do congressmen learn anything when they go to iraq? is it just a dog and pony show?

[spanone]

i'll bet they put a lot of lipstick on the pig

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. I'll bet they get the sanitized version, that's for sure.

Anytime a company bigwig comes onto the property the place is scrubbed and polished.

I doubt there's any difference here.

[madokie]

2. I would say there is not a lot to be learned by them there

I mean that everything will be staged for them. Just as sure as it was in the navy when the brass would visit our little SERE school outpost. Hell, Nixons two goons, halderman and eichman came there when I was there to observe our operation for a couple days but they never did see the actual goings on, only what we put on for them. They in turn were never aware of any of that and went away thinking they had really seen something

[Captain Angry]

3. I wonder if it would be possible to get real feedback.

Go to the mess tent, have somebody hand out paper and pens, and say "Write your thoughts, uncensored, and put them in this box. I will take the box and read every comment. They'll be anonymous, but I'll get a rapid rundown of the thoughts of many people at the same time."

Some will be good. Some will be bad. Some will be crude. Some will be eloquent. But there might be a theme that would emerge when you grab 100+ opinions in under 5 minutes before the military leadership can react.

[bbinacan]

5. Great idea. n/t

[EFerrari]

4. They learn the flight time between here and Iraq.

And we fall for that as some kind of informed authority.