Attack of the Appalled Embeds

In Kuwait, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was asked why soldiers "had to dig through landfills to find scrap metal to up-armor vehicles." The soldier who asked the question discussed it beforehand with an embedded reporter. In an email to colleagues at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, reporter Lee Pitts explained, "I was told yesterday that only soldiers could ask questions so I brought two of them along with me. ... Before hand we worked on questions to ask Rumsfeld about the appalling lack of armor." Pitts wrote, "This is what this job is all about - people need to know. The soldier who asked the question said he felt good." The paper signaled its support, writing that the soldier "chose to ask the question," while Pitts "used the tools available to him."