The statement released by the White House President Obama about President Obama's thoughts on the elections in Iraq were used as "bookends" for the news report in The Wall Street Journal.
Kathy Chen decided to use key quotes from Obama's statement to help start and end her story about the recent Iraqi elections. She used the middle of her report to provide background information about the elections.
The information the Chen wanted the reader to know was that Obama had the utmost respect for the people of Iraq that went out and voted.
Though the main focus of her story was to let the readers know that Obama was happy about the turn-out of the elections, most of the information provided in the report was focused on background information surrounding the entire elections.
It made sense to do that, since the statement was short. The story made sense and readers get a something that is short and sweet.
