'Stars and Stripes' Lands Exclusive, and Revealing, Bush Interview By E&P Staff Published: July 05, 2006 3:20 PM ET NEW YORK When Stars and Stripes nabbed an exclusive interview with President Bush on July 4 -- aboard Air Force One -- it devoted most of the questions to ones submitted by service members. One, put to the commander-in-chief by the newspaper's Jeff Schogol: Has he attended even one funeral for a fallen soldier from Iraq? No, he replied. âBecause which funeral do you go to? In my judgment, I think if I go to one I should go to all. How do you honor one person but not another?â he said. A soldier now serving in Iraq asked how many times he would have to return to the war zone in the next five years. Bush said he did not know. âThe conditions on the ground will determine our troop levels, and one of the main conditions on the ground is the capacity for the Iraqis to take the fight to the enemy, and therefore it is very difficult for me to predict with certainty how many times this particular person would be sent back to Iraq,â Bush said, in the article published on Wednesday. Another soldier asked if Army rotations in Iraq could be shortened from one year to six months. Bush: Not likely. A question about special benefits for troops who had served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan brought pretty much the same response, with Bush explaining that he had already boosted normal benefits. The newspaper's reporter put forth his own query: Would the president accept a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in return for a cease-fire by insurgents? Bush called the question hypothetical. Reminded by Schogol that the media had reported just such an offer from Sunni insurgents, Bush answered, âIâm not sure they have or havenât. ⦠I will tell you that whatever decisions I make will be made upon the recommendations of commanders and and with one thing in my mind: Can we win?â Bush was also asked if the strategy of putting relatively few U.S. troops in Afghanistan had backfired, with the Taliban reviving. He replied: âThe strategy all along was to help internationalize the effort, and NATO troops are now moving into where the Taliban thinks that they may be able to make a foothold, or gain a foothold." http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002800195
Bodies flood morgue despite Zarqawiâs death Another "Mission Accomplished" that still goes on. Wasn't the insurgency suppose to end with the death of that guy?
One, put to the commander-in-chief by the newspaper's Jeff Schogol: Has he attended even one funeral for a fallen soldier from Iraq? No, he replied. âBecause which funeral do you go to? In my judgment, I think if I go to one I should go to all. How do you honor one person but not another?â he said. By that logic he should visit with no bereaved families because after all, how do you not visit them all? By that logic he should not select any troops to pose behind him at his pep talks because after all, how do you not pose with them all? By: Maezeppa on July 05, 2006 at 07:54pm
I like your argument. Senators and representatives from the respective states of fallen soldiers have routinely attended funerals. I even recall Al Sharpton presiding over one. The bottom line is, the "cowboy" president has a fundamental lack of understanding of what it is to "soldier" . He can't relate, which is why he found it so easy to risk thier (our) lives on a hunch. If he was the brave "leader" he hold himself out to be, he would have "nutted up" and shown up to a couple of funerals. On a personal note, as a soldier, the hardest thing I've ever done is attend the memorial service of a fallen comrade in Iraq. This is why it is so easy to spot the posters on here who have never served. They talk as if war is a game, with no human toll. A solider will never speak with as much bluster as a chickenhawk. Never. By: REDLEG77 on July 05, 2006 at 08:10pm
"According to the Johnson Library, LBJ attended two funerals for soldiers who died during the Vietnam War." "According to the New York Times, Jimmy Carter attended a memorial service for the soldiers killed in the failed rescue of America hostages in Iran in 1980." "Ronald Reagan attended memorial services on several occasions for American soldiers." "Bill Clinton attended a service in October 2000 in memory of the 17 sailors killed in the attack on the USS Cole." http://www.hnn.us/articles/1784.html...... By: Ranman on July 05, 2006 at 07:45pm
You are right... there is no King Chickenhawk... it is all chicken. The king hawk who has a chicken heart lives in the veep's quarters...
I thought we already won Haliburton is making a ton of money from those IDIQ contracts, what else can it mean to win?
Why not do some research on the government's position as to what it means to win in Iraq? p.s. DailyKos, Michael Moore's website, and other moonbat sites are not the official government position on what it means to win in Iraq.