Excuse me, but what a fake and a phony this guy is. His meeting with families of some of the 53 British servicemen killed in Iraq has been “billed as one of the centerpieces of his state visit to wartime ally Britain this week,” Reuters reports, and in pre-trip interviews the President “stressed his plans to meet the [British] families” and to “tell them their loved ones did not die in vain.”
How nice. But isn’t this the same American commander-in-chief who has declined to attend funerals for any of the more than 400 American soldiers killed in Iraq? (Instead, he has occupied his time with more than 75 fundraising trips.)
President Bush has had no shortage of opportunities to honor the men who have died for his mistakes, as in a few short months the war death toll has already exceeded that of the first three years of the Vietnam War.
Yet he has declined to send even a single White House official to a single serviceman’s funeral. He has banned ceremony and news coverage for returning coffins — they are to be shipped in furtively, guiltily, and not in body bags but “are not permitted ? anywhere near the grave site” at honor-guard Arlington funerals.
“Bush and his people sent them out to get killed and now you can’t get one of them in Washington to mention these dead,” notes Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin. “Your government would prefer that night falls and the dead are buried in darkness. We must keep them remote, names on a list, and concentrate on things like patriotism, exporting democracy and shipping freedom …”
Check out Breslin’s column, with it’s conclusion — “Here is your war so far this week,” followed by a shockingly long list of one week’s casualties. Or check out The Washington Post‘s “Mission Accomplished” banner it’ll drop to the cutting-room floor. Life goes cheerfully on for the “I travel in somewhat of a bubble” presidency.
Note: This article originally said President Bush did not meet the families of US KIAs, but that part was corrected Nov. 20; the President has reportedly met some family members in private.
From The Daily Outrage