NPR : Rumsfeld Makes Farewell Visit to Troops in Iraq
This photo from NPR, via Getty Images, tells an untold story. Donald Rumsfeld, grinning widely, gets a last photo op with "the troops" that he was so instrumental in placing in harm's way.
The female Marine at lower right seems to be smiling politely. Maybe she's thinking "My mom/husband/kids will see me" and is happy at the prospect. The other Marines in the photo all look stonily and grimly at some other focal point. The one guy standing on the right looks directly into the camera. I can't tell if his expression is "Hey, there's a camera down there too… oops," or "Can you getta loadda dis shit?"
Why is Rumsfeld smiling? Is he determined to put on a happy face after finally getting an offer to resign accepted by Bush? Is he attempting to show that everything in Iraq is much, much better than the Iraq Study Group painted it to be this week? A bit of "too little, too late" flesh-pressing with the grunts? Or all three?
At risk of sounding churlish, as Rumsfeld is no longer in post, who is paying for his jolly to Iraq?
Colin
Actually, Rumsfeld remains in his post until his successor, Gates, succeeds him in January, I believe.
I try not to read too much into publicity photos like this (if I did, I’d be more inclined to comment on how stiff Rumsfeld is standing, like he’s scared of the people around him, and how his grin resembles a Joker gas rictus, but I digress). It’s too easy (obviously) to read too much into a single shot.
As to why Rumsfeld is smiling — well, hell, he’s a politician, and they’re taking a staged photo. There were probably twenty others taken just like it at just that stop.