WASHINGTON, D.C., May 28, 2007
Bush: Iraqi, Afghan Wars "Our Destiny"
Says Outcome Of Wars Must Honor Sacrifice Of Fallen By Overcoming "Tyrants And Terrorists"
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President Bush lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, marking Memorial Day, May 28, 2007, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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Speaking under overcast skies after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and meeting privately at the White House with the families of some fallen servicemen and women, Mr. Bush called the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a part of the nation's destiny. He said they follow a rich tradition of similar American sacrifices throughout this country's history.
As people across the U.S. marked the day of remembrance, violence continued in Iraq where a suicide car bomber struck a busy commercial district in central Baghdad, killing at least 21 people and damaging a shrine revered by Sunnis and Shiites alike.
Speaking of the more than 368,000 buried through history at Arlington National Cemetery, Mr. Bush said, "Nothing said today will ease your pain. But each of you needs to know our country thanks you and we embrace you and we will never forget the terrible loss you have suffered."
"The greatest memorial to our fallen troops cannot be found in the words we say or the places we gather," he added. "The more lasting tribute is all around us."
A man holding a sign that said "Bring home our troops" stood at the bridge as the Bush's motorcade traveled over the Potomac River on its way to the cemetery. There, the president was greeted by tourists waving at his motorcade.
Troops with rifles fitted with bayonets stood at attention as his motorcade drove through rows of white tombstones, each marked with a tiny American flag. Smoke from cannon fire rose over the cemetery.
Bush laid a wreath of red, white and blue flowers at the Tomb of the Unknowns and stood, his hand covering his heart, during a drum roll and Taps. First Lady Laura Bush stood nearby with relatives of fallen troops.
In his speech, Mr. Bush said the freedoms that people enjoy in this country today "came at a great cost and they will surive only so long as there are those who are willing to protect them."
The president said that even after four years, many young men and women still volunteer for the U.S. armed forces.
"We've heard of 174 Marines recently, almost a quarter of battalion, who asked to have their enlistments extended," Mr. Bush said. "They want to serve their nation."
"Those who serve are not fatalists or cynics," he added. "They know that one day this war will end, as all wars do. Our duty is to make sure this war was worth the sacrifice" and that the fighting men and women succeeded — and "where tyrants and terrorists are frustrated and foiled ... where our nation is more secure from attack."
"This is our country's calling," Mr. Bush said. "It's our country's destiny."
"On this day of memory, we mourn brave citizens who laid their lives down for our freedom," he said. "May we always honor them, may we always embrace them and may we always be faithful to who they were and what they fought for."
At least 3,452 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginining of the war in Iraq in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 325 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 383 CommentsIn May of 1968, the bloodiest year of the Vietnam War, George W. Bush was "accepted" into the Texas Air National Guard despite there being a national waiting list of over 100,000 for the N.G.. Bush had scored the lowest possible passing grade [25] for pilot aptitude, and he listed no other qualifications. He wasn't a husband or a father, and had no military or flight experience. But he did have a powerful Texas Congressman for a father. And that was enough.
During the 1968%u20131974 period, Presidents Johnson and Nixon decided against calling up National Guard units for service in Vietnam. As a result, National Guard service was widely portrayed as a way to avoid combat. The waiting list for the Guard at that time was extremely long, and there have been charges that young men from influential families were improperly moved to the top of the list.
In fact, Bush jumped to the top of a list of over 500 applicants for his position as a pilot.
[Continued above...]
The unit in which Bush served in the Texas Air National Guard, was known as a "Champagne unit," where the scions of the Texas aristocracy could avoid combat duty in Vietnam, with relatively few demands on their time. Serving in that unit with Bush were the sons of three prominent men: Democratic Governor John Connally, Democratic Senator and future Vice-Presidential nominee Lloyd Bentsen, and Republican Senator John Tower, as well as seven members of the Dallas Cowboys professional football club, and a man named James R. Bath, who would become a longtime friend of Bush's.
[But God help those Democrats, future political rivals of Bush, who actually served in Vietnam -- like John Kerry. They were going to be "Swift-Boated".]
Source: Wikipedia
Yes, off-topic, but... "Smoke from canon fire..."?
Just click on "canon" for the Answers.com definition.
Oh, and I think the Bush twins are 'ready for duty'... unlike the father.
American toll-
We note that the Bush regime has wasted 104 U.S. military lives in Iraq, so far this month, bringing their official U.S. military death toll to 3,731. We see another 600+ U.S. mercenaries dead since the beginning of the illegal invasion of Iraq, and 390 U.S. military dead in Afghanistan. We see tens of thousands more U.S. service men and woman injured and maimed from these military misadventures.
And at home? We know that the Bush regime was notified that the levies in New Orleans were constructed 18 inches too low, as a result of an Army Corpse of Engineers calculation error, and as reported by investigative journalist, Greg Palast. Out of incompetence, &/or out of apathy, the members of the Bush regime failed to take any corrective action, resulting in the deaths of another 1,500 Americans. We have yet to see how many Americans will die as a result of the Bush regime declaring the poisoned air in New York City, following the 9/11/01 attacks, to be %u2018safe%u2019.
Just from the above figures alone, we can conclude that the actions and policies of the illegitimate Bush regime have claimed the lives of more than 6,000 Americans.
This is the legacy of the Bush regime.
Happy Memorial Day.
The Iraqis-
According to the best available estimate, published in the Lancet, last October, the illegal war against Iraq had claimed the lives of 655,000 Iraqis, with more than 200,000 Iraqis dead as a direct result of U.S. bombs and bullets.
By now, with violence and chaos steadily increasing since that time, we can probably be safe in estimating the death toll on Iraqis at 1 million. With 1 million dead Iraqis as a result of the Bush regime invasion, we may easily conclude that millions of Iraqis have been injured and/or maimed by now.
Some 4 million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes, so far, with 2 million of them forced to flee the country, and another 2 million displaced internally.
We have seen wedding parties slaughtered for the air, a young girl gang raped, murdered, and set on fire by U.S. soldiers, and we have seen Iraqi children spattered with the blood of their parents by trigger-happy U.S. troops at checkpoints.
We have seen Iraqis tortured, raped, and soddomized by various U.S. agents. Most Iraqis still lack electricity, safe drinking water, and employment.
This is the legacy of the illegitimate and contemptible Bush regime.
All that I know is that approx. 3400 troops have died in Iraq and approx 25,000 wounded, mostly severely. Not even ONE, I repeat, not even ONE of those casualties was necessary.
You can blame EVERY ONE of those casualties on ONE person ... the MORON in the white house.
So don't give me any any of your FAKE Memorial Day sorrow you GD, SOB ...
"Luke, it is your destiny! Join me and we will rule the galaxy as father and son!" Ha Ha. LOL. Tell your speech writers not to watch Empire Strikes Back next time before you give a big speech!
www.ipetitions.com/petition/OutNow
We must reclaim our dignity, and bring the illegitimate Bush butchers, their collaborators, and their enablers before a war crimes tribunal.
of the nation'S DESTINY.....
What in the world is that man smoking???? Anyway,
what would he know about making sacrifices??? He didn't serve in any war and Cheney had about 5 deferment...Who in the world are they kidding!!! I
now hear the whitehouse is planning of cutting the
troops in half by 2008. DOESN'T THAT MEAN WE ARE
GIVING THE TERRORISTS A DATE FOR WITHDRAWAL???????
Does that also mean Bush will start a war with Iran????? Hmmmmmmm......... By the way, I think
anyone in congress who voted for the war, should
be voted out of their job. I think there will a
high price to pay for the way they voted and that
means they will be out of their JOB... Congress
is not doing what the american people elected them
for. I also agree it's time to put the Bush twins
in Iraq. Bush and Cheney should also go with them
since neither of them ever served in the armed forces.
Re: "By the way, I think anyone in congress who voted for the war, should be voted out of their job."
At the very least. Tarred, feathered, and imprisoned might be more appropriate, in my opinion.
He's playing to the bible-thumping Armageddon crowd, what a bunch of maroons.
Like Korea? Vietnam? Persian Gulf? Somalia? The Balkans...?
"...Our duty is to make sure this war was worth the sacrifice..."
Was the outcome in Korea worth it? How about Vietnam? Persian Gulf? Somalia? The Balkans...?
The great Dr Kavorkian is getting out of prison on June 1st. I would likr to nominate him as the official white house personal physician. He can start with Bush and Cheney and ... somewhere along the line he must include Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld ... after that ... it is open season on the rest of them.
Can I get anyone to second that motion ???
Posted by kcstan11
SECOND!!!!! What took you so long to make the motion? ;o)
Dr. Kavorkian would be an excellent choice!
I don't know about Cheney, though. I doubt that Dr. Kavorkian's services would be effective on the undead.
9,2007 called NSPD-51. It stands for National Security and Security Presidential Directive. (If you don't believe me, google it.) So in other words, in case of a national emergency, Bush is moving
towards dictorial authority to declare MARTIAL LAW!!
The implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus
Act) are ENORMOUS..................
9,2007 called NSPD-51. It stands for National Security and Security Presidential Directive. (If you don't believe me, google it.) So in other words, in case of a national emergency, Bush is moving
towards dictorial authority to declare MARTIAL LAW!!
The implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus
Act) are ENORMOUS..................
'President Bush, without so much as issuing a press statement, on May 9 signed a directive that granted near dictatorial powers to the office of the president in the event of a national emergency declared by the president.'
www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_107907.asp
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"If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator," Bush joked. -- CNN.com, December 18, 2000
Posted by FeelFree1 at 02:49 PM : May 28, 2007
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In the early 20th century, New Orleans was a progressive major city whose most portentous development was a drainage plan devised by engineer and inventor A. Baldwin Wood in 1915.
Wood's pump system allowed the city to expand into low-lying areas. Over the 20th century, rapid subsidence, both natural and human-induced, left these newly-populated areas several feet below sea level.
New Orleans was vulnerable to flooding even before the age of negative elevation. In the late 20th century, however, scientists and New Orleans residents gradually became aware of the city's increased vulnerability. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 had killed dozens of residents even though the majority of the city remained dry. The rain-induced 1995 flood demonstrated the weakness of the pumping system.
Amazing how you single-minded Bush Haters will blame anything and everything on him, even before he was out of high school.
Engineers have been warning the city fathers of NO of a potential disaster for decades.
Try again
9,2007 called NSPD-51. It stands for National Security and Security Presidential Directive. (If you don't believe me, google it.) So in other words, in case of a national emergency, Bush is moving
towards dictorial authority to declare MARTIAL LAW!!
The implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus
Act) are ENORMOUS..................
Everyone likes to "dog" others, but just out of curiosity I wonder.
I myself have never put on a uniform, but that doesn't mean I'm less of an American than anyone else.
Just so you know, I don't agree 100% with the war either. But I also feel that if Clinton were DOING his job instead of GETTING one, we wouldn't be where we are and 9-11 probably never would have happened.
See how easy it is to blame someone else?
My opinion....doesn't mean anyone else is wrong or right, just saying how I feel as everyone else on here states their feelings.
Posted by tylenol6 at 03:23 PM : May 28, 2007
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...so in other words....like YOUR words?
Are you an attorney? If not, stick to your day job...if you have one.
The President of the US has always had these powers. Look it up. Your paranoia is showing.
Does Marshall Law ring a bell.
Try again.
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28 May 2007
Heroes of might and honor
Protecting both young and old
Selfless courage for all to see
Knights both brave and bold
Of power and strength they be
To fight for the weak and affirmed
Defending this land for all of us
With valor forever confirmed
Yes one day we shall follow
You that have gone away
Always we shall remember
The Lord has given this day
Till heaven and earth do meet
Rejoice that we are still free
Constantly you are in our hearts
Never forgotten are thee
TL
There is so much we will never be able for forgive Bush for - and as he loses his supporters he seems to want to punish them and us cause they deserted him -- so now he lies effortlessly and without conscience and also wants to make sure he has absolute power.
And there are morons who still think he's good for America???????
if Clinton were DOING his job instead of GETTING one, we wouldn't be where we are and 9-11 probably never would have happened.
See how easy it is to blame someone else?
My opinion....doesn't mean anyone else is wrong or right, just saying how I feel as everyone else on here states their feelings.
Posted by anonbychoice at 03:32 PM : May 28, 2007
Clinton was a better decision maker while getting a bjob than Bush and his whole staff of self-appionted so-called advisors ever were.
Clinton was on the phone with a high-level mid-east politician during one of those times. I'll bet that he was even chewing gum at the same time.
I would call that the ULTIMATE in MULTI-TASKING ...
Our destiny now thanks to Bush is to fight ourselves out of the mire Bush threw us into.
And God may forgive him for the all bad he's done to us and the world, but I can't.
From Greg Palast's article- '18 Missing Inches in New Orleans':
"But why did the levees fail at all if the hurricane missed the city? The professor showed me a computer model indicating the levees were a foot and a half too short - the result of a technical error in the Army Corp of Engineer%u2019s calculation of sea level when the levees were built beginning in the 1930s.
"And the Bush crew knew it. Long before Katrina struck, the White House staff had sought van Heerden%u2019s advice on coastal safety. So when the professor learned of the 18-inch error, he informed the White House directly. But this was advice they didn%u2019t want to hear. The President had already sent the levee repair crew, the Army Corp of Engineers, to Afghanistan and Iraq."
www.gregpalast.com/18-missing-inches-in-new-orleans
9,2007 called NSPD-51. It stands for National Security and Security Presidential Directive. (If you don't believe me, google it.) So in other words, in case of a national emergency, Bush is moving
towards dictorial authority to declare MARTIAL LAW!!
The implications of changing the (Posse Comitatus
Act) are ENORMOUS..................
Posted by tylenol6 at 03:27 PM : May 28, 2007
My fellow Americans, we have our work cut out for us. OMG!
Why do you keep defending a low-life lying thug??
- Posted by dlpracer at 02:19 PM : May 28, 2007
Does Bill Clinton let loose with militaristic rhetoric ("Wars of Destiny") as your phony hero Dubya does at the drop of a hat, to justify a face-saving military effort against a danger that, AS YOU POINTED OUT, is far less dangerous to the people of America, than swimming pools are ???
That's right, folks, 1500 American kids drown every year, mostly in swimming pools. That's another 9/11 every two years.
As Bush said ONE WORD about the yearly swimming pool slaughter ?
NO. That wouldn't involve saving face, would it ?
At least Clinton isn't a Rambo-esque chickenhawk like Dubya, whose only interest in Iraq is SAVING FACE.
The cynic is the cowardly creep in the White House who sends them to battle, for no better reason, for no OTHER reason, than to save face for himself.
Bush is the cynic.
- Posted by dlpracer at 03:35 PM : May 28, 2007
It's "Martial Law", not "Marshall Law", you numbskull.
Go get yourself some education before you post again.
case of a national emergency!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!
It is called NSPD-51. It stands for National Security and Presidential Directive. What it does it moves Bush toward dictorial powers to declare MARTIAL LAW!!!!!! Like the idiot in charge needs more power!!!!!! There is already a law in case of
a national emergency. I wonder what Bush and Cheney are preparing for???? Hmmmmmmmm....... The implications for changing the (Posse Comitatus Act) are ENORMOUS!!!!!!! (Google this new law for
yourself, if you don't believe me). IMPEACH BUSH
AND CHENEY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh, boy!
those idiot southern creeps that put that snake bush in office really eat that ***** up, boy!
redneck, confederate southern creeps are waving those flags and jerkin' their gerkin.
bible thumpin' evangelist are in estasy.
what a ***' laugh!
war, hate, rednecks, reborns, belligerent southern trash.
they still love that snake, bush, in the south.
nothing good comes out of the south!
Yeah. And the deaths of over 655,000 Iraqis who never asked for meddlers to invade their country, destroy the culture, buildings and people and pretend they were doing it for democracy--appear to be the destiny of the Iraqis. What a bunch of lies--tell fvck face to look into his crystal ball and tell us when it is his kid's destiny to support the war as much as he wants every other American child to do.
- Posted by dlpracer at 03:35 PM : May 28, 2007
It's "Martial Law", not "Marshall Law", you numbskull.
Go get yourself some education before you post again.
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 04:07 PM : May 28, 2007
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Was that harsh reprimand really necessary, Iceman ?
dlpracer is known to be addicted to old TV series (like "Mr. Ed the Talking Horse").
He probably confused "Martial Law" with the two-fisted governance that Matt Dillon imposed on Dodge City after the drunk rowdy catttle drovers started fondling Miss Kitty without her permission. That's where he came up with "Marshall Law."
Isn't it cruel of me to demand the same erudition in others that I demand of myself ?
After all, as the old Spanish proverb has it, "Who would beg for benison, that by force could have venison ?"
Who indeed ?
He's playing to the bible-thumping Armageddon crowd, what a bunch of maroons.
Posted by omega39 at 03:07 PM : May 28, 2007
-This is complete mismanagement for unique siding with ONE section of the Nation (The far right-wingers) who still maintain their support ot his policies... but slowly shifting their support to the more moderate middle. The Nation is at risk of collapsing if this idiot continues his way of governing. If Walking-Liar does not change his stubborndom to more flexibility, the Nation may be subjected to a schism between trending policies population. The Government may then become impotent. Hence his adoption of the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive, a dictatorial provision the lest we can say.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html
Does Marshall Law ring a bell.
Try again.
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Posted by dlpracer at 03:35 PM : May 28, 2007
the Federal Government cannot declare Martial Law they can only enforce the declaration by each state and aid in the implementation and support of each state's National Guard. President Bush asked for the ability to override the states and be able to declare Martial Law and to use the National Guard and Civil Defense at his own discretion in 2005 and in 2006--in those years, even with a Republican Congress, the request was denied--the reasons Bush gave was that an outbreak of a Bird Flu or other chaos might create mayhem that he and he alone should have the ability and resources to quell.
I repeat dp racer:--the federal government cannot call up or use the National Guard of Civil Defense of any state or against any state with out the express agreement and call up of that state--so yes this is quite different if it is true--but I doubt Bush was granted the authority under a Democratic Congress that he was already denied under his own party--because essentially, he is asking for the power of a military dictator and could conceivably use the military as his own private army.
slimeball south has a dark and sordid past.
war, hate, insurrection, lynching, belligerence, insurrection, slavery, phony christian creeps, k.k.k...
bush is just the latest sordid character to come out of the south.
just let me catch one of you bush loving snakes...
ha,ha,ha.
nothing good comes out of the south!
Of course, if the Iraqi are killing us as much as they are killing each other, there seems little point in remaining. Saddam had to beat them into submission. Maybe Saddam, ironically, had a point that some people just cannot be dealt with in a civil manner? And what would happen if we did leave? The 'surge' may not have been such a bad idea, but the planning to keep the natives from killing anyone and anything they desire could be better. And that is an unenviable job, to say the least. All I know is, pulling out doesn't strike me as the best thing to do, I'm sorry. Iraq needs order. Not self-extermination. But how to tell them to grow up and work together without getting blown up in the process... :(
More interestingly, what about countries whose people are allies with those enemies? Should they be watched as well? Iran worries me, as it should for everyone, but what about their historical allies and their veracity to the tangled web woven?
- Posted by dlpracer at 03:35 PM : May 28, 2007
It's "Martial Law", not "Marshall Law", you numbskull.
Go get yourself some education before you post again.
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 04:07 PM : May 28, 2007
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Took ya several postings to catch my spelling error. Thanks for the help.
And you'll never know how happy I am giving you an opening to give your ego a boost.
One thing I learned working with Special Olympic kids, they love to get a hug.
Consider yourself hugged.
Good luck.
the coming of christ and the destruction of the world;
where all the believers will be carried off to heaven.
well, i'm afraid there will be no rapture, but that snake, bush, is bringing the death and destruction.
ha,ha,ha.
death and destruction...those idiot confederate christian snakes eat that ***** up, boy!
i wipe my azz on the confederate flag.
war, hate, rednecks, reborns, christian snakes...
nothing good comes out of the south!
In other words--we made this mess, so we should have to clean it up. Good thoughts but consider that what is going on now is the toothpaste of the matter and though we squeezed it out of the tube, easily enough--it is not physically possible to get it back in the same way.
Consider that our actions created a power vacuum that many are trying to fill or exploit. Shia killing Shia to solidify or create alliances and power grabs, retailiation or vendetta killings, opportunistic killings by criminals, money, money, money and then there is us--with no idea who is really friend or foe--or who is double, triple or quadruple dealing us. The genie is out of the bottle and no matter what--everybody in the world knows who let the genie out and who refused to listen to anyone else.
What many are saying is that this is like a raging wildfire started by arson--it may only be able to be contained--until it burns itself out--but lose the illusions about putting it out--not when the wind, the rain and nature itself has now been unleashed to aid it all. WE have to be realists again. This is our fvck up--but our presence only makes it worse--not better--there will never be an equilibrium when the cause of the disruption persists in being a part of the equation.
There appears to be no rhyme nor reason for this paradox.
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