Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
Login | What's Hot
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Rich Galen :: Townhall.com Columnist
BIAP
by Rich Galen
Forward Print Share Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+] Text [-]
 
 
Poll
Was the Copenhagen Global Warming Summit Walk-Out a Win for the U.S.?


I know a little sump'n about traveling around Iraq. I know a LOT about travel from the Green Zone to the airport and back.

President Barack Obama showed up in Baghdad on his way home from his European tour. According to reports, he was supposed to helicopter from the Air Port …

The President was supposed to move by helicopter from BIAP to the Green Zone but in the best of circumstances helicopter travel is unreliable and in a place like Iraq - where the sand is really dust and the dust is really refined talcum powder - helicopter travel is a crapshoot.

Newsweek Magazine posted a piece by Bobby Ghosh which complained that the secret trip to Iraq was "straight out of the Bush playbook." Ghosh wrote that "Obama's main contribution to Iraq has been to criticize the war while on the campaign trail, and then to begin drawing down the U.S. troop presence as soon as he became President."

Nevertheless the Commander-in-Chief visits the troops and it's a good day for the troops.

The NY Times (which still maintains a bureau in Baghdad) reported that the President told a gathering of troops at what is known as "Camp Victory" which is within the same large protected area as BIAP:

"You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country. That is an extraordinary achievement and for that you have the thanks of the American people."

I wonder why his writers didn't have him say, "You have my thanks and the thanks of the American people?" Maybe the writers did have him saying that, but …

Another thing: The President chose to wear a dark suit while meeting the troops. I can understand the suit if he actually had gone down to the Green Zone to have a meeting with the Iraqi civilian government, but once he realized he was staying at Camp Victory, I wonder why he didn't choose a more informal outfit.

Even just taking off his suit jacket and rolling up his shirtsleeves - which he has done pretty frequently - would have been better than looking like Prince Charles at a fancy dress ball.

The first time - the only time - I've ever shaken hands with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in the dining facility at the Palace in November, 2003. She was there for a visit when she was just a Senator. Not a Presidential candidate; not running for re-election to the Senate which wouldn't come for three years.

An Army Colonel told me once while we were in Iraq that "you get 95 points just for being here. You get your share of the last five depending upon your performance."

It meant a lot, Sen. Clinton being there. Just as it meant a lot, a few weeks later, when President Bush made his surprise Thanksgiving visit. I guarantee you it meant a lot to the young men and women stationed far from home to see President Obama, too.

Share:
Forward Print Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
 
About The Author

Rich Galen has been a press secretary to Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. Rich Galen currently works as a journalist and writes at Mullings.com

Be the first to read Rich Galen's column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com delivered each morning to your inbox.

Join The Debate!

Post Your Comment
(14 comments so Far)
View in ascending order     View in descending order
Reply # 1
Date: Apr 8, 2009 - 7:25 PM EST
Was there a point?
Did I miss something, or was the author trying to make a point? If so, it still sits on the editing floor because it sure wasn't anywhere to be found in the piece.

As for Obama in Iraq, showmanship, it is always about him, a photo-op and politics. That the troops were there was just a backdrop.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 2
Date: Apr 8, 2009 - 8:08 PM EST
DanNV
I totally agree with you.

Obama has absolutely no shame or he would not have been able to look a single soldier in the eye.

The way he has undermined the efforts of our military, he should be court-martialed at the very least.

For him to now offer thanks and praise...well simply saying it is hypocritical is the understatement of the decade.

Politicians are notorious for tailoring their speeches to suit their audiences, but Obama’s performances so far should win him an Oscar

I don’t know how this man looks at himself in the mirror in the morning.




Flag as Offensive

Reply # 3
Date: Apr 8, 2009 - 8:47 PM EST
The Big O is a punk
How can anyone here expect him to behave in a dignified or presidential manner when he throws obsolete CD's at a prime minister and gives the queen of England an ipod?

What do you expect of some Chicago pol who calls his own party members in Congress to warn them of not following the socialist line, "We're watching you, Bro*?

O can't walk through a door without bumping into a window. What do you expect of someone who boasts of his workouts and then hides his cigarette smoking because it isn't *green*?

He's a punk. Then you don't expect anything better.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 4
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 6:31 AM EST
The Archetype of the Generation
Obama is a symbol of what the world will be like when the Boomers retire -- the last generation who knew how to travel abroad without shaming their parents -- and everything is left to people whose whole world is a two inch screen in their clutching hands.

Hope you enjoy him and all his clones who think LOL is a word.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 5
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 9:15 AM EST
Obama and the others
here is the thing. What is happening to the United States is the result of widespread and comprehensive moral breakdown. The secularization of America is coincident with that same moral breakdown. This is a hard pill to swallow for many, but to put it simply, more of us should have been going to church. Without an overarching, unquestionable ethic, anything and everything is acceptable and we are receiving just that. Sorry, atheists and anarchists.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 6
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 12:37 PM EST
There is no other conclusion
DNA will confirm that Barack Obama is a homosexual that was convinced by Michele Obama to marry to receive political power. That is the reason he will not release his records. All of his education records should be released as every president have since this have been a country. Bush graduated fifth lowest in his class yet his records have been released. Obama was born in Hawaii, but his scholarship to Columbia is going to be his problem. The choices are he took a scholarship as an alien or a homosexual. He claims the drug user story as a coverup but dates do not match to reality. He reportedly checks his own DNA and his wife medical records have not been released either another first, Betty Ford was an alcoholic her records was always released.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 7
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 2:35 PM EST
I agree with other posters...
What was the point of this article?

Further, the author cannot "guarantee" that BO's visit meant a lot to the troops. The fact is that most of the military sees BO as a puppet with absolutely NO respect for American troops. What was with this bozo standing on a stage with military members standing behind him and in front of the flag? Who arranged this phony photo op? He ought to be ashamed of himself but he thinks he's Christ Almighty and incapable of doing wrong so shame won't enter into the equation.

Worse, this bozo threatened to make veterans private insurance companies pay for VA care and backed down ONLY when threatened by the wrath of veterans and their families and those of us who recognize their sacrifices. But todays newspaper is touting his new efforts to "beef up" veterans health bennies! Hunh? This creep is a liar and will say and do anything that furthers his agenda. He could care less about the military EXCEPT that he knows that he needs to keep 'em happy in case, or should I say when, he choses to enact martial law. He will be sorely disappointed however. Semper Fi will apply to all--- fidelity to the Constitution and rule of law made only in strict compliance with it.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 8
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 7:52 PM EST
Culture Wars - and the winner is.......
"DNA will confirm that Barack Obama is a homosexual"

All it takes is 5 minutes on the Townhall forums and I feel better about our country's future.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 9
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 8:39 PM EST
Steve
Yeah, I know what you mean. The good news, he's not representative of the country or even Town Hall. Most of us have a much higher IQ and don't smoke pot for recreation.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 10
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 8:40 PM EST
Tedmug
I agree with you and, yeah, the antichrists will protest.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 11
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 8:47 PM EST
Obama's suit
I have a friend who used to work for one of the contractors in the Green Zone. He drove a truck on Route Irish to BIAP for two or three years. He was in the middle of the Good Friday mortar attack and still stayed for a while after. Tough guy.

He thought Obama's suit was hilarious. It's like 115 degrees on a "cool" day there in the Sandbox. What is Obama thinking? Yeah, he looked like a stuffed shirt, but it hides the body armor. He doesn't want to look like a coward, but -- well -- like the soldiers didn't know he was wearing it. Uh, duh!

But that's just Shane's opinion.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 12
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 8:50 PM EST
Patrick
So far the Human Genome Project hasn't admitted to finding a DNA marker for homosexuality. That whole "homosexuality is genetic" discussion is still under investigation.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 13
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 9:59 PM EST
Audi10
I'm pretty sure Ur 100% correct in what happens *after the Boomers*..My Dear Mother lived to see 97..That's 25 More for me..I'm not sure it's all that much to look forward to?? CHEERS
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 14
Date: Apr 9, 2009 - 10:11 PM EST
Helicopters in Iraq
Not to sound like one of Ann Coulter's Liberal Victims, but I would like to remind the author and readers that despite the accuracy of the comments about the talcum dust in Iraq. The military's rotary wing crews (especially the maintainers) have pulled off a feat of will by keeping the fleet flying. As a former Commander of an Air Cavalry Troop operating out of BIAP (damn right I am biased), I never had an aircraft not make take-off due to dust, unless it was sandstorm. Aviation units are coming back having routinely flown 25,000+ hours in a year. At home station most units fly 5,000-8,000 hours in a year.

As for wearing a suit in Iraq...you have got to be kidding me! 115 is cool day...we routinely saw temps that would reach 125 out on the flight line.

Maybe POTUS wanted to show respect to troops be being well-dressed, if so it was a faux-pax, a unit baseball cap from somewhere and shirt-sleeves would have struck a much better chord.

But at least made the effort to support the troops.
Flag as Offensive
Sign Up to Post Your CommentsSign Up to Post Your Comments
If you are already registered, click here to login. Otherwise, please take a few seconds to register with Townhall.com. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, and more!
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Salutation:
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Nickname:
*
Note: Nick name will be shown when you post comments.
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
 *
State:
 *
Zip:
 *
Phone:
       
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.