Silent troops
Troops’ Silence at Fort Bragg Starts a Debate All Its Own
By DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, June 29 –
So what happened to the applause?
When President Bush visits military bases, he invariably receives a foot-stomping, loud ovation at every applause line. At bases like Fort Bragg – the backdrop for his Tuesday night speech on Iraq – the clapping is often interspersed with calls of “Hoo-ah,” the military’s all-purpose, spirited response to, well, almost anything.
So the silence during his speech was more than a little noticeable, both on television and in the hall. On Wednesday, as Mr. Bush’s repeated use of the imagery of the Sept. 11 attacks drew bitter criticism from Congressional Democrats, there was a parallel debate under way about whether the troops sat on their hands because they were not impressed, or because they thought that was their orders.</i>
Some on the right wing are saying this was due to “White House directives”. BS. These folks are tired of getting stuck paying the cost for Bush to be the boss.
