President Bush made a tribute to veterans today, which is an important part of the President's function as head of state. Along with the respectfully-delivered standard phrases of appreciation, Bush also made a point to defend his own position on the Iraq War. Even though the White House has specifically denied there was any connection between Saddam Hussein's regime and the "9/11" attacks, Administration officials continue to invoke the connection, as Bush did today:
One young man serving in Iraq recently said this: "We in the
military signed up and pledged to protect this great country of ours from
enemies foreign and domestic. We're fighting," he said, "so that the next
generation might never have to experience anything like September the 11th,
2001."
I hope someone who has the President's ear is also reading the soldiers' letters in the military paper Stars and Stripes, which are expressing some real problems and grievances he needs to take seriously.
The Spanish daily El Mundo picked up on Bush's phrase in his speech today, "with our nation at war" and led off its story on the speech with:
On May 1, 2003, the President of the
United States, George W. Bush, declared the end
of the war in Iraq. Tuesday, as the country celebrated Veterans Day and mourns
the deaths of more than 150 soldiers since the end of combat, their
President has reminded them in his memorial speech that "the nation [is] at
war."
It's past time for Bush to stop cynical posturing about the Iraq War. Combat was not over on May 1, as everyone in the world now knows - even in the White House and the Office of the Vice President.
Bush tried just this year to cut combat pay for soldiers at war. He's blocking American soldiers who were held prisoners-of-war by Iraq and illegally mistreated from filing lawsuits against Iraq. More reasonable policies from Bush would be more welcome than stock clichees.
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