The Bush Iraq Photo Album: They hate his guts. Its a PR disaster!

[TruthIsAll]

This time an AWOL turkey came to dinner. And the troops don't like it one bit!

Notice the soldier. She seems so happy. The rest? I don't know.


See the two soldiers facing me. They are laughing. They had to. The others? I don't know. We warned the reporters not to speak to them. But someone should have told them to pretend to be glad to see me.


And another one. Jeez, what the hell were those photographers doing? Rove, you didn't prepare them. That's what happens when you send me out there without preparation.


Now, tell me, Karl, what will we do when this backfires like the "Mission Accomplished" carrier landing?

[drfemoe]

1. Gag order leaves troops, reporters speechless

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5296.htm

November 25, 2003: (Rocky Mountain News) COLORADO SPRINGS - Before the press was herded into the giant hangar in advance of George W. Bush's pep rally/photo op with the Fort Carson troops, we were given the rules

No talking to the troops before the rally.

No talking to the troops during the rally.

No talking to the troops after the rally.

In other words, if I've done the math right, that means no conversation at all - at least, while on base - with any soldiers. After all, who knows where that kind of thing could lead?
... more

[kimchi]

2. drfemoe, from whence does your picture come?

Was this in FL?

Don't mean to hijack the thread, just curious. TIA.

[drfemoe]

4. I'm assuming it's Florida

http://liberty.hypermart.net/index.html

One of the headlines:
"LA Times: American armed forces are assuming major new domestic policing and surveillance roles " ....

happens to be a mirror for:

http://thepeoplesvoice.org/

ps. right-click photo
click properties
URL address is shown
you can copy into browser
delete everything after
".net / .org / .com"

[barbaraann]

3. One person in that photo will be with his family in a few hours.

The rest of them will have to be separated from their families and friends for up to a year and living amongst people who hate them and want to kill and even mutilate and torture them.

One person in that photo will live and sleep in sumptuous surroundings and eat delicious food prepared by many chefs. The rest of them will live and sleep in crude living quarters and eat mess hall food when they are lucky.

One person in that photo will be kept safe by thousands of professionals and millions of dollars worth of equiment far from the battlefield. The rest of them will have to protect themselves and their fellow soldiers on and close to the battlefield. with equipment that is sometimes inadequate and sometimes not even available.

One person in that photo has friends and family who have always made sure that he will never have to deal with the REAL challenges and deprivations of military life. The rest of them had no connections to enable them to spend time partying or whatever pastime they chose that would make them happy and enrich them and their friends.

Do you suppose that the "ordinary" people in that photo know all of this and that their hearts are aching to be with their loved ones on Thanksgiving? The turkey or ham is just a minor part of a holiday that is all about simply being with your family and friends. The soldiers know that--I guarantee you. I know this because I have eaten at mess halls on more than one Thanksgiving Day and I went with my family. Eating in a military setting on Thanksgiving even with your family is not festive or joyful. Without my family I probably would have been so sad I would have choked on my food and cried.

Bush and his cronies think we "ordinary" people are so stupid we don't even notice when we are subjected to inhuman and sadistic abuse because they put some window dressing on it. I think this stunt will backfire they same way the carrier stunt backfired. The photo op is so different from the reality faced that our soldiers in Iraq that every day will be a painful reminder of what they are missing and how Bush and his friends can use their Iraqi hell as a backdrop for frat-boy frolicking and fascist propagandizing.

No, I don't hate George W. Bush. I feel the emotion that is reserved for someone doing the work of Satan with relish and utter dedication and I don't know that the English language has a word for that.

[drfemoe]

5. Don't forget the family

tradition of the Presidents *u*hes
.. his daddy did the same thing 13 years ago in sa or kuwa*t
(heard both.didn't look it up) ..
That was 1990.
We know what happened in 1992.

Great Post!

[opihimoimoi]

7. Whaddya expect,?? For gods sake, he is a cheerleader

only thing missing is the skirts and the calf horn/pom poms.

[Octafish]

48. Raw! Raw! Raw! That's the kind of spirits we have at Morris Science High!

The Little Turd from Crawford is good at talk.

[DS1]

18. you left out the part where

before anyone senior shows up at an enlisted mess hall/galley all the sparkling new tablecloths come out, silverware is replaced, the Master Gunnery Sgts are suddenly serving food and giving a shit, etc, etc.

[barbaraann]

22. I think we always had some senior officer show up

for the holiday meals at the mess. I remember it being pretty perfunctory.

Off topic- I also remember a formal military event where my father (a military retiree) was drunk and kept making drunk-type comments while a GENERAL was speaking. Talk about mortifying...

[aquart]

26. Perfect post.

[barbaraann]

29. Thank you.

I looked at it after I posted it and saw that it needed a little editing but I decided to leave it like it is because it's from my heart.

[Ilsa]

41. Fabulous post, barbaraann.

All of it. The comparisons, etc, but the best is your last two lines.

[barbaraann]

42. Thanks.

I think hatred stops people from acting rationally and effectively and we need our wits about us to deal with the BFEE.

[Arianrhod]

50. My oldest son is home on R&R from Baghdad.

I told him, laughing, "You just missed the President." His response was a vehement, "He's lucky I wasn't there. I would've given him such an ass chewing that I'd probably be in jail right now."

He returns to Iraq on Tuesday, but with any luck his unit will be back by February. Now if only my second son could get out of there. . . .

[barbaraann]

52. I'm glad you got to have him home for Thanksgiving!

And I think that Bush's handlers must know that a lot of soldiers feel the way your son feels.

I hope that both of your sons get out of Iraq ASAP.

[Deja Q]

6. Pic #3, why would a soldier bring his cheap camera to eye-rack?!

To take pictures of the things after he blew 'em up?!

[Skittles]

10. HEY

I've sent disposable cameras to the soldiers in Iraq - many of them are very young and have no money for cameras.

one soldier sent me back pictures of Iraqi children at the elementary school they cleaned up.

[rocktivity]

8. At least there aren't any crotch shots this time.

But you're right--their body language is speaking a lot louder than any words.


rocknation

[VolcanoJen]

9. This has been bugging me. If this "mission" was so very "secret..."

... why did so many soldiers bring cameras with them to the event? To take pictures of chafing dishes stuffed with green bean casserole?? I think not...

[RedSock]

11. cameras

supposedly they were told a surprise guest was coming. i saw one interview with one soldier who said he thought it might be shania twain or nicholas cage (??) ... anyway that could be one reason why they had cameras already.

[PaDUer]

31. Can you imagine..

how PO'd they were when they were hoping it was Shania Twain and before their eyes, the moron appeared..that would explain the glum faces..

[VOX]

40. According to Faux "News," it was a covert move worthy of James Bond...

Which I take to mean as fake as any movie.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104351,00.html
<snip>
In Baghdad, 600 soldiers hungry for home and impatient for their Thanksgiving dinners were taken completely by surprise when L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. civilian authority there, told the soldiers it was time to read a Thanksgiving message from the president, a task reserved for the most senior official present.

"Is there anybody back there more senior than us?" asked Bremer, standing alongside Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in Iraq.

With that, Bush stepped from behind the stage and sent the cheering crowd to its feet.
<snip>

[Dudley_DUright]

12. They all look half asleep to me

and you would too. Realize that this turkey dinner photo op was done at roughly 6 AM (morning) local time. This of course was so Bush could fly in and out under cover of darkness. Who the hell wants to eat turkey at 6 AM? For more info, see:

http://www.counterpunch.com/madsen11282003.html

[grasswire]

16. I'm sorry.

I don't see how Madsen can be right. Iraq is very roughly 12 hours different from our time on the West Coast of America. The Bush hoop-de-la in Baghdad was stealth-reported by a freeper who is stationed on the air base in Baghdad at roughly 7:30 a.m. in the morning Pacific Standard Time. This means the dinner took place at roughly 7 p.m. Baghdad time.

Here's a screen shot of the story breaking on FOX, after AF1 was out of Baghdad on the way home. 11:21 a.m.



The dinner was not in the morning Baghdad time.

But the GIs DO look pretty miserable.

[Dudley_DUright]

21. Yup, you are correct and Masden is wrong

I found a good timeline at CNN international:

Approximately 8:30 a.m. EST: Reporters are given camouflage-colored ballistic vests and camouflage jackets and pants.

• 5:09 p.m. Baghdad time (9:09 a.m. EST): Cabin lights are turned off. Window shades are down.

• 5:31 p.m. (9:31 a.m. EST): Air Force One touches down at Baghdad International Airport. It is the first time a U.S. president has visited Iraq. The people on the ground at the airport do not know it is Air Force One landing.

In the Bob Hope Dining Facility about 600 members of the 1st Armored Division and the 82nd Airborne Division had gathered for Thanksgiving dinner. The soldiers are anticipating speeches by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, coalition ground commander, and chief civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer. They are surprised when the president appears to deliver an address to the troops and Iraqi people. (Full story)

more...

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/11/27/sprj.irq.bush.tic.toc/

[diamond14]

53. morning sun streaming through windows....not 7 PM in Baghdad

[maggrwaggr]

13. theyr'e all thinking "Where's Shania Twain?"

and "where's my gun, I want to shoot this fucker in the back".

[bobthedrummer]

15. No, we want him undamaged for his trials.

All power to the people.

[aquart]

33. That's what one of them said.

They were expecting a celebrity and thought maybe Shania Twain or someone else whose name I forget. So they were surprised it was George, but not that they had a guest.

[maggrwaggr]

14. this picture has been photoshopped. The shadows don't match

another poster pointed this out earlier, and I was quite skeptical, because most people talking about pictures don't know what the hell they're talking about.

But this one is a no-brainer. The shadows from the flash simply don't match. The soldiers in the foreground are lit as they would be from the flash on the photog's camera .... but Bush's face is list from a different angle. The shadow of the turkey on his jacket is obviously coming from a completely different angle than the shadow from the soldier's chin on his upper left arm.

I do lighting for a living for TV commercials and music videos, so I know of what I speak. :)

This image is a composite. I can't tell if they composited in the turkey, or if they composited in the soldiers in the f.g. My guess would be the soldiers, it'd be the easiest way to go and would balance out the composition.

[grasswire]

17. I've thought from the beginning....

....that Bush isn't holding that tray in the manner one would need to hold it. That turkey is about a 30 pounder including the stuffing. The tray and the other stuff probably adds another eight pounds. And yet he's holding the tray as if it is much lighter. Is the turkey paper mache? Or what? Or perhaps he just is much stronger than I thought.

[DS1]

20. look to the left of the turkey, either one and note

that there's a table in the shot :shrug:

[lumpy]

23. That was my immediate reaction

The platter pic looks like it came from a gourmet magazine. Shitty photo shop job. The intensity of color and sharpness jumps out of the picture. More fakery from the fake from day one.

[lumpy]

24. A question

I haven't watched TV video coverage of this tremendous event.
Any videos of the Turkey Platter Presentation?

[DemVet]

28. Yep.

It's legit.

[drfemoe]

37. In the top pic

is that a window open with sunshine?
Since when does it get dark at 5:30 PM?
This is too much weirdness.

[grasswire]

56. well....

.....it's very dark here in the Pacific Northwest at 5:30 p.m. The light would depend on latitude. I don't know where Iraq is in latitude -- the no fly zone was 33-36 degrees.

But the whole lighting thing is confusing. Perhaps that is some kind of ante-room or hallway with bright lighting? It seems improbable that windows would be open to the outside, exposing Bush to visibility.

[Military Brat]

38. Absolutely correct. The photo looks totally phony to me.

In fact, I thought the photo was a prank PhotoShop image, and then I saw it on BBC online. It just doesn't "look right," because bush kind of "pops out" in the picture, like the photo of him holding the amazingly photogenic turkey platter has been superimposed.

Here are more "photo-op" pics. They look more realistic, but I just don't trust the double-turkey pic.

http://democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=795223

[maggrwaggr]

47. I'm not doubting he walked around with a turkey, but

i'm saying it seems pretty obvious to me that the photo was manipulated to make it "better"

I'm sure the turkey stunt was planned out quite well.

"Not too hot, now, wouldn't want little Georgie to burn his soft little hands!"

[DoYouEverWonder]

19. I think some of these folks are security

See the guy in front of W in the third picture. He has a cord(?) going down the back of his neck. Imagine the CIC needing to be surrounded by security in the middle of his own troops? What a whistle ass.

[DS1]

25. yep, look at the guy on the left in the second pic

First, note his apparent age, then note that he wears no rank. He's either a private that's just been busted down all the way to the bottom (and wouldn't be let anywhere near the prez), or Secret Service.

[grasswire]

30. the press members....

....had to change into camouflage to "blend in" with the soldiers. Perhaps the secret service did the same thing.

[jmowreader]

35. There's no organizational tape on his uniform, either

Troops wear two embroidered tapes over the breast pockets on BDUs.

Over the right pocket is your name; over the left is either US ARMY, US AIR FORCE or US MARINE CORPS. (Most sailors don't wear BDUs, but the few who do have a US NAVY tape over the left pocket.)

That guy doesn't have an organizational tape; everyone else does.

[politicat]

58. Not to be a defender, but those are poor indicators of "not real soldier"

When a unit ends up with a bunch of new uniforms just before deployment, it's almost certain they won't have the name tapes. You'll be mighty lucky to have the branch tapes.

And rank insignias? You're joking, right? Those, dear friend, are a luxury. You're supposed to wear your pins, but....

Politicat (who went and looked at Mr. Politicat's left-over uniforms from Iraq I and asked him some questions.)

[Military Brat]

36. The obviously serious looking guys are SS

See this thread:
http://democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=795223

[Hubert Flottz]

27. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Gomer Pile CIC! Major Malfunction is real!

[Malva Zebrina]

32. well here he is--red faced and posing for ten minutes with the "troops"

where is he now? He went home to the frump and the "dumb as rocks" as their mother is, twins? I mean where is the idiot in chief now? Here we are--it is Saturday--we have been treated to all of these photo ops showing the hysterical cheering troops who love Bush for coming to spend two hours on Thanskgiving with them--he spends ten minutes and then leaves--he is reported to be concerned about his own safety and these 600 troops have no idea why they are being herded into a place for a presidential photo op that will serve him well for the next couple of days-but they cheer loudly nevertheless when they realize their very honored position of being visited by their AWOL president for a whole 2 hours or was that ten minutes--he never did sit down and have the dinner with them, but nevermind that--he was still cheered-yet he was afraid :scared::scared::scared: for his own safety and could not wait to get back on board the safety of AF1 to leave the adoring troops back there, convinced that they were so committed to him they were willing to die for him. And so, he took off, after two hours, and returned to the pickled wife and his dumbassed children, supposedly--we were told anyhow that they were indeed there to celebrate the holiday with their pickled mom and her mom--


Where is he today? Will we see photo ops tommorrow of his visit to a church accompanied by the horribly dressed, frump o lump? Has he collapsed on the presidential couch in Crawford and is being fed pretzels by Laura or the twins? Where the hell is he today?

[diamond14]

55. shrub breaking down sobbing in front of troops....(pic)

[ShaneGR]

34. I try to think about how I would feel

If I was stuck in Iraq and the President who sent me there showed up. I would be highly skeptical, but it would make me feel momentarily good. Seriously, despite all of the PR campaign stuff, I don't think there were very many people unhappy people in that tent.

As for the 134,400 soldiers in Iraq, I don't think they give a shit. That's the point, and the only good angle we can take on this issue.

[VOX]

39. No offense to these troops, but * isn't exactly up on the line...

Where things are hot. More like "in the rear with the gear."

And who the hell makes all these macho-drag costumes for this AWOL sap?

[barbaraann]

44. I think his costumes are Village People castoffs.

:-)

YMCA....YMCA....YMCA....!!! Um, that's all I can remember.

[spanone]

He's an embarassment to the Presidency.

Inept is too kind.

[spanone]

43. He's an embarassment to the Presidency.

Inept is too kind.

[imax2268]

45. The real reason he went there...

[GoldenOldie]

46. Real Reason - Photo Op for re-election

I was up bright and early on Thanksgiving day and was able to view the very first and last video of Georgie walking through the room of military when he looked into the cameras and it was apparent that someone gave him a cue and then he took a step to his right where a table was laden with a beautifully garnished turkey platter just waiting to be carved. He lifted the platter as though he was going to serve the troops, but it never showed him carving a turkey nor eating with the troops!!!!! He was shown throwing some food on the trays of the military going through the chow line.

As a retired civilian who worked within a military hospital and was fortunate enough to have spent many holiday meals with the medics and their patients, never have they plated an entire turkey for the commander to carve for the mess hall attendee's.

The more they attempt to build this idiot boy up as a brave leader, the more he and they appear inept.

[wabeewoman]

51. I believe the time on counterpunch was correct...

note the light in this picture. If you landed at 5pm (under cover of darkness and a crescent moon) how do you explain the light coming in the window? However, if you landed at 5am and then it was light, did he fly out in broad daylight?? Inquiring minds want to know....

[diamond14]

57. and here's where shrub forced himself onto that black soldier (pic)

this is NOT allowed in Federal work places....bosses forcing kisses on their subordinates...this is a horrible precendent to set for troops....

[Octafish]

49. One more pic -- for morale's sake.

Karl, is this that swirly-ride ya promised I could go on?

[Dirk39]

54. I love you...

being from Germany, I would love you even more, if it would be Schröder or Fischer.
But this is just about people looking twice.
We did all see these pictures, all around the world. And now, you enabled this second-look kind of thing. You've spoiled Bushs' party. Hell!
Are posters of the guy in the second picture, standing left to Bush is available?
Lord, if only the PR-machine would still work...
Schadenfreude, I admit it, from Germany,
Dirk

[tritsofme]

59. In order for it to be a PR disaster,

it has to be seen by most people as a "disaster" not a glowing success by a (p)resident bravely flying (in the cockpit as the plane landed mind you) into the frontlines of the war on terra'