http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeeh...the_people_are_not_being_served_with_this_war War Widow To Bush: "You're Here To Serve The People. And The People Are Not Being Served With This War." Greg Sargent's picture By Greg Sargent | bio I just got off the phone with Hildi Halley, a woman from Maine whose husband is a fallen soldier. Yesterday President Bush met with her privately, and news of their meeting was reported in a local Maine paper, the Kennebec Journal, which said simply that Halley objected to Bush's policies and that she said Bush responded that there was no point them having a "philosophical discussion about the pros and cons of the war." But Halley has just told me that she went much farther in her criticism of Bush, telling him directly that he was "responsible" for the deaths of American soldiers and that as a "Christian man," he should recognize that he's "made a mistake" and that it was his "responsibility to end this." She recounted to me that she was "very direct," telling Bush: "As President, you're here to serve the people. And the people are not being served with this war." section break I reached Halley at her home in Falmouth, Maine. She told me that her husband, Patrick Damon, who's long been active in Democratic politics, had been in Afghanistan as an engineer building roads when he died in June. She said she was first told that it was of a heart attack, but that subsequently she was told there was no sign that a heart attack had killed him. An invesigation into his death is continuing. Halley, who's also been politically active for Democrats, said she told GOP Senator Olympia Snowe that she'd like a phone call from Bush. Subsequently Halley got a call from White House staffers looking to set up a private meeting. Bush came yesterday. Halley tells me that she told the President that she's been opposed since "day one" to both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I talked to him about how important this person was to me," Halley recounted, speaking of her husband. "It's not just a soldier who died. Lives are changed forever...I said, `This doesn't make sense to me." "He said, `Terrorists killed three thousand people, we had to go to war.'" Halley continued to me. "I said, `Well, who put the Taliban into power? The United States did.' He said, `I'm not going to have a philosphical debate over politics.' The whole conversation was very gentle." Halley says that while Bush was personable and receptive to her, she was very direct and critical of Bush's policies and insisted that the right thing to do was to end the war. "We literally sat knee to knee...I looked deep into his eyes and talked to him about love and losing people and that he was responsible for this. I said, `I didn't vote for you, but you are my President. And you're not serving me.'" "I said I believed it was time to put an end to this. His job is to find solutions. I said, `You yourself have said you had erroneous information going into this.'" She continued: "I said, `As a Christian man, you realize that when you've made a mistake it's your responsiblity to end this. And it's time to end the bleeding and it's time to end the war.'" "I said, `what would truly bring healing is to start working on changing your policy towards the Middle East...as President, you're here to serve the people. And the people are not being served with this war.'" She added: "I told him, `It's time as a Christian to put our pride behind us." Halley said that the President appeared moved by what she'd said, but that she doubted it would bring about any real change. "He cried with me," she recounted. "I feel he responded to me emotionally. I don't know if that's going to change policy. It probably won't. But I hope it makes him think a little bit further."
While popular support for the war in Iraq has waned, support for the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban remains strong. Iraq wasn't a complete outlaw nation (at least under Saddam) but the Taliban are EVERYTHING we should want to crush. We are there with NATO. While saddened by Patrick Damon's death, it was the epitome of non-combat related. He collapsed and died on his bunk after jogging. And while his wife is appropriately grieved, she's a partisan Democrat making a partisan plea on an issue that enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support. It shows Bush's class by taking her call and offering his sympathies. Now one knows why Commander in Chief's shun funerals for those who devoted their lives for our freedoms.
taliban cut into the herion profits.... hmmmmm. wonder who is profiting now? and lets not forget the pipeline. good job POODLE.
Ah, so Bush is also the world's biggest heroin dealer, too? My goodness, the knowledge gleaned from ET is just astonishing.
Hey PUTZ, did you pick up your passport yet?!!!! <a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/7186/reservedpassportforputzqt2.jpg" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>
"And while his wife is appropriately grieved, she's a partisan Democrat making a partisan plea on an issue that enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support." So are republicans like Chuck Hegel partisan's making partisan pleas when they talk about the failed war in Iraq? Is William F. Buckley Jr. a partisan when he discusses the failed disastrous situation in Iraq? Are other republicans who criticize Bush's failures in Iraq, who ask questions that demand answers, partisans? Are generals who served in Iraq, like Maj. General John Batiste partisan? "Donald Rumsfeld is still at the helm of the Department of Defense, which is absolutely outrageous. He served up our great military a huge bowl of chicken feces, and ever since then, our military and our country have been trying to turn this bowl into chicken salad. And itâs not working." -----Maj. General John Batiste----- http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/25/batiste-rumsfeld/ Pa(b)st his prime continues to miss the point, as he is actually the one who is partisan in his defense of Bush and Rumsfeld's failed plans for Iraq.
Hey Pa(b)st his prime, Doesn't matter where her husband died, as a citizen, she has a right, if not responsibility to speak her mind about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan to the president...