I started to do this diary on the "You don't speak for me..." caravan to Crawford. I thought I had heard on one of the news programs last night that the organizer of this movement is head of a public relations firm and that this person worked on a losing GOP campaign. So I thought I would research it. I thought it would be interesting to point out the differences between the movements. Cindy Sheehan arrived in Crawford alone and a following built up around her. The "Don't speak for me..." group was organized by a PR group and is traveling around the West in an attempt to build up support before arriving in Crawford. It seems that these two seemingly different `tours" aren't that different after all. It seems that some of the same people who were involved in the "Truth tour" to Iraq are the same people involved in the "Don't speak for me...".
The organization that is behind the "Don't speak for me...." Caravan is "Move America Forward" whose members are:
The Honorable Howard Kaloogian - Co-Chairman
Melanie Morgan - Co-Chairman
Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson - Board Member
Lew Uhler - Member, Advisory Board
Sal Russo - Chief Strategist
You can read their biographies here:
http://www.moveamericaforward.org/index.php/MAF/AboutUs#7
Here is what they say on their site about the caravan so far,
Tuesday morning started in Bakersfield bright and early on the air with Channel 29 Eyewitness News Daybreak. Afterward we met with supporters and media outside the studios of KERN 1410 AM. Then, it was on the air at KERN.
The caravan then left Bakersfield for the trip to Los Angeles. The first stop was the studios of KFI 640 AM in Burbank. Burbank photos courtesy of MAF friend John Thompson.
From Burbank the caravan drove on to join the Al Rantel Show at KABC 790 AM in Los Angeles, and then went on to meet supporters in Buena Park. (More pictures coming soon!)
Tuesday evening the caravan went on to San Diego where they stayed the night.
They don't seem to mention anything about how many supporters there were, or how many people came to wish them well and offer them support. It seems that they are going form radio station to radio station to talk about all the support that they have. I'll be honest. I am assuming all this, because they haven't said anything about it. I am making an assumption based on the information they have provided.
Now on to the "Truth Tour, Live from Baghdad". We all wondered how this would all go down. Would these people actually get out of the Green Zone and actually see anything. Well I'll let them tell you.
From Martha Zoller,
Our group (Buzz Patterson of Rightalk, Melanie Morgan of KSFO in San Francisco, Mark Williams of KFBK in Sacramento, Michael Graham, WMAL in Washington, DC, Howard Kaloogian of Move America Forward, Brad Maaske of KMJ in Fresno and an expert on Saddam Hussein, Filmmaker Dan Hare, Navy and Commercial pilot and 9-11 family member, Producer Holly Williams, Nancy Alexander, Move America Forward Former Executive Director Sioban Guiney and me, Martha Zoller of WDUN and Rightalk), began the week hoping to get one day in Iraq. We spent 4 life-changing days and came away with a new and pragmatic view of the Coalitions role in the War on Terror.
We began at CENTCOM Headquarters in Tampa, Florida. After some bad press based on incorrect information, the brass in Tampa was a little wary of us and didn't know what to expect. Our first assignment was to make sure that CENTCOM knew that we were going to be fair in our reporting and that we were focused on the mission. We began with a briefing by General John Custer, who reports directly to General Abaziad. In 55 minutes he laid out the most compelling case for the Global War on Terror that I have ever seen. Since the briefing is unclassified, our first question was, "why not make sure every American has access to this briefing?"
I do like how Martha has become part of the team. She speaks of "their assignment and focused on the mission". I'm just a tad bit curious what that mission was, telling the truth? Or reporting the "truth" that their audience wants to hear. In my fantasy, maybe she was talking about the mission that she would become a part of by picking up a weapon and going out and fighting the insurgents herself. Ok, I know I'm being unfair.
Our accommodations were cots in tents with other soldiers. This turned out to be one of the best experiences. Camp Victory is a transition point and there were soldiers and marines coming in and out every day from other missions... While it was Spartan, it was comfortable. I was able to quickly contrast that with the soldiers coming in from patrols, which were in many cases spending two weeks to month away from an established camp and had none of the comforts of home... they said that they liked Fox News over CNN, but not for the reason you might think. Fox will allow you to view video at no charge longer than CNN will. When you've come back in with no access to news for 2 weeks or so, you don't want to pay to watch the video. There may be ideological preferences, but these soldiers wanted to read and watch the news with out having to pay for it.
I hate to admit it, but I agree with Martha here. I wouldn't want to have to pay to watch the news either, not in a war zone. I do find it interesting that it boils down to money, not actual news per se. I am glad to see that they lived in tents and not in a hotel. I guess they thought this one through a bit. Can't report about the soldiers from a five star hotel. But wait, I think I spoke too soon.
During the week, we spent time at the Palace inside the camp, one of over 30 that Saddam built since the end of the first Gulf War. Can you say "Oil for Food" money? We also met with one of the Iraqi generals. Some of us went to the Green Zone and went on operations with soldiers and marines inside the zone now called the International Zone. We broadcasted live daily to our home markets using whatever phone line was available. Flexibility in broadcasting was the way to work during this week.
Well there you have it, the "Green Zone". I knew it would come up some time. Thank-you Martha.
. We spent 18 hours in the temporary terminal at the Baghdad Airport. This was also a great opportunity because random military and civilian contactors came in and out on their way to other places... provided an opportunity to continue to expand the number of people and the viewpoints. The most radical viewpoint came from a UN worker...The day before a heinous homicide car bomb exploded in a crowd of children and families that had gathered around Americans giving out candy. The cowardly bomber waited until the children had gathered and then detonated the bomb, killing 27 children. She said it was terrible that the American soldier was giving candy to the children. Blaming an American soldier in a peaceful exchange with Iraqi children for a car bomber, who killed them, is just the kind of twisted thinking we are up against in the Global War on Terror. That is what we are fighting for and against. We are fighting for the right for this American UN worker to speak her mind and we are fighting against the stupid idea that Americans and Western culture is the cause of terrorism. It is a stupid and dangerous idea that we must fight against every day.
Did Martha do what I think she did? I'm not a journalist, but I think there is a practice out there of asking a question that will provide an answer that will be negative no matter how it is answered. Example (thank-you West Wing) "When did you stop beating you wife?" Type of question. How do answer something like that? Now I wasn't there and I have no idea how Martha presented this question to the UN worker, but I wonder if went something like this, Do you think the soldiers caused this tragedy yesterday? There is no denying that soldiers were present when the bomb went off. Would the suicide bomber have detonated the bomb if the soldiers weren't there? I think Martha got what she wanted, someone to say that the soldiers were to blame.
When I arrived home, I felt proud to be an American. In the soldiers that had no complaints and the soldiers that had complaints, they had in common the dedication to the mission. Warriors are the last ones to want war. None of these men and women "wanted" to be there, but they believe in the mission and they are committed to staying to the end. I am confident in their leadership, I am confident that the President is on the right track and I am confident the American and Coalition soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines, will be the Greatest Generation of their time and will stop the spread of terrorism.
I am so glad that Martha made it home. It was absolutely wonderful that she had the protection of all those service members protecting her while she was in the Green Zone. I am sure that those soldiers are glad to make it home too, but we know that there are some who don't. I have to agree with Martha here, "warriors are the last ones to want war", so how did this war in Iraq get started again? If the "warriors" didn't start it, then who did Martha? I think the mission that these service members believe in is the mission of staying alive until they come home. Martha, will this war in Iraq really and truly stop the spread of terrorism? Now the key to any military operation is having confidence in your leaders. I am glad that Martha has full faith in President Bush, but me personally I don't give a rat's butt what she thinks. She isn't the one going out on patrols and she isn't fighting terrorists here at home. She has a radio show and that is it. I'll have a little more respect for her when she suits up and fights insurgents in Iraq.
The rest you can read for yourselves. It is all there on the Move America Forward site. By the way my last comment, isn't the name of the organization a hoot? They want to move America Forward to the 19th century.