When Bush and the AP have different standards

September 9, 2007

On Friday, the president was poised to tell the APEC conference in Australia that his policies in Iraq have been so successful, he was able to land at a well-guarded airport in Anbar province and visit with troops at a well-guarded base. As David Kurtz discovered, Bush realized how foolish this was, and wisely decided to leave the remarks out of his speech: “Citing the President’s brief stop in a heavily guarded U.S. encampment as proof of peace and stability in the country at large was too over the top, even for the White House.”

It was not, unfortunately, too over the top for the AP’s Anne Gearan. (thanks to reader C.E.)

Anbar has transformed from an insurgent haven partly run by al-Qaida to a chunk of Iraqi heartland safe enough for the president and his war Cabinet to spend the day.

Sigh.

He sure was safe. He never left the base.

  • Anbar has transformed from an insurgent haven partly run by al-Qaida to a chunk of Iraqi heartland safe enough for the president and his war Cabinet to spend the day.

    What a happy sentence. She should work for an advertiser. And not the AP.

  • That’s why the president went to a place nicknamed “Camp Cupcake” to show how well things are going in war-ravaged country. The AP is pathetic.

  • So, I must have slept through this in my history classes –

    Just how does lying to the America public win the Iraq war? The Iraqis know what’s going on, and the soldiers know what’s going on, and most of the world knows whats going on.

    So next week, the Army will follow their orders from the Commander-in-Chief to lie to the America public about how the war is going to do what? Win the war?

    I know the military reports to the Commander-in-Chief and will pretty much stick it’s head in the loo and flush if so ordered by the C-in-C. (Hey I know the drill, been there, done that.) But this is just getting pathetic. I really don’t like Bush making a mockery out of the military in addition to driving it into the ground. He doesn’t deserve to command these men and women – they are some of the finest people you will ever meet.

    Here’s a little parable I heard from a colonel:

    “Why did the cowboy pick this horse? Because he knows he can ride this horse full gallop till it drops and never hear a complaint! What this horse needs is a better cowboy.”

    So back to some questions for the general:

    How does lying to the American public win this war? How does it defeat terrorism? How does the Iraq war make America more safe? How can the military sustain this effort? What would you do if you really ran this war? What recommendations have you repeatedly made to your C-in-C?

    What other wars required lying to the American public?

  • Excellent news from the AP! Why, given the park-like serenity of Anbar, once among the worst places in Iraq, I see no reason why all troops presently stationed in Anbar (and really any adjoining province) can’t come home immediately!

    Right?

  • AP stylesheet instructions for covering Republican events:

    “Once upon a time” [fill in proper nouns indicating persons and places] “and they lived happily ever after.”

  • “Anbar has transformed from an insurgent haven partly run by al-Qaida to a chunk of Iraqi heartland safe enough for the president and his war Cabinet to spend the day.”

    Ah, the Iraqi heartland…..

    Hot dogs on the grill, kids playing out in the back yard, the dads listening to the game on the radio, while the moms in the kitchen get the potato salad just right,….

    Then a JDAM-loaded F-15E flying low streaks over at 500 knots, blowing out windows and eardrums.

    Yep, just like Nebraska…….

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