Force Liberty gathered during a video teleconference between Tikrit, Iraq, and the White House.
He thanked U.S. servicemembers serving worldwide for their courage and "for stepping up when the United States of America needed you." And "you got to know," Bush told the troops, "the American people are standing strong with you."
The president thanked the Task Force Liberty soldiers for their contributions and asked them about security preparations to support the Oct. 15 voting referendum on the new Iraqi constitution.
Capt. Stephen Pratt, of the 116th Brigade Combat Team, said U.S., coalition and Iraqi Army and police forces have conducted many security exercises. Pratt said he was impressed with the cooperation exhibited between the U.S. and Iraqi security forces and predicted "a very successful and effective referendum vote."
Voter registration is up 17 percent in north central Iraq, Capt. David Williams, of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, told Bush. This constitutes about 400,000 new voters, Williams said, noting that his sources say the Iraqi people are eager to vote in the referendum.
Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo, of 42nd Infantry Division headquarters, said she remembered being in New York when the president visited New York City on Nov. 11, 2001, following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center's Twin Towers.
Now deployed in Iraq, Lombardo said she has witnessed "a tremendous increase in the capabilities" of the Iraqi security forces over the past 10 months. The Iraqi soldiers and police "continue to develop and grow into sustainable forces," she said. And next month "we anticipate seeing at least one-third of those Iraqi forces conducting independent operations."
Afterward, Sgt. Ackhel, an Iraqi army noncommissioned officer sitting among the group of Americans thanked the U.S. commander in chief, and added, "I like you."
"I appreciate that," Bush responded.
1st Lt. Gregg Murphy, of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, said he appreciated talking with the president about the Iraqi security forces' role in the upcoming referendum.
Murphy said Iraqi army and police forces are "ready" and "committed" to make the referendum a success. American and coalition forces performed most of the security duty during the Jan. 30 elections, he recalled.
In contrast, today the Iraqis "are doing everything" to plan and prepare security for the Oct. 15 referendum, Murphy said, noting U.S. forces will participate in a backup role.
"We can't wait to share in their success with them on Sunday," Murphy said.
Bush reminded the soldiers that U.S. operations in Iraq are part of the global war on terror and defeat of the insurgents there would dash their plans for the Middle East.
Terrorists operating in Iraq and elsewhere, he said, possess a narrow worldview that doesn't believe in freedom, religious diversity or women's rights.
"The enemy understands that a free Iraq would be a blow to their vision and their strategy of spreading dominance throughout the broader Middle East," Bush said.
Continued insurgent-instigated bombings and killings of innocent Iraqis as well as U.S. and coalition troops and Iraqi anti-terror forces are designed "to shake our will," the president explained, to cause America to pull its troops out of Iraq.
Bush was adamant there'd be no U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq until the insurgents were beaten.
"As so long as I'm the president," Bush vowed, "we're never going to back down, we're never going to give in, we'll never accept anything less than total victory" in Iraq.
He told the soldiers it was important for them, as well as the enemy, to know and understand the U.S. policy on Iraq.
The U.S. has a clear strategy in Iraq that has military and political components, Bush said. First, American and coalition forces in Iraq are hunting down terrorists and bringing them to justice, he said, while Iraqi soldiers and police are trained "to join us in that effort."
The policy's political piece, the president explained, is based on the knowledge that "you defeat a backward, dark philosophy with one that is hopeful" and "based on universal freedom."
Bush said he was cheered by Iraqi government efforts to craft a new constitution that reflects the input and views of the country's Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish ethnic elements.
Task Force Liberty is headed by the New York National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division, which took over command of Multinational Division North Central from the 1st Infantry Division on Feb. 14. The first Guard division to deploy to a combat zone since the Korean War, the 42nd is responsible for security in Iraq's north central region, an area that includes Tikrit, Balad, Kirkuk and Samarra.
Task Force Liberty's area of operations, about the size of West Virginia, includes four provinces north of Baghdad -- Kirkuk, Sulimaniyah, Diyala and Salahuddin -- with more than 6 million Iraqi citizens.
The truth that the LSM won't tell.
Another great post. Thanks SandRat.
Bump for the TRUTH!
bump
He thanked U.S. servicemembers serving worldwide for their courage and "for stepping up when the United States of America needed you." And "you got to know," Bush told the troops, "the American people are standing strong with you."
Hey Sandrat this perfect example you ever been coach by relative or friend to give speech hello HELLO FOX News gee Fox news come on think about it DUH
You give speech but you weren't coach
Maybe WH person tell them that is good OKAY More notes
My fuse runs short with the Fox network now. I have noticed too that they seem more and more like their friends in the MSM, the "I hate America" crowd. Too bad.
Good job guys and gals in Iraq and Afghanistan. God bless you all.
Who in their right mind would want to be asked questions on TV impromptu by their Commander-in-Chief and just told to "WING IT DUDE".
Of course the MSM loved all of those staged 'Mother Sheehan' photos as they splashed them on front pages all across the country.
That behavior sort of coincides with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal buying stock shares.
Don't you know... nice guys finish last.
You know why they say that?
Its because women (espically women under the age of 30), are a paradox. They say they want a 'nice guy' who treats them well, help them out, defends them, does selfless things for them, etc... yet there is a paradox.
The guy who treats them like trash and then for one momente treats them 'less' like trash are is attributed MUCH more for that moment of 'less abuse', than a man who consistantly treats her well, or 'tries to hard' or seems 'too needy', etc.
Point is Fox is slowly starting to look as 'their base' as nice guys who don't have any other optoins. What is it with these 'media networks' anyway?
They figure there is more 'utility' in a spot of MSM spin for the lefties (ie Brit's Katrina hysteria, or following 'the headine' in this case), than being 100% consistant in not being a usual kookaid lemming like the rest of them.
Its a business choice, I guar-un-tee.
Fox did say it was choreographed. Someone else claimed that it was scripted: "Paul Rieckhoff, director of the New York-based Operation Truth (search), an advocacy group for U.S. veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, denounced the event as a 'carefully scripted publicity stunt.' Five of the 10 U.S. troops involved were officers, he said. 'If he wants the real opinions of the troops, he can't do it in a nationally televised teleconference,' Rieckhoff said. 'He needs to be talking to the boots on the ground and that's not a bunch of captains.'
Now, either you didn't read closely or you don't understand the difference between choreography and scripting. There is absolutely no indication (and even a disclaimer) that it was scripted, other than Rieckhoff's unsubstantiated claim. Fox did report his claim, but laying out what questions would be asked and determining who would answer them IS adequately described as Fox does, in terms of "choreographed" and "rehearsed." They are significantly and substantially different from "scripting" which in fact is denied in the article.
I find the Fox piece balanced reporting from/to which you have "selectively" read/responded.
I do think the media covereage of the event-- including FOX-- is bogus. Suggesting the event was staged is thoroughly disingenous.
did the news organizations envision Bush making random cell phone calls to unsuspecting soliders?
The fact that five of them were officers is ridiculous. This men fight and risk their lives for the cause in Iraq but we are to dismiss them as shills?
It is increasingly apparent-- even on FOX-- that only contempt of the US military operation in iraq can be validly expressed on air.
All representations that contradict this line are variations on a hoax.
"Free Iraq." You can tell an awful lot about the people around you by watching how they react to the juxtaposition of those two words. Free Iraq.
Why does the Bush administration keep screwing up? This is getting painful. NBC showed the whole scam on the news tonight. There was an open satellite feed from Iraq to the White House during the scripted rehearsal and all the networks were able to record it.
Every administration stages planned photo ops, but this one was just over the top. Someone suggested that with Rove preoccupied with the grand jury, no one is minding the store. The Dims don't even have to make up lies anymore. They just sit back, watch all the screw-ups and laugh. It's disgusting.
It's time to clean house in the communications department. Things have been terrible ever since Karen Hughes and Ari F. left the communications department.
Scott McClellan isn't the type of guy you want as the "face" of the administration. Dan Bartlett is such a nice guy, but lacks the necessary toughness.
The President isn't being well served by his staff in this area. Hopefully, the handling of the Miers nomination will wake up W and Rove to the fact that it's time for a change.
Thanks for the ping!
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