Quote:
Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
I see you also got the latest email from John Kerry.
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I did it without ever seeing the e-mail. I'm in the zone.
And look! GWB says that 'cause he's already gotten around 2000 Americans killed for a war that didn't have to be fought (Iraqi deaths don't factor in) we're gonna stick around until . . . well, I guess until the number of mothers of dead sons asking "what the hell was my kid doing there in the first place?" reaches some kind of critical mass. Which won't be long. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but when your kid gets blown up looking for non-existent WMDs you start asking the hard questions.
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August 23, 2005
Citing Sacrifice, President Vows to Keep Up Fight
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 22 - President Bush hailed the sacrifice of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan on Monday and vowed, in a rare reference to the number of American deaths, that the nation owed it to the more than 2,000 Americans killed in the two wars not to end their mission prematurely.
"Each of these men and women left grieving families and loved ones back home," Mr. Bush said here at the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "Each of these heroes left a legacy that will allow generations of their fellow Americans to enjoy the blessings of liberty."
Then he said he would not bow to growing pressure to withdraw troops immediately from Iraq: "We owe them something. We will finish the task that they gave their lives for."
Mr. Bush made his speech at his first public appearance in nine days, interrupting his monthlong vacation at his Texas ranch. In recent weeks, political pressures have intensified over his Iraq policy as sentiment has grown among Democrats and some Republicans that the war has become reminiscent of Vietnam.
Mr. Bush's speech appeared intended to capitalize on good news, the drafting of an Iraqi constitution. In his remarks, delivered as Iraqis were negotiating against a deadline, Mr. Bush hailed the constitution as a "landmark event" in the Middle East. Hours after his address, Iraqi negotiators announced they had only a partial draft and were seeking more time.
"Producing a constitution is a difficult process that involves debate and compromise," Mr. Bush said. "We know this from our own history. Our Constitutional Convention was home to political rivalries and disagreements." Americans, Mr. Bush said, saluted the Iraqis' determination "to lay the foundation for lasting democracy amid the ruins of a brutal dictatorship."
After the Baghdad deadline and the president's speech, with major issues still unresolved in the constitution, the White House nonetheless issued a positive statement, calling the work in Baghdad "impressive" and "another step forward."
Mr. Bush made no mention of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of an American soldier slain in Iraq who has staged a protest outside the president's ranch and inspired antiwar vigils across the country. But Mr. Bush, in citing specific numbers of Americans killed - 1,864 in Iraq and 223 in Afghanistan, he said - appeared to acknowledge to protesters that he understood the human cost of the battles.
Still, as a counterpoint to Ms. Sheehan's demand for an immediate withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, Mr. Bush said, "We'll honor their sacrifice by staying on the offensive against the terrorists."
Ms. Sheehan's supporters followed Mr. Bush to Salt Lake City, where more than 1,000 people staged an antiwar protest in Pioneer Park, not far from the Salt Palace Convention Center where Mr. Bush was speaking. A main speaker was Celeste Zappala of Philadelphia, a co-founder of the antiwar group Gold Star Families for Peace and the mother of a son who died in Iraq.
In a telephone interview after the protest, Ms. Zappala said she disagreed with the president's view that the way to honor the Americans killed in Iraq was to continue to fight.
"It pains me to hear that more people should die because those people have died," said Ms. Zappala. "That makes no sense. We can honor them by having an intelligent, honest policy." Ms. Zappala's eldest son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, a National Guardsman, was killed in Baghdad in April 2004 while protecting the Iraq Survey Group, which was searching for large unconventional weapons. None were found.
The mayor of Salt Lake City, Rocky Anderson, a Democrat, attended the protest as well. "We are here today to let the world know that even in the reddest of red states, there is enormous concern about the dangerous, irresponsible and deceitful public policies being pursued by President Bush and his administration," Mr. Anderson said. The mayor was greeted with a smattering of boos when he spoke to the veterans' group a few hours before the president.
The veterans' audience of 15,000 people greeted Mr. Bush with loud applause in this heavily Republican state, where Mr. Bush received the highest percentage of the popular vote in the 2004 election. Many veterans said they were supportive of Mr. Bush's course in Iraq.
"If they needed us, as old as we are, I'd go again in a heartbeat," said John T. Edward, a Vietnam veteran from Reno, Nev. Mr. Edward said that he sympathized with Ms. Sheehan, but that he did not think the president should meet with her as she has demanded, and that it was important to fight terrorists in Iraq.
"When do you stop?" Mr. Edward said. "I understand how bitter she is, but we need to keep our country safe."
Others said they supported the president as commander in chief, but disagreed with how the war and occupation had been carried out.
"I think the president was listening too much to his secretary of defense," said Dennis Guthrie of Redmond, Ore., a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars national council. "He should have been listening to Colin Powell."
Mr. Guthrie's wife, Dianne, a leader of a women's auxiliary of the veterans' group, objected strongly to what she said were inadequate Bush administration funds for veterans. "If you continue to fight a war, and you don't put more money in the V.A. budget, it's immoral," she said.
Last month, Congress appropriated $1.5 billion in emergency funds to cover a shortfall in the Veterans Affairs budget after the administration acknowledged that it had not taken into account the additional cost of caring for veterans hurt in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his speech, Mr. Bush also praised the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for a "courageous and painful step" and then reiterated that the United States was providing $50 million to the Palestinians for new housing and development.
Mr. Bush ended his day at Tamarack Resort overlooking Lake Cascade in Donnelly, Idaho, where he is to spend Tuesday fishing and biking before a speech on Wednesday to National Guard personnel.
Melissa Sanford contributed reporting for this article.
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