Report From the Frontlines

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Sgt. Keith Manning, a recent friend of the show, called in to announce that he was just beginning a year-long tour of duty in Baghdad.

Sgt. Manning told Howard that, in the brief time he’s been in Iraq, he’s already seen one of his friend’s vehicles attacked and that he’s looking forward to coming home.

Sgt. Manning went on to ask Howard if there was any way he could send him an iPod to help him pass the time, a request which Howard promised he’d honor immediately.

No End in Sight

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

After Sgt. Manning got off the phone, Howard commented that he gets sick whenever he hears about people dying in war.

Howard added that, while the men and women fighting in Iraq love their country and support their government, senators are spending time holding indecency hearings instead of trying to figure out how to get the troops home.

Howard pointed out that if President Bush’s daughters were in the war, he was sure he’d have a better plan and exit strategy. Howard then mentioned that many of the republicans who support the war in Iraq were the same ones who got deferments so they wouldn’t have to go to Vietnam.

Howard noted that as long as the president continues to bow to the religious right, he feels like nothing in this country will ever change. Howard went on to say that if he were president, he’d surround himself with the best minds to help him figure out what to do in Iraq, but Robin pointed out that doing that might involve having scientists there, a group of people in whom the president doesn’t believe.

Robin then reminded Howard that President Bush claimed that Jesus was the one who told him that the war in Iraq would be the right move and that such an assertion doesn’t bode well for policy changes anytime soon.