[casi] Bush playing "Commander in Chief"

["ppg" <ppg@DELETETHISnyc.rr.com>]

http://tinyurl.com/aw3d

Dramatic landing wasn't required
Bush camp says visit wasn't for campaign footage

By Scott Lindlaw, Associated Press
May 3, 2003

ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN — President Bush didn't have to make a
dramatic tailhook landing on this aircraft carrier. He could have flown here
on a helicopter as presidents normally would, the White House said Friday.

Officials also acknowledged positioning the massive ship to provide the best
TV angle for Bush's speech, with the vast sea as his background instead of
the very visible San Diego coastline.

Bush's aides were delighted by the saturation television coverage and
front-page pictures of Bush's visit Thursday to this ship homebound from the
Persian Gulf. Press secretary Ari Fleischer dismissed any suggestion that
the overnight trip was custom-ordered to provide campaign footage for Bush's
re-election campaign.

"This is not about the president. This is about thanking the men and women
who won a war," he said.

Fleischer had said last week that Bush would have to fly out to the carrier
by plane because the Lincoln would be hundreds of miles offshore, making
helicopter travel impractical.

As it turned out, the ship was just 39 miles from the coast when Bush scored
a presidential first by landing on the flight deck in a small S-3B Viking
jet that was snared by a restraining wire. He climbed out of the cockpit
wearing a flight suit and carrying a helmet under his arm and was swarmed by
crew members. The scene was captured on live television and replayed again
and again.

"He could have helicoptered, but the plan was already in place," Fleischer
said. "Plus, he wanted to see a landing the way aviators see a landing."

Navy officials said they made minor changes to the Lincoln's route home to
accommodate the president. The changes did not keep personnel at sea longer
than they otherwise would have been, said John Daniels, a ship spokesman.

In fact, the Abraham Lincoln was scheduled at one time to arrive in San
Diego today, but that was moved up to accommodate Bush's schedule, said Lt.
Cmdr. Jeff Bender. The carrier arrived Friday.

There was no denying the ship's movements were carefully choreographed to
benefit Bush.

Commanders gauged the wind and glided along at precisely that speed so that
sea breezes would not blow across the ship during Bush's speech. That could
create unwanted noise, Daniels said.

When the wind shifted during the speech, the ship changed course to minimize
the breeze, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Terrance Rice.

The camera angle also was arranged by the White House to ensure it did not
show the nearby coastline. A huge banner reading "Mission Accomplished" was
strung along the bridge and loomed behind Bush.

The Navy sent all but a couple of fighter jets off the plane Wednesday and
Thursday. Those left behind were left on the flight deck as props for Bush's
speech.

Washington Post:
"Great job, great job," he kept saying. "I flew it," he shouted back to a
reporter's shouted question about his flight. "Yeah, of course I liked it.
It was fantastic."

Later, Bush explained that he had taken the controls from the pilot, Cmdr.
John "Skip" Lussier, for about a third of the 15-MINUTE FLIGHT but had just
steered during the "straight" parts."

"I miss flying, I can tell you that," he said, telling reporters he was at
the controls for a third of his flight to the carrier from the coast, "which
at times through the day was visible from the Lincoln."

Later, wearing a white life-vest with "Commander in Chief" on the back and a
helmet, he moved quickly along the deck, flashing a thumbs-up and shaking
hands with sailors.


Bush rose early and walked to the carrier's deck at 5:55 a.m. PDT. "He
looked around and took in the scene," said spokesman Ari Fleischer. After
his breakfast with the officers, Bush flew BY HELICOPTER to Naval Air
Station North Island, where he walked in a line of well-wishers and shook
hands with members of the military and their families.

The carrier glided into port as he shook hands.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2849-2003May1.html

=================================================
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030501-8.html

At the Thursday Press Gaggle, Ari Fleischer just couldn't determine the
answer to this question:

Q: Do you have an exact year on the Guard, last time he flew that jet?

He also had a problem with another question:

Q: What's your best guess of how far offshore the carrier is when we land?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have accurate information on it. I was trying to
assess it, could not get --

Q: Could we say hundreds?

MR. FLEISCHER: I can't get accurate information. I've been asking for it. I
don't have it yet.

Q: How about the number of miles we cover overnight?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have that, either.

=== later ===

Q: Do you know now how many miles offshore the ship is, by any chance?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't have that.
=======================================================
New Zealand website has a caption-contest for the photos of the US C in C.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0305/fa700fbdbc617136d01e.jpeg
==================================================

Bush Thanks Military Contractors
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030502_1054.html

President Bush blew up enemy tanks from the cockpit of a simulated fighting
vehicle Friday, thanking military contractors who supplied hardware for the
war in Iraq while trying to give his half-trillion-dollar tax cut a boost.

Bush took the simulated controls of a future fighting vehicle at United
Defense Industries, which supplied Bradley Fighting Vehicles to the war and
other conflicts. The company also made the Hercules tank recovery vehicle
that pulled the statue of Saddam Hussein down in Baghdad.
Bush took the controls of the simulated fighting vehicle a day after he
helped pilot a Viking jet onto the USS Abraham Lincoln off San Diego.

As soon as he touched the controls Friday, explosions thundered through the
room housing the simulator. Bush then took the controls and, with the help
of a United Defense engineer, began firing at "enemy" tanks.

He destroyed at least one, and stared at the smoldering wreck on his screen.

>From there, Bush inspected hardware closer to production, including a Future
Combat System-Wheeled, 35 tons of rolling ceramic and titanium. "This would
roll over a Hummer," said Mike Childers, who sat in the driver's seat and
shook Bush's hand as he peered inside.

U.S. military personnel "deserve the finest equipment we can provide," Bush
said to applause.

"The new technologies of war helped to protect our soldiers, and as
importantly, they helped protect innocent life," Bush said. "New
technologies allow us to redefine war on our terms, which makes it more
likely the world will be more peaceful and more free."










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