'hightly fortified' at that!
http://mediamatters.org/items/200709050011?f=h_latestWed, Sep 5, 2007 6:09pm ET
LA Times reported Bush's Iraq trip was "to see" progress with "own eyes," but didn't note he never left base
In a September 3 article on President Bush's trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq, Los Angeles Times staff writer Julian E. Barnes uncritically reported Bush's statement that "
he secretaries and I have come here today to see with our own eyes the remarkable changes that are taking place in Anbar province." But Barnes did not note, as The Washington Post reported in a September 3 article, that "lthough Bush touted the substantial political and security progress made in Anbar, he did not leave the safety of the base Monday to see those changes firsthand."
In a September 4 washingtonpost.com column, Dan Froomkin described the base as an "enormous, heavily fortified American outpost for 10,000 troops that while technically in Anbar Province in fact has a 13-mile perimeter keeping Iraq -- and Iraqis -- at bay." Froomkin also reported that Marines and soldiers refer to the base "as 'Camp Cupcake,' for its relatively luxurious facilities."
Full text of the Los Angeles Times article, headlined "Bush hints at troop reduction":
President Bush made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Monday and held out the possibility that some U.S. troops might be withdrawn if security gains made in one part of the country could be spread to other areas..........