Chapter 9

I ordered a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with tomato soup and unsweetened tea with Splenda. The General ordered a steak sandwich, American fries and coke. While we waited for them to be prepared, we discussed the media demands to allow reporters to now go to Iran and view the reconstruction.

With the levels of troops now where we wanted them and things reasonably calm, we decided to give in to the pressure.

‘‘Give me a few minutes and I will write out the rules, conditions and limitations for the media to make the visit and you can review them,’’ I said.

What the General didn’t know was that I had several conversations with Hanna and Melinda about the media visitations to Iran. I was several steps ahead of him.

I had the perfect candidates for coordinators and liaison. I sent them a text to be here at 1300 when Harry was to give the afternoon briefing.

Back at my desk I finished out the list of ideas and waited. The General reviewed them before nodding and leaving. Then Connie and I fine-tuned them and she typed them up and made three copies.

I spent the next forty-five minutes on a call to Prime Minister Attenborough about the base realignment and consolidation that was being discussed. I had told him that I would call when I had more information, so I did.

I ordered donuts and coffee for the news group but told the Secret Service to hold them behind the divider until I was ready to attend.

Melinda and Hanna came in the front entrance and were led to the Oval Office.

‘‘Well girls, have you recovered from the Christmas and the New Year’s celebrations yet?’’ I asked.

‘‘OH yes, but I don’t think you invited us to come here to find that out,’’ Hanna said.

‘‘You are right, I didn’t,’’ I said.

‘‘I’m wondering if you had thought any more about the proposal we had talked about. Were you able to come up with any accumulated days off or could you get time off?’’ I asked.

‘‘I want you to be the coordinators for me, if you are up for a challenge. This time you will be paid. You could even rotate one of you there a week and then the other, even reporting for your station while you are there,’’ I said.

‘‘I have agreed to allow the White House press group to go to Iran to report on the reconstruction. I need someone to coordinate and ride herd over them. You have been in the field with my men. You know the risks that are there and the challenges,’’ I said.

‘‘You know the things you can and cannot do. It is still a very dangerous place. Saying the wrong things and asking the wrong questions of the wrong people may still get you killed,’’ I said.

‘‘I gave you the language programs weeks ago. I hope you took the hint and have been learning. There will still be an interpreter and a couple of guards and transportation supplied,’’ I said.

‘‘We will use the draft that they like so much. Two reporters and two camera men along with you and your camera man will make up one group,’’ I said.

I handed them the folder with the rules and guidelines. The two groups of six would leave Sunday morning from Dover on a government jet and arrive in Iran early Monday morning. They would spend six days on the ground in Iran.

‘‘You would land at one of the military airports and be carried to one of the daily briefings. They would be allowed to question officials at those briefings. From there they would be assigned bunks in a military non-segregated barracks. At that time, they would be given a set of geographic areas that they could chose to report on, based on security,’’ I said.

‘‘A driver/guard and an interpreter would be assigned to each reporter team. They are to return to the barracks before dark. Your group would get no special treatment, food or housing accommodations,’’ I said.

‘‘All individuals will have to have all the required vaccinations, passports and be limited on the amount of baggage,’’ I added.

‘‘My sister Sherry will take over for me while I am doing this project. Grand Pop has been working her at the station on special interest projects. This will be her chance to expand. So, I am in,’’ Hanna said.

‘‘As long as I can give news reports from there, my bosses will work with me. So, count me in too,’’ Melinda said.

‘‘I am glad to hear that because it’s going to be implemented quickly. Look the over the rules - we can make changes now. Then we will go out and make the announcement at the 1400 press conference,’’ I said.

‘‘Connie had printed out the vaccination requirements for you to pass out to get the conversation started. The outside media people as well as the White House press group will be eligible,’’ I said.

I waited as they read over the rules and limitations and read them myself. I was satisfied with them.

There was a scheduling office for the Air Force for transportation between military bases on a first come first served based on space available. It was used to shuttle DOD personnel from one base to another under non-emergency conditions with available aircraft seating.

Connie had contacted them and there was a C17 freight flight out of Dover to Tehran leaving Saturday at noon with seats for the first media teams.

At 1345 the media groups were notified of the joint news briefing to allow the inside and outside media to get into the media center. The Secret Service was setting up the donut/coffee table as they were coming in.

‘‘I have a quick announcement to make then I need to go. I have decided to allow media access to Iran. Hanna Page and Melinda Schaffer are going to be the coordinators and White House liaisons and they will accompany the media on the visits. That said, I will turn this over to them to explain how they are going to work it,’’ I said.

‘‘Thanks Madam President,’’ Hanna said.

‘‘Melinda is passing out several handouts that you need to look over. One is the vaccinations that are recommended for travel to Iran. The second the geographic areas that are open to visiting reporters, as you can see they are divided into areas that you can choose to visit,’’ Hanna said.

‘‘As you can see by the handout, all of Iran will be open, barring any possible security issues at the time of your visit. You can only choose one location to report out of for the seven day period because of logistics,’’ Hanna said.

‘‘The visits will be for seven days. When available, transportation will be by military transport planes that are making routine deliveries. The plane departing this Saturday will be at Dover Air Force Base. Departure time has not been scheduled yet,’’ Melinda said.