Camp Striker No Spin Zone

MNFI:

In a war that has perhaps been even hotter in debates than it is on the streets of Baghdad, the one constant in the media has been “spin.”

It was fitting, then, that Bill O’Reilly, host of the Fox News talk show “The O’Reilly Factor” – dubbed the ‘No Spin Zone’ - came to visit the Camp Striker, Iraq dining facility Dec. 15.

O’Reilly visited the Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) and other units at the Baghdad base camp to thank them for their service, he said.

“I came to see the Soldiers and say thanks to all the forces,” he said. “That’s our primary purpose over here.”

O’Reilly had lunch at the dining facility, greeting Soldiers and civilians alike before autographing hats and shirts emblazoned with the title of his latest book, “Culture Warrior.” He posed for photographs with Soldiers, as well.

Sgt. 1st Class Vivienne Pacquette of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands and a supply sergeant for the 2nd BCT, had the opportunity to eat next to O’Reilly and speak with him.

“He was very down-to-earth and easy to talk to,” she said.

“I asked him why he’d come, and I was impressed that he said it was just to say thanks. It’s great to see a person of that stature to have such passion for the troops,” Pacquette said. “He’s in a position to talk to Americans about what we’re doing here.”

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Chief Warrant Officer Shawn Lashbrook, the brigade food advisor and native of Conroe, Texas who arranged some of the specifics of the visit, was pleased with the event, he said.

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Conroe is just a few miles east of Washington, Texas. This is the second recent visit by a Fox News personality. Sean Hannity accompanied Sec. Rumsfeld on his fair well tour and got some interesting feed back from the troops on their reaction to the people in the US who want to lose this war.