“Because which funeral do you go to? In my judgment, I think if I go to one I should go to all. How do you honor one person but not another?”
– President Bush, on why he never goes to the funerals of military personnel who have died because of his folly in Iraq.
Despicable.
- Topic: News & Comment
- Topics: Iraq
Bush should attend all funerals, marry the widows, and pray at each funeral that he will not have to answer to an angry God for what he has done to his children on both sides of the ocean.
I agree, go to all. Each one died on the Commander-and-Chief’s orders, so he has a moral obligation to attend all of the funerals.
Ever seen how England pays its respect to its fallen soldiers/heroes? They are always met by at least one or more members of the Royal Family, a full honor guard carries each coffin from the plane while a military band plays their national anthem, many high-ranking military officials attend, along with as many Members of Parliament that are available to attend and pay tribute to the soldier and his family.
The fallen soldiers are revered by their country, Queen, and government for their sacrifice, many of whom will attend the funeral in full regalia and extend nothing but the very highest degree of honor to the fallen hero and his/her family. All the officials greeting the plane will be at the funeral to express their heartfelt thanks and to comfort the family; at least one or more members of the Royal Family will be there – the queen herself and Prince Charles, most often. These events are televised for the benefit of the country, whose citizens respect and are grateful for the soldier’s sacrifice and are genuinely concerned about the hero’s family.
By contrast, Bush won’t allow photos of our fallen soldier’s coffins, unloads them from aircraft in the dead of night, so they won’t be seen and can’t be counted. I have read accounts of Bush allegedly comforting the family when he doesn’t even know the name of the fallen and has to ask the family who it was and what relation they were to the grieving family. The sessions are very brief, typically no more than five minutes, then Bush leaves and never expresses any desire to attend the funeral himself OR TO EVEN SEND A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE TO SHOW RESPECT FOR THE DEAD. You have detailed his shallow, denigrating, heartless, asinine, and disrespectful reasons for not attending.
So there’s the difference: In England, very public exhibitions by many, many high-ranking officials paying genuine tribute to the soldier who served and lost his/her life.
Bush: Return the bodies in the dead of night so they can’t be counted; a quick, phony visit with the bereaved family (that MANY families say is so obviously a sham that it’s insulting), and he NEVER attends funerals because there are “so many” he cannot fairly pick-and-choose which funeral to attend.
Any honorable expressions of grief and loss come strictly from the soldier’s families and local community.
Quite a contrast in treatment of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The Royal family of England honors their dead.
Bush hides them, perhaps from shame, but I believe he just doesn’t give a shit about our soldiers or he would not send them to their death in an illegal war.
Apologies for going on this long.
It makes sense to me. There are just so many military funerals. How could the President possibly go to them all? He would have time to do his job. That’s why he can’t go to his friend Ken Lay’s funeral either. Then he would have to go to the funerals of all of his friends convicted of felonies.
First, England has far, far fewer military funeral than the USA. Second, of course Bush can’t attend them all. What a ridiculous expectation. Should he also attend the funeral of every FBI & CIA agent? Every border patrol officer? Every military member killed in the line of duty, whether it be during a training exercise in the US, or at war in Iraq? He isn’t elected to attend funerals…he is elected to perform other duties. He chooses to meet families in private when he can. Would you have FDR attend the hundreds of thousands of funerals in WWII? How about LBJ attend the 50,000+ funerals of Americans KIA in Vietnam? Also, when the president attends a funeral…it’s a distraction. BIG distraction. It takes away from the family’s ability to grieve and have privacy. It causes a spectical that takes away from the focus of the funeral. Bush has met hundreds of families in private. This absurd thought that he somehow doesn’t care for the soldiers is silly and is yet another example of how so many of you have been brainwashed into leftist propaganda that Bush is somehow a crazy man. He is sane, rational, and cares about the troops. Get real about your expectations and stop letting your anger blind you to reality.
Bill, your vision of Bush somehow secretly ordering the bodies back in the middle of the night and hiding them is innacurate. I am a military pilot, and I can tell you there is no consipracy in how bodies are shipped back to the US. As far as televising the funerals like you claim they do in England: can you imagine televising 3000+ funerals on American TV? The reason that won’t happen has nothing to do with Bush…the American public are the ones that don’t care. They do care about Britany Spears or OJ or how much weight Oprah has lost…American’s would grow tired of it after about 5 funerals on TV. Bush doesn’t control the media. The media controlls itself based on ratings and what makes money. Furthermore, where is the family decision in this? What if the family doesn’t want 50 TV cameras at their son’s funeral?
You all need to get past you anger about the war and trying to place the blame on Bush. I suppose FDR started an illegal war against Japan and Germany also? You guys have no clue about how terrible some of these leaders in the Middle East really are.
I personally know people that have served military duty at the White House. It is very telling to hear the differences between Bush and Clinton and how they treated military members. Bush is very respectful. Clinton was horrible. I have heard the first hand accounts from my friends that were there.