Families of Dead Soldiers Demand Truth from Bush

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

The one reservation I had last week when I wrote about the Downing Street Memo was this: How will the loved ones of the soldiers who've died in Iraq feel when they read this?
How much more pain will it cause them to know we now have strong evidence that George Bush knew all along there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? That he made the "facts" fit his personal plan for war?
How does your mind accept what surely breaks your heart? And how much harder to know that your child, your spouse, your parent died in a war that a growing number of Americans are questioning?
Since that column ran, the loved ones of two soldiers, dead in Iraq, have told me.
Their words are far more meaningful than anything I could say, so I will turn this column over to them.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/06/20/bethcolj.htm

[understandinglife]

1. ""My question to President Bush is – how do you look yourself in the

.... mirror every morning with a clear conscience knowing that 1,700 young Americans are dead based on a lie?"

Sadly, we all know the answer. A person, like Bush, who commits premeditated mass murder, who launches premeditated illegal wars, knows exactly what they see in the mirror -- the cold-blooded tyrant that they enjoy being.

Recommended.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4173.htm


WE THE PEOPLE .... WILL NEVER FORGET

"... we sent our young people into harm's way without leveling with the American people." - Congresswoman Pelosi before Congress, 16 June 2005

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Impeachment of Bush and Cheney; indictment and prosecution of all members of the Bush regime who participated in the deception, should be campaign promises of any candidate worthy of our vote in the 2006 Congressional elections.

[marmar]

3. Instead he spouts phoney platitudes, then yelps "bring 'em on!"

... all the while playing wargames with other people's childrens' lives. Didn't he say prior to taking office that winning a war is the way for a president to make his mark on history? I don't even have a relative in the military and this makes my blood boil. He needs to go before a war crimes tribunal, for crimes against Iraqis and Americans.

[understandinglife]

5. You are correct. And, as to his premeditated, lusting for war:

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050620/why_george_went_to_war.php


Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Impeachment of Bush and Cheney; indictment and prosecution of all members of the Bush regime who participated in the deception, should be campaign promises of any candidate worthy of our vote in the 2006 Congressional elections.

[Raksha]

26. Oh, he's making his mark on history, all right!

A big, ugly black mark! And I haven't noticed him "winning" any wars lately either. A loser all the way around--but then we knew that.

Re >>Didn't he say prior to taking office that winning a war is the way for a president to make his mark on history?<<

[AngryOldDem]

28. And yet he vows to stay "until we prevail"

A sick, sick twist on the adage, "To save the village we must destroy it."

I do not know who can defend this war, not that it was ever defensible in the first place. Some at Nuremberg were prosecuted for far less than what has been done in Iraq, and you are right. A war crimes tribunal is certainly called for; at the VERY least, impeachment proceedings here in the U.S.

My oldest is five years away from draft age and I have no illusions that this will be over by 2010. I also have no illusions that the draft will not be brought back, with little or no deferments offered. My biggest fear is that this current war is only the prelude -- that the Arab world is only just biding its time because it knows when the opportunity is ripe, WE will be ripe for the picking. And my kid may very well be over there when it happens. The thought angers, sickens, and scares me all at once.

How anyone can trust those who run this government anymore -- especially with the lives of their children -- is absolutely beyond me.

I take consolation in the fact that I have heard many Bush supporters begin to say that they are no longer sure that this war was the right thing to do. That is a reassuring sign of a conscience at work. I pray that the longer they think about it, the more they will become resolved to helping get the truth out. Those of us who were paying attention as early as 2000 never needed the validation of DSM to know that this war would be a huge mistake. And I, for one, am getting NO satisfaction out of telling others "I told you so," for we are all in the same situation in this sorry mess.

[Demeter]

6. He Most Likely Has No Reflection

What he can't see can't disturb him.

[truth2power]

18. Yes, and check it out next time he's in the Rose Garden..

does he have a shadow?? Hmmm... :evilfrown:

[Skittles]

15. bush has no conscience whatsoever

the man is a sociopath

[babylonsister]

2. Anyone who logs into DU should read this. Thanks,

T_S, and nominated with sadness that it ever had to come to this.

I think one of the most potent memories of the DSM forum last week was to hear from the families. For the next one, I hope more families will be given the time to chime in with their thoughts, in a physical venue worthy of the families and their sacrifices.

[DisassemblingHisLies]

4. Like Cindy Sheehan said, nothing is better than the truth.

Nothing they could hear could hurt them more than they've already been hurt by the loss of their sons/daughters.

[deutsey]

7. Hmph. They're all obviously living in reality-based communities

:sarcasm:

[holboz]

8. BTW - love the Batman baddies photo

Everytime I see it I can't help but laugh.

[bornagainhuman]

25. oh my god the penguin is Dick Chaney

[winga222]

9. He's not lost an hour of sleep over their pain

Maybe that's the benefit in being a purposefully ignorant, wildly out-of-depth pretender - no guilt, no second-guessing. He's slept like a babe through this all and it just kills me to know it.

And, really, why do all these people hate freedom?

[swimboy]

19. SOP. Standard Operating Procedure. Stupid On Purpose. n/t

[Callboy]

10. What a shame

[Callboy]

11. what a sham(e)

[leftchick]

12. They should have been pissed a year ago

when bush** made his oh so funny WMD video it was patently obvious he thought the whole thing was a fucking joke.

:(

[soundhead]

35. Go Galloway

I love that Galloway photo. Man, did he s**t on their lunch or what. Made me proud to be a Brit. F**kers.

[pf99]

13. The ultimate oxymoron

"Truth from Bush"

[KoKo]

14. Might explain the reluctance of some to write about DSM or to expose

Bush lies. Some reporters might have been genuinely conflicted that if they said anything they would be causing pain to the families of those who died. *Some* reporters...that is. The ones who work for small newspapers. The burden of supporting Bush's lies that got us into Iraq should on the consciences of the Big Newspaper reporters and colunists..who supported Bush's lies because their reputations and payola would be cut off if they didn't. Those are the ones (i.e. Judith Miller and her clones) who drumbeat WMD at every turn supporting every lie out of the PNAC and BFEE's mouth.
They are the one's who should see thousands of dead, maimed soldiers and innocents when they look in the mirror. And, that they still fail to see what they've done shows what evil never recognizes itself.

:-(

[truth2power]

16. Yeah, what I thought, too. We were betrayed

by this administration. I was in DC early in 2003, protesting this war, along with millions of others around the world. I, and countless others, knew it was a lie from the beginning.

But what about those who trusted our "leader" to tell the truth? He took their loved ones from them for a LIE! Their pain must be unbearable.

GEORGE BUSH BETRAYED OUR TRUST! He should be impeached and then "rendered" to the Hague to be tried for war crimes!!

[rateyes]

17. self-delete

[savemefromdumbya]

20. The Downing Street Memo is real

I guess Bush never thought the Brits would let him down on this one? It's interesting to see how the grass roots are pushing mainstream media. Scott McClennan thinks the Downing St Memo is history, well so was Watergate! If there was a Democratic congress Bush would be impeached by now. Maybe if our Democratic representatives have time they could have Congress actually discuss the Downing St Memo properly - not tucked away in some little room? They owe this to the families of the fallen and to the thousands of injured soldiers (including of course the many thousands of innocent Iraqis).

[tea4me]

21. George Bush,

do you think that you can just keep on killing our children, do you you think that the blood they have shed is not our blood to and do you really think that you will never be called to task for the great lie you have smeared in our face? These broken hearts will go on, one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. The voices that could not speak are starting the whisper of revolution and my friend, it will not be long until we are throwing the tea in the harbor. :patriot:

[Radio_Lady]

36. Tea4me, this is eloquent and I admire you for having written it.

The pain and anguish for me is only second hand -- I have no relatives, children or grandchildren in the military, although one grandson will be 17 in 2006. The whisper of which you speak should turn into a shout as soon as possible -- we lived in Boston for 30 years and understand about the oppression of which you speak.

Thanks again -- you are a patriot.

"Support our troops -- bring them home in ONE PEACE"

[EST]

37. And the message from Bush, without doubt,

should he deign to reply, would resemble something like, "nanny nanny boo boo, watch gonna do about it?"

Well...just what the hell are we going to do about it? Yes, I know, there are very many of us who are working very hard - and accomplishing a great deal. The rank and file (and I use that term with caution) of concerned and newly awakening responsible minded people are each doing what works for them to bring about change in the direction of this country and the world. What more can be done?
I am hopeful at the anger that is percolating throughout the party of reason, however, until the anger gets to the genuine levels, not, perhaps quite to the level of violent uprising, but right next door to it, very little will come from that.
One of the things I am quite sure of is that each of us, no matter what our current level of participation, can manage to do one more tiny thing. One more item on the schedule, if chosen wisely, can be done.

My personal thanks to all of you for your participation in this grand operation to save the world, one piece at a time. Thank you.

[NJCher]

22. always wondered

I've always wondered how families who have suffered such a loss come to terms with it. Thanks to this post, I now have an idea.

As for bush, my opinion is that he is a sociopath. Such people do not feel like the rest of us, nor do they have a conscience. There is a difference in the way their brains are wired. See the work of Dr. Robert Hare.

This is so terribly, terribly sad.


Cher

[the phantom shouting]

23. Message Posted to Wizbangblog

Fantastic posts, everyone. I have learned a lot from reading the discussion here. And, please, let it be known that I am not a democrat, and as a matter of fact, truly abhor the spineless mess of useless bodies that that party has become. In addition, as I'm sure a few of you have noticed, I am not a republican. I do, however, have a lot of respect for the republican party, and the notions of individual responsibility and freedom that they represent. My father was a republican and, I believe, a very good man, so I grew up understanding quite a bit about the principles and goals that the republican party has traditionally attempted to bring to the table in U.S. government.

For this reason, I am saddened and ashamed at what the Bush crew has done to the image of the republican party. They have perverted the core beliefs that the republicans have always stood for. Any one of you who defend these jokers and still call yourselves proud republicans are misguided at best and truly evil at worst. Pre-emptive strikes against non-threatening nations, legalized torture, detention without representation, the largest deficit in U.S. history (still growing every day), a government with the power to get it's grubby fingers into your business whenever it deems such an action necessary via the 'Patriot Act', and a president who raves about his love of Christ while supporting the death penalty and bombing the hell out of 100,000 innocent Iraqis.

Let's be clear here. There’s no question Saddam was a nasty guy, but at the time he was attacked, he was allowing the U.N. inspectors to do their jobs. He was permitting extremely intrusive inspections without complaint and, we now know, he was not lying when he said his weapons had been destroyed. In short, he complied with the U.N. resolutions and ended up getting pulverized anyway.

This is wrong friends. Not a good way to spread democracy. The same way that the Guantanamo facility is not the best image of freedom and liberty.

Truly, I weep for this nation if the Bush crew is allowed to continue down the path they're taking. But I trust that, via the Downing Street memo and others like it, the people of this great nation will wake up and take action. One can dream anyway.

Please read the list of republican party principles below and marvel at how few of them apply to the current administration:

I am a Republican because:

I believe the strength of our nation lies with the individual and that each person's dignity, freedom, ability and responsibility must be honored.

I believe in equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability.

I believe that free enterprise and the encouragement of individual initiative have brought this nation opportunity, economic growth and prosperity.

I believe government must practice fiscal responsibility and allow individuals to keep more of the money they earn.

I believe the proper role of government is to provide for the people only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations and that the best government is that which governs least.

I believe the most effective, responsible and responsive government is government closest to the people.

I believe Americans must retain the principles that have made us strong while developing new and innovative ideas to meet the challenges of changing times.

I believe Americans value and should preserve our national strength and pride while working to extend peace, freedom and human rights throughout the world.

Finally, I believe the Republican Party is the best vehicle for translating these ideals into positive and successful principles of government.


Depressing, no? Once again, this is an excellent blog. Keep up the great work!

[freebrew]

24. It was mostly the republicans

that pushed for this war. It was mostly republicans that impeached an otherwise honest ELECTED president. It was mostly republicans that supported Diebold, ES&S, voter fraud, voter intimidation, etc.
republicans hate unions and workers rights and value the corporations over the people.

Why on earth would any REAL American be proud of being one?

[montana_hazeleyes]

29. That needed to be said, freebrew

thanks

[savemefromdumbya]

32. were you in Vietnam?

Vietnam! remember? same thing?

[lonestarnot]

27. As they very well should!

[Joey Liberal]

30. I live in a red state where nobody cares about the DSM

I need to move.

[savemefromdumbya]

31. They wouldn't understand

what you need to do is to get some literature out to the public telling them what exactly went on with the DSM. If Democrats started to work the red states we might get somewhere - no use fleeing when you could DO something!

[Joey Liberal]

34. Your point is well taken, but..........

These people are true morons. They defend every single thing Bush has done. They think Democrats are evil. They go to church and listen to sermons that praise Bush. They all drive around with W stickers on their cars. They don't know much of anything about the Downing Street Memo, and they do not care. Every day, James Dosbon is on the local news, spouting his bullshit. It's a fucking nightmare.

[Geo55]

33. No one can feel more betrayed

than these folks....may they have peace at some time in the future.
It never completely goes away.