By all available evidence that I have seen, it seems that President
George W. Bush has yet to attend a funeral of a US serviceman killed
in Iraq. It would be expected that, if he were to do so, a major media
display would be made of the event, and the photo op would no doubt be
thoroughly utilized by Bush and his supporters for a maximum of
publicity "spin." It is difficult to prove a negative, but it appears
that Bush has been among the missing at the memorial services of the
men who have given their all in this war.
An article on this subject on the website "Take Back the Media," which
has been widely republished, makes this statement:
"Where's George? He's out GOLFING. He has no time for funerals - THREE
MEN DIED today - THREE AMERICAN SOLDIERS. Men who served their
country. BUSH has DESERTED The Military THREE TIMES. First: When he
went AWOL for a year. That's Documented. Second: When he allowed the
Troops and Veterans to have their benefits CUT, even while they are
DYING in the field - Combat Pay reduced from $250 to $100. And that's
just the start. Third: HE'S NEVER ATTENDED EVEN ONE FUNERAL OF A
SINGLE US SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ."
Take Back the Media: Bush Has Not Attended Even One Funeral Of A U.S.
Soldier Killed In Iraq
http://www.takebackthemedia.com/notone.html
More online remarks:
"How is it that George Bush has not attended one single funeral for a
fallen soldier? He spends his time fundraising instead.
With all of the rhetoric about Hillary not attending any of the 9/11
funerals, it seems to be awful quiet when it comes to this. Can you
imagine the outcry if Bill Clinton or Al Gore failed to show up to
just one of these funerals?"
Political Pulpit: Things that make you go hmmm.
http://www.politicalpulpit.com/Archive/index082803.htm
"280 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and over 1200 have
been wounded, but Bush has yet to attend a single funeral for one of
the slain soldiers. Instead he has cut their imminent danger pay,
their family-separation allowance, their Veterans and Health Care
benefits and he has exploited their sacrifices in 120 degree heat, to
enrich Dick Cheney’s Halliburton firm?"
Online Onslaught Forums: Support Our Troops, by Keith Brekhus
http://www.onlineonslaught.com/OOForums/viewthread.php?tid=5550&page=2#pid47907
"Shemp Hannity took Hillary Clinton to task for not attending every
single funeral of every single victim of 9-11. But no one in the
'liberal' media is reporting the fact that George Bush has not
attended ONE funeral of any of the almost 300 murdered soldiers to
date."
BartCop: You are terrified of Howard Dean
http://www.bartcop.com/082903dean.htm
"The Generals need some rest and relaxation, and a quiet place to walk
the links when Mr. Bush visits Iraq for his soldiers. Mr. Bush has yet
to attend a single funeral for soldiers killed in Iraq (source: CNN).
Busy running daily 3-mile jog."
Steve Zito Email Newsletter
http://www.geocities.com/steve_zito/bulletinboard321.html
This was published August 28th, 2003:
"Similarly, the point was made on MSNBC's "Buchanan and Press" talk
show on Tuesday that Bush has not attended a single funeral for a
soldier killed in Iraq.
Apparently, even the president wants to avert his eyes from the
horror. Of course, he still enjoys giving warmongering speeches to
live and healthy veterans, such as he did on Tuesday to the American
Legion convention in St. Louis."
The Cumberland Sentinel Online: The violence hasn't stopped
http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2003/09/02/editorial/rich_lewis/lewis01.txt
Here's an excerpt from the MSNBC "Buchanan and Press" show of August
26th, 2003 in which Bill Press and Joe Galloway (the author of "We
Were Soldiers") discuss this subject:
"PRESS: Joe, I want to ask you a related question. To my knowledge,
and I’ve talked to a couple of reporters about this. President Bush
has not attended the funeral of even one American soldier killed in
Iraq. Let’s say that’s true and I believe it is true. Is that a
significant story? And why hasn’t there been any media attention to
that at all?
GALLOWAY: I don’t know the answer to that. I’ve not seen any story
that said he has been to one of those funerals. I think he should. I
think it would be-even if it’s just a symbolic one guy, go to the
funeral.
PRESS: I mean imagine if President Clinton were president now or Al
Gore were president now and did not attend the funeral of one American
killed in Iraq.
GALLOWAY: I think there would be a firestorm."
MSNBC News: ‘Buchanan & Press’ for August 26
http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/958223.asp
In a related matter, an uplifting story about the President praying
with wounded solders during a much-heralded visit to Walter Reed
Medical Center did not go precisely as was reported in many sources:
"On 12 April 2003 the President and First Lady... visited with a
number of servicemen undergoing treatment in those two facilities,
including Marine Sgt. Eric Alva of San Antonio and Navy Corpsman Brian
Alaniz of Austin, both of whom lost their right legs in the conflict
with Iraq. (Alva stepped out of a Humvee and onto a mine; Alaniz
stepped on another mine while rushing to help Alva.)
Aides who accompanied the President on the tour of the two hospitals
report that he distributed his thanks and pride - and a few jokes - in
every room, but none of the press reports about the visit mentioned
the President's praying with any of these wounded men (although that
would not necessarily have been out of character for him).
According to MSG Richard Puckett of the Sergeant Major of the Army's
(SMA) office, the gist of the story is true, but the detail about the
President's praying with a wounded soldier is an embellishment."
Snopes.com: Special Forces
http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/injured.asp
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "bush" + "attended" + "funeral" + "killed in iraq"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=bush+attended+funeral+%22killed+in+iraq
I hope this information is useful. If anything is unclear, or if a
link does not function, please request clarification; I'll gladly
offer further assistance before you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
