Posted on 02/17/2004 4:38:56 PM PST by Indy Pendance
WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush rallied and broke bread Tuesday in Louisiana with troops heading to Iraq, praising their sacrifice and vowing a relentless pursuit of terrorists until the threat to the country was eliminated.
"The American people appreciate this sacrifice, and our government owes you more than gratitude," he said to cheering soldiers at Fort Polk.
"We do not take freedom for granted in America," he continued. "And we do not take for granted the courage of those who face danger and do the fighting."
Fort Polk is home to the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center. About 4,000 members of the post's 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment are currently serving in Iraq. As many as 10,000 more troops from other units who have served in Iraq have passed through its gates.
Members of Arkansas' 39th Brigade Combat Team, a National Guard Unit, are the latest to arrive and are undergoing training at a facility called Shugart-Gordon, which includes a mock town and role-playing civilians to prepare soldiers for urban combat.
The facility was named for two soldiers -- Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon -- who were killed in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu and were posthumously awarded Medals of Honor.
"The struggle began on a September morning when terrorists murdered thousands of our citizens," Bush said. "We saw the violence and grief that the terrorists intended for us. And on behalf of this nation I made a pledge: Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done."
If Bush, under Democratic and media attack over allegations he may have shirked his duties while serving in the Air National Guard, sought a morale boost from the troops, he got it.
"Hoo-rah," the Army expression of affirmation and appreciation resounded repeatedly during his speech.
Bush, the nation's commander in chief, was visiting his troops.
More than 530 Americans have been killed in Iraq since last March. Most have fallen victim to sickness, accident and homicide since the fall of Baghdad.
Saddam loyalists and local and foreign terrorists are bent on disrupting the U.S. occupation and its plans for establishing sovereignty.
Three more Americans, two soldiers and one civilian, were added to the death toll Monday.
Bush Tuesday spoke about the continuing terror in Iraq, which he called the central front in the terrorism war.
"The terrorists know that the emergence of a free Iraq will be a major blow against the worldwide terrorist movement," he said. "And in this, they are correct."
Democrats and other critics have criticized Bush over faulty intelligence on Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction, which was a prime justification for the conflict.
Bush, who recently conceded the reports might have been wrong, has been accused by some of outright lying or misrepresenting the facts to topple Saddam Hussein.
"My administration looked at the intelligence information and we saw a danger," he said Tuesday. "Members of Congress looked at the same intelligence and they saw a danger. The United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence and it saw a danger.
"We reached a reasonable conclusion that Saddam Hussein was a danger," he said. "We remembered his history."
Bush laid out the successes in the war against terrorism, including the toppling of the Taliban in Afghanistan and its emerging democracy, the capture of many terrorist leaders and the removal of the Saddam regime.
As president, he said, "I have a duty to protect the American people. And my resolve is the same today as it was on the morning of September the 12th, 2001."
The White House last week released hundreds of pages of documents detailing Bush's service in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe had accused Bush of being AWOL -- absent without leave -- during a period in the early '70s when Bush transferred temporarily to an Alabama unit from Texas while working on a family friend's Senate campaign.
Earlier documents showed Bush was paid for service during that period and had undergone a dental examination in Alabama, but there were no documents detailing his specific service duties.
Bush argues and military records released by the White House indicate that he satisfactorily completed his duties, was paid for them and was honorably discharged, but the skepticism has not evaporated.
The Democratic front-runner in party primaries to choose Bush's opponent for November is Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who never misses a chance to highlight the fact that he served combat duty in Vietnam.
Bush's visit with National Guard troops is bound to turn up the burner on the issue of his military service, but the sight of thousands of cheering troops won't hurt him either.
Bush had lunch with some of the departing soldiers in a tent in a field still muddy from the previous day's rain.
Food was MREs, or meals ready to eat, normal combat fare.
White at Fort Polk, Bush also visited privately with families of troops who were killed in Iraq.
"Here in the Fort Polk community, you have sent brave men and women to confront this evil (terrorism), and you have said farewell to some of your best," Bush said.
He specifically cited the case of Army Pfc. Rey David Cuervo, one of several non-U.S. citizens killed while in U.S. military service.
"At my direction, each of them has been posthumously granted a title to which they brought great honor: citizen of the United States," Bush said.
Later, he added: "May God comfort the families of the lost. And may he keep this nation always grateful for their sacrifice."
Well I'll be darned! UPI must be on Bush's payroll or something! < / sarcasm >
It's about time they start putting that little bit of truth in their reporting!!
BTW Indy - how are your sons??
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