In recent years, it’s often been assumed that the president could deliver a war-related speech on a military base and receive an enthusiastic response. It’s practically a foregone conclusion — men and women in uniform are going to give their commander in chief a boisterous response, especially when he’s trying to motivate them with encouraging words about their mission.<\/p>\n
But have you noticed lately that this assumption isn’t quite what it used to be? From Reuters<\/a>:<\/p>\n President George W. Bush admitted on Wednesday that Americans are weary of the Iraq war and defended his decision to send more troops to Iraq before a number of soldiers about to deploy there.<\/p>\n Dozens of camouflage-wearing troops sat quietly at their lunch tables, some joined by family members, as Bush spoke during a visit to this remote base in the high desert of California, where Iraqi-American actors train soldiers to understand Iraq’s cultural differences. […]<\/p>\n A number of the troops who listened quietly are from units about to rotate into service in Iraq.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This comes just a couple of months after the president appeared at Ft. Benning, where Bush was reportedly looking for a “friendly audience and a patriotic backdrop<\/a>” to help sell his escalation policy. He didn’t get the reception he expected.<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/a> said Bush “received a restrained response from soldiers who clapped politely but showed little of the wild enthusiasm that they ordinarily shower on the commander in chief.” The Washington Post<\/a> noted that Bush received minimal applause, which was “hardly the boisterous, rock-star reception Bush typically gets at military bases. During his lunchtime speech, the soldiers were attentive but quiet. The LA Times<\/a> said the president “received a less enthusiastic reception.” The far-right Washington Times<\/a> said the troops’ response to the president was “tepid.”<\/p>\n