The first video is in from Bush’s surprise visit to a remote and heavily guarded air base in Iraq’s western Anbar Province and it truly speaks volumes. It’s clear that this was nothing more than a chance for the president to use the troops as props (note the big thumbs up! from Gen. Petraeus) to spin his failing surge as U.S. troop levels surge as well. MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer brought in Republican strategist Joe Watkins and former Senior Advisor to John Kerry, James Boyce, to talk about the presidential visit.
Boyce is on the money, calling this what it was — a staged photo op. Watkins tries to spin this as a positive move by the president, and that he wants to get in touch with the troops to find out what’s going on on the ground, but Boyce fires back, reminding him that if Bush really wanted to get things done in Iraq he’d stay for more than six hours, he’d visit more than three times in four years and he wouldn’t have ignored the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations.
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The White House says the decision to have the president fly into Anbar was to show the successes of the surge in that region and touting this as “a symbolic expression of impatience with political paralysis in the nation’s capital.” The truth of the matter is that the president is nowhere near an Iraqi city, he’s tucked away in a remote area and safe — surrounded by soldiers. I guess this is the best spin they could put on this seeing as how after four years of U.S. occupation, it still isn’t safe enough for him to fly into Baghdad.
Filed Under: George W. Bush, Iraq, MSNBC, Middle East, Military, Supporting our Troops
2 Trackbacks To “Video: President Bush’s Surprise Photo Op In Iraq“
“so THIS is what war’s like!”
Smiling apologist Watkins. ‘Nuff said.
Mike @ 1:
“Looks like hard work, you guys know I work hard too. The Bush brush don’t clear it selfs.”
I would rather Bush not be in Iraq any longer than he has to be. Six hours is enough. Any longer and everyone will know where he is at which would only endanger US forces.
Of course he is going to try and give an impression to the public that his failed policies are working.
Spin.
I feel sorry for him and wish he would have not gone to war with any country for any reason. America and Americans need the trillions that will be spent in Iraq.
Impeach.
He forgot to bring a styrofoam turkey this time.
If not for the photo op, just what exactly was the purpose of this visit? To give moral support to one unit in some god fosaken base in the middle of nowhere?
I’ll repeat: Bush should be arrested for violations of Article 2 of the Constitution, violations of the 3rd and 4th Geneva Conventions, and violations of the 1st, 4th and 8th amendments to the Constitution (just for starters), the moment he lands on US soil.
Step right up and get your photograph with the poster child for war crimes.
Ozymandias @ 5:
He is the turkey.
Oops. Sorry turkeys.
Note Bush holding his arms at his sides about 6 inches away from his waist in pic #2.
This is a pose created by image consultants in 2003 to make it appear Bush is a “gunslinger.” I wish I was making this up. He holds his arms like he’s ready to pull imaginary guns from his holsters, old-West style.
He’s been making this pose for years.
best thing the Democratic Party could be doing now is building alliances with disaffected erstwhile allies… the U.S. cannot resolve the Iraq issue… too many Iraqis see the U.S. occupation as THE issue…
the U.S. is going to need a transitional force to backfill and provide security while American troops are being shuttled out… and there is likely going to be a long term security force which members of the original ‘coaltion of the duped’ cannot participate in… Canada may be called upon to police Iraq as it was not a member of the invading and occupying bloc…
Bush is just wanking… he has no real purpose there… his presence, as noted before, is just heightened danger for the troops… I imagine he was flitting over to hold hands with some Saudi princes and thought he’d work in a photo-shoot with the troops into his itinerary… jackass.
Where’s the president’s codpiece on this photo op? Oh, right, he left it in Norm Coleman’s mouth!
Ozymandias @ 5:
He should have brought styrofoam ribs instead, complete with fake barbeque sauce…
Soooooo, the British handed over Basra to the Iraqis and hey guess what, it’s spiraling out of control! I’M SHOCKED! Christ, we are so screwed. We’ll be sending troops there any day.
talk to the troops? when the hell did he talk to them?
and now he’s eisenhower. how many deceased honorable americans do we have spinning in their graves now? he’s been compared to so many of them that i’ve lost count.
Did he pack his “mission accomplished….this time we mean it” banner?
The more I watch Bush the more I’m convinced that he understands leadership purely as manipulation of public opinion. He has no executive skills whatsoever, but he is a pretty good propagandist.
what idiot wears a black shirt in 120 degree heat?
The WH is denying that this is a photo op. So far all I have seen is picture taking being done. What is their definition of photo op? Logan hit every nail on the head. Photo op, middle of nowhere, 3 visits in 4 years, no where near Baghdad etc. I turned the tv off. I couldn’t watch any more.
Are you sure he’s really in Iraq? Maybe he’s really in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, or at Ft Irwin in the Mojave Desert.
bush-lite and his traveling troupe are a propoganda machine…It is, in my opinion, the
ONLY thing he is good at….and of course the MSM is eating this up because they too
are as incompetent and stupid(well, almost) as he. What an asshole he is.
The Anbar province has nothing to do with the surge. Enlisting the tribal chieftains to fight Al Qaeda was an effective move, but totally unrelated to the surge.
However, what did we offer the Sunni chieftains to gain their loyalty? The imagination runs wild.
Molly Ivins would have warned those troops to watch out, G-Dub’s favorite trick is a photo op follwed by a stab in the back. Like getting his picture taken with poor kids just before he cuts funding to help them.
RIP Molly
I’m sorry, but could you be more specific? Which nation’s capital?
So what is Bush doing the Labor Day to honor the working man in the United States?
Plug @ 23:
Taking a vacation, duh!
I’m guessing he wore black because it won’t show the gigantic sweat stains that are sure to be there. That film earlier with everyone standing in the dark was eerie. Does he really think we believe a word out of his damned mouth at this point? If he does, he’s a bigger idiot than we thought.
The really dumb, asshole dumbya is doing nothing but using and having our troops needlessly murdered for the profit.
Plug @ 23:
Well, at least he’s not back here vetoing legislation that could actually help the little guy.
wmholt @ 20:
Excellent point….the 30K troops involved in the Surge were 95 percent sent to Bagdhad
to quell the BIG city violance, so if bush-lite wants me and others to believe that the
Surge is working, I want to see him fly into Bagdhad and spend a couple of hours walking
the streets…NOT hiding in the U.S. Embassy within the Green Zone. Get some balls you
bitch.
The comment is constantly repeated that “of course it makes sense to listen to the commanders on the ground”. No one ever bothers to mention that any commanders who disagree with the nonsensical strategy currently employed have all been replaced by the crime family currently in control of our country.
Read the Rolling Stone article to appreciate how much money they are stealing from us and you will know why bushco wants the war to continue.
Sadly there is little chance that anything will be done as we don’t have an opposition party but rather 1 party with 2 right wings. This is made clear by the fact that it another 50 billion dollars is ready to be authorized for this debacle.
They are stealing our money people, and the country is falling to ruin around us!
To paraphrase Stephen Colbert: The surge may be failing, but pResident Bush can still overwhelm the opposition with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.
I’m sure the Democrats are quaking in their boots. Not so much so the Iraqi insurgents.
incunabulum @ 22:
In case I wasnt clear:
Is the impatience with the political paralysis of the Iraqi legislative body? Because I think we could back George up on that sentiment.
Or is it impatience with his own party’s blocking of important legislation that would help us get the hell out of there?
The reporter asks “When do we leave a quagmire?” Is she then implying that once a country gets stuck in a quagmire, that those troops can then never leave? How many troops does she want sacrificed for Bush’s noble cause-58,000? She mentioned quagmire but strangely, did not associate the word that is most connected to a quagmire-Vietnam. One wonders if the people today who pass for journalists and reporters have any recollection or knowledge of historical events.
No coincidence the soldiers are without their weapons. SS required all weapons removed for fear of fragging.
Boyce was much to polite to the talking points loon Watkins. Boyce was interupted and he shouldd have told Watkins to STFU please I let you have your republican spin moment now if you would please allow me to infuse this conversation with some facts please. Boyce was not a good choice to put up against this Wattkins guy he is a fast talker and needs to be shot down when he starts getting on a role ….Compairing Bush to Eisenhouser should have elictted a large guffaw out of Boyce or at least a “PLEEEASE” out of Boyce.
Bush is around what he never was a real live SOLDER, he and the rest of his CROME FAMILY ARE nothing but Chickenhawks,yellow belly cowards. That is how I feel.
Well, where the hell is Chimpy already? I’ve got my barf bag and the Xanax has kicked in.
Once his term is up and he flees the country to avoid facing trial for crimes against humanity, Bush may end up in Iraq permanently. Did he go there to scout out a place to escape justice?
Of course, W could actually strengthen his own easily-debunked rhetoric if he decided to speak before the Iraq parliament, or hold a long press conference with Iraqi reporters only
But that would take qualities President Rat Bastard obviously lacks, courage and testicular fortitude
By overthrowing Saddam Hussein instead of achieving any real kind of justice for those victimized on Sept 11, W has meekly surrendered to Usama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and the Taliban
W can be the biggest coward in the world if he wants, but he does NOT have the right to surrender to theological thugs like bin Laden in my name
There’s not a level of Hell deep, permanent or miserable enough for W or those still backing this lowlife
incunabulum @ 30:
Most likely the former(political paralysis with Iraqi Leg. body); but HOW, pray tell, is a visit
to the Anbar Provience to have a photo op going to solve the problem within Baghdad where
the leg. bodies are centeralized and supposedly meeting to reslove their differences?
sstephen Says:
“Boyce was much to polite to the talking points loon Watkins. Boyce was interupted and he shouldd have told Watkins to STFU please I let you have your republican spin moment now if you would please allow me to infuse this conversation with some facts please. Boyce was not a good choice to put up against this Wattkins guy he is a fast talker and needs to be shot down when he starts getting on a role ….Compairing Bush to Eisenhouser should have elictted a large guffaw out of Boyce or at least a “PLEEEASE” out of Boyce.”
I totally agree! When are those who are outspoken against this war going to stand up and not allow the right wingers to interrupt them and get away with it. This really pisses me off that they do this. And it is clearly done on purpose by the other side. Very infuriating.
Watkins has no credibility what-so-ever! Whenever they trot him out, which is too often, he doesn’t vary one degree from the Repub daily [eternal] line. It doesn’t matter if it’s spinning torture into a “needed” war technique or the kindness of Cheney to his dog. His grinning, off-eyed garbage is way too predictable.
I for one am sending a letter to Iraq’s US ambassador to erect a gigantic fence around the nation to keep these damn illegals out!!! I mean, you let in one of “those” people and before you know it, he’s brought his whole damn family in, Laura, Barney, Condi and Dick!!!! Let him get a job in his own damn nation!! His people will bring Iraq’s booming economy to a stand still and impoverish Iraqis by taking their jobs!!
The big question is….how does a man who has has no combat experience, no combat training, no training in tactics, logistics or anything other than initial flight training, assess whats going on in Iraq. Even Bush’s flight training was no triumph. His instructor rated him as marginal.
This entire administration is a photo op.
Not a Photo Op?!?! Who are they kidding?!?!
“Stand there, when the President comes by, he will shake your hand, stand between the two of you and a picture will be taken”
Notice none of the troops having a photo taken with Bush are carrying guns.
Jesus, Chimpy is such a dick, it’s about 9PM there and he’s making those troops wait. Selfish little prick.
I thought the escalation- excuse me- the “Surge” was only applied to Baghdad. What’s this about Anbar? Just another lie?
BlueMD @ 44:
Actually, they were supposed to have weapons, but the guns and ammunition to be issued
to them is a part of the 190,000 weapons missing/lost/unaccounted for…but with the
new, yet to be approved, $50BILLION dollars allocated to bush’s war, they will soon have
weapons issued.
So what is Bush doing the Labor Day to honor the working man in the United States?
Firedoglake has an interesting article up about the history behind Labor Day.
http://www.firedoglake.com/200.....-bushites/
“May Day” was founded by U.S. workers—and taken away from them as a day to celebrate by a federal government fearful of the wave of large demonstrations for the eight-hour day and massive strikes for justice on the railroads, in the mines and factories that had begun in 1877.
Such an action may seem quaint now. But the symbolism of May Day—working people challenging corporate power—still causes fear among the top elite.
Just ask George W. Bush and the Republican extremists in Congress.
In 2003, Bush proclaimed May 1 as “Loyalty Day” when U.S. citizens should
express allegiance to our nation and its founding ideals, we resolve to ensure that the blessings of liberty endure and extend for generations to come.
That same year, Congress, designated May 1 of each year as “Loyalty Day.”
Military folk can’t boo or hiss; so bush always wins politically when he hangs around them. But that hard core 20% in America actually see images like that and