Condoleezza Rice Entertains Troops In Iraq
Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Iraq today, surprising U.S. service members with a full-blown morale show that revealed a rarely deployed side of the Secretary of State: her affection for high-energy stagecraft. In a makeshift performance area inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, Rice delivered a two-and-a-half-hour spectacle described by attendees as “somewhere between a USO show, a presidential press briefing, and a Vegas residency that escaped its enclosure.”
“I figured we were getting the standard thanks-for-your-service remarks,” said Lieutenant Graham McCallister of Opp, Alabama. “Then she walked out in a sequined jacket, struck a pose, and suddenly this was not the briefing I thought I came to.”
Rice’s set list—assembled with help from her staff, according to sources—spanned soft rock, big-band classics, and a handful of contemporary numbers she introduced as “songs that diplomats hum to themselves on long flights.” She was backed by a rotating group of performers: the Abstinence Singers, the Red State Dancers, and a fourteen-piece orchestra led by John Tesh.
“Condi absolutely lit up the room,” Tesh told VH-1 afterward. “The place erupted when she belted a re-imagined version of ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ in a stars-and-stripes jumpsuit. And I say this respectfully, but it was definitely a different vibe from the elegant soft-shoe routines Colin Powell used to do when we toured together.”
A White House staffer said the staging required “a moderately ambitious logistics plan,” including several trucks, a compact lighting rig, and two decorative missile-shaped props “meant strictly for visual flair.” Rice’s encore involved emerging from a Bradley fighting vehicle wearing a flight suit and a novelty mask of the president—a moment the staffer described as “an inside joke taken to its logical conclusion.”
Rolling Stone magazine reportedly had early notice of the performance and identified lighting designer Skip Duncan—formerly of Cher’s retirement tour cycle 3, 4, and 5—as the person behind the dramatic spotlighting.
Security for the event was extensive, but officials defended the effort.
“As a global power,” said the staffer, “we want to show that we can bring a morale program to our troops wherever they are stationed. Yes, even in places that require heavy coordination.”
In related news, President Bush, who was briefed on the concert after its completion, said he understood Rice would also be visiting a number of states this summer “to boost spirits and shake a few hands in places where the political weather can get interesting.”