Bush: Iraq Withdrawal Would Weaken U.S.
DONNELLY, Idaho (AP) - President Bush took on the California mother who has been defiantly protesting outside his Texas home, saying Tuesday that Cindy Sheehan doesn't represent the views of most military families and that fulfilling demands like hers for withdrawal from Iraq would weaken the United States.
Bush said he understood the anguish of the woman whose son was killed in Iraq last year. But he said he disagreed with her assertion that U.S. troops should be brought home before more die in a "senseless war."
"I think those who advocate immediate withdrawal from not only Iraq but the Middle East are advocating a policy that would weaken the United States," Bush said.
The president said U.S. troops in Iraq are keeping Americans safe and that Iraqis are making progress toward democracy. He urged patience as officials in Baghdad struggle to complete a constitution.
"The fact that they're even writing a constitution is vastly different from living under the iron hand of a dictator," Bush said.
Bush also said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had made a tough and courageous decision to withdraw Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip. He said the next step was to establish a government in Gaza that responds to the Palestinian people.
Bush, dressed in blue jeans and a fleece jacket, spoke underneath the tall pine trees at the Tamarack Resort, where he is spending two nights away from his ranch. His visit to the mountain getaway came between two speeches to rally support for the war - one Monday in Salt Lake City and another Wednesday in Nampa, Idaho, that is to be followed by more than two hours of private meetings with relatives of dead soldiers.
Bush met Sheehan last year at a similar series of meetings with families of the war dead. But Sheehan says there have been developments since then and she has more she wants to say to Bush.
Her vigil in Crawford, Texas, has given momentum to the peace movement, and even some Republicans have said Bush should meet with her. She flew to Los Angeles last week after her 74-year-old mother had a stroke, but she is expected to return to Texas in a few days.
"Well, I did meet with Cindy Sheehan," Bush said Tuesday. "I strongly support her right to protest. There's a lot of people protesting. And there's a lot of points of view about the Iraq war."
He added: "She expressed her opinion. I disagree with it."
At a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was asked about Sheehan's vigil and what he would say to her if he had the chance. "While it has to be a heart-wrenching thing for each of the families involved, our task is to try to help them and the country understand the importance of the work that's being done," he said.
Bush spoke once before about Sheehan, during a foreign policy summit at his ranch on Aug. 11. He said then, too, that he sympathized with her but disagreed with her call to bring the troops home immediately.
He said Tuesday, "She doesn't represent the view of a lot of the families I have met with."
After speaking to reporters, Bush took a bike ride and then had dinner plans with Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and the state's congressional delegation. He said he also planned to spend some "quality time" with the first lady.
Bush spoke a day after the Iraqi parliament missed a second deadline to approve a draft constitution. Iraqi leaders completed a draft and submitted it to parliament by the midnight deadline, but they delayed a vote for three days to give them time to persuade Sunni Arab negotiators to accept it.
Bush said he was getting updates about Iraq in phone calls with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and that she is optimistic that Sunnis will accept the draft.
"The Sunnis have got to make a choice," Bush said. "Do they want to live in a society that's free? Or do they want to live in violence? And I suspect most mothers, no matter what their religion may be, will choose a free society so that their children can grow up in a peaceful world."
Cindy Sheehan: My Response to George as he Speaks From his Vacation Away From his Vacation
"President Bush charged Tuesday that anti-war protesters like Cindy Sheehan who want troops brought home immediately do not represent the views of most U.S. military families and are 'advocating a policy that would weaken the United States.'"
Bringing our troops home from the quagmire that he has gotten us into will be weakening the United States? George: even if you pretend you didn't know that Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction and Iraq was not threat to the USA before you invaded, Americans know differently. We have read the reports and the Downing Street Memos.
We know you had to "fit the intelligence around the policy" of invading Iraq. I want to know what your real reasons were.
"In brief remarks outside the resort where he is vacationing, Bush gave no indication that he would change his mind and meet with Sheehan after he returns to his Texas ranch Wednesday evening. Sheehan lost a son in Iraq and has emerged as a harsh critic of the war."
I will be back in Crawford, George: Even closer to you now in Camp Casey II. Why don't you channel some courage from my son and come down and face me. Face the truth. Your house of cards built on smoke and mirrors is crumbling and you know it.
"Sheehan has been maintaining a vigil outside Bush's ranch, a demonstration that has been joined by more and more other anti-war protesters."
Because I am not the only one in America who wants the answers, America wants the answers.
"Bush said that two high-ranking members of his staff already met with her earlier this month and that he met with her last year."
I didn't go to Crawford to meet with Steven "Yellow cake uranium liar" Hadley or the other "high-ranking" official they sent out. I went to meet with George. Does he get that yet? I did meet with him 10 weeks after his insane and arrogant Iraq war policies killed Casey and 9 weeks after I buried my oldest child. George: things are different between you and I now.
"'I've met with a lot of families,' Bush said. 'She doesn't represent the view of a lot of families I have met with.'"
I never said I did. I want one answer: What is the "noble cause" MY son died for. There are also dozens, if not hundreds of families from all over the country who want to know the same thing.
"On Iraq, Bush said that a democratic constitution 'is going to be an important change in the broader Middle East.' Reaching an accord on a constitution after years of dictatorship is not easy, Bush said."
A Democratic Constitution? Is anyone else insulted that he thinks we are stupid and think that the Constitution they will form in Iraq will be democratic and ensure equal rights to all citizens? Does anyone else know what "democratic" means? It simply means majority rule. Not some high-minded, free-floating, pie in the sky ideal. It means 50 percent plus one. Up to 62% of Americans think our troops should be coming home soon. That is a majority, so why don't we force our employee, the president, to do what we want him to do?
"He spoke after the head of the committee drafting Iraq's constitution said Tuesday that three days are not enough to win over the minority Sunni Arabs, and the document they rejected may ultimately have to be approved by parliament as is and submitted to the people in a referendum."
Another sham election where the country is shut down for the day and no one knows what the heck they are voting for?
"'The Iraqi people are working hard to reach a consensus on their constitution,' Bush said, speaking outside the Tamarack Resort, in the mountains 100 miles north of Boise. 'It's an amazing process to work. First of all, the fact that they're even writing a constitution is vastly different from living under the iron hand of a dictator.'"
As hard as George is working riding bikes and taking naps? If he cares so much about an Iraqi Constitution, why doesn't he take some time from his busy vacation activities and read the US Constitution. He may find out that he started an un-Constitutional war in Iraq. He may lose some sleep over it. (What am I saying?)
"'The Sunnis have got to make a choice,' Bush said. 'Do they want to live in a society that's free? Or do they want to live in violence?'"
Too bad George didn't give them that option before he invaded and occupied their country resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people. I bet they would choose to live in a peaceful country free of foreign occupiers.
"He said he thought that most mothers, regardless of their religion, would prefer to live in peace rather than violence."
Amen to that George. You got one thing right. Thanks to you and your lies the people of Iraq are suffering from a tragic and unnecessary war and my son was violently killed and ripped out of the heart of our family.
"He said Rice had assured him that the rights of women were being protected. 'Democracy is unfolding,' the president said. 'We just cannot tolerate the status quo.'"
Then bring our troops home. The status quo in Iraq is awful. Besides the Iraqi people suffering from lack of adequate infrastructure, clean water, and medical attention, our troops still don't have armored humvees or the proper body armor. I got a letter from a soldier over in Iraq who says that he feels like an innocent man in prison. All of the soldiers and Marines who contact me say that they were lied to about the "mission." They were told that they would be rebuilding the country and all they are doing is trying to survive so their moms won't go through what I am going through. I think the Camp Casey movement is taking a hold and growing because America is sick of the status quo. We are sick of needless death and suffering on both sides. We are sick of paying for a war with our taxes and with our lifeblood that is not making our country more secure. George: your employers cannot tolerate the status quo, either.
"On Sheehan, the grieving mother who has camped near his ranch since Aug. 6, the president said he strongly supports her right to protest. 'She expressed her opinion. I disagree with it,' Bush said. 'I think immediate withdrawal from Iraq would be a mistake,' he said. 'I think those who advocate immediate withdrawal from not only Iraq but the Middle East are advocating a policy that would weaken the United States.'"
This is the biggest smokescreen from him yet. I didn't ask him to withdraw the troops, I asked him what Noble Cause did Casey die for. I am still waiting for one member of the press corps to ask him that. I am still waiting for that answer. First, we were told WMD: false. Then we were told Saddam=Osama: false. Then we were told Saddam was a bad man to his own people and we had to get rid of him: he's gone. Then we were told the Iraqi people had to have elections: they did. Now we are spreading "freedom and democracy" but we are building 14 permanent bases, some the size of Sacramento, Ca. To me that indicates that we are spreading the cancer of imperialism and usurping THEIR natural resources.
"Bush has scheduled more than two hours to meet with family members of slain soldiers Wednesday at the Mountain Home Air Force Base near Boise."
I am just asking for an hour from his vacation, and he just has to come down the road, not travel to Idaho. I wonder if any of the hand-picked family members will ask what noble cause their child died for. I hope so.
"Bush said he planned to go on a hike and have dinner later Tuesday with Kempthorne and the Idaho congressional delegation. Bush said he also planned to spend 'quality time' with first lady Laura Bush, who is traveling with him."
I would give everything I own, will own, or have owned to have one more glimpse of my son. Dare I even say...one last hug or phone call? How dare he go on vacation and live a normal life when he has ruined mine by his lies? How dare he take 5 weeks off when he is waging a devastating and needless war?
"Bush, who is seeking to quell growing criticism at home over the Iraq war, told the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Salt Lake City on Monday that 'a policy of retreat and isolation will not bring us safety.'"
His policies of preemptive wars of aggression for power and greed don't bring America safety, either.
"Bush made a rare reference of the U.S. military death toll -- more than 2,000 killed in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. 'We owe them something. We will finish the task that they gave their lives for ... by staying on the offensive against the terrorists, and building strong allies in Afghanistan and Iraq that will help us win and fight -- fight and win the war on terror,- he told the VFW convention."
How does he honor the soldiers by killing more of their buddies? People say Casey is ashamed of me and I dishonor his memory! I knew my son better than anyone on earth and I know he is appalled by the continued carnage in his name. George: you can't win the war on terror by killing more of our soldiers and innocent Iraqi people. You are breeding more terror. And judging from the fact that you are now tied with the worst president in US history (Nixon) in your abysmal poll numbers, the people of our country realize this too and want you stopped.
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