Posted on 06/16/2004 11:06:01 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -
President Bush (news - web sites) gave a pep talk on Wednesday to U.S. forces in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), claiming steady progress toward democracy in both countries despite a surge in violence in Iraq.
"The future of a free Iraq is now coming into view," Bush told several thousand troops in a giant hangar at this waterfront Tampa, Fla., air base that is home to the U.S. Central Command. "A democratic free Iraq is on the way."
His remarks were beamed to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by a satellite hookup, and Bush said he understood the hardships of prolonged tours of duty that have strained morale among some soldiers.
"You've missed your families; your families miss you," he said. "Some of you have lost comrades, good men and women you will never forget, and America will never forget them either."
Bush said attacks by insurgents won't deter U.S. plans to transfer governing authority in two weeks to Iraq's new interim government.
Even as he was visiting the base, the U.S. military in Baghdad announced that a rocket attack on an American base had killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded 23.
Bush attributed the rash of attacks to desperation tactics by militants and those still loyal to Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). "We can expect more attacks in the coming few weeks, more car bombs, more suiciders, more attempts on the lives of Iraqi officials," he said.
The president also made it clear that U.S. troops will remain in Iraq and Afghanistan for some time to come. "We have come not to conquer, but to liberate people and we will stand with them until their freedom is secure," he said.
Bush last spoke at MacDill on March 26, 2003, when the war was just six days old and the U.S. death toll stood at two dozen. More than 830 U.S. troops have now died in Iraq.
In that 2003 speech, Bush asserted that the United States was "treating Iraqi prisoners of war according the highest standards of law and decency." The statement drew little notice at the time — but now stands out in light of images seen around the world of U.S. troops abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Bush also got a closed-door military briefing and met privately with relatives of 10 soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the families gave the president pictures of their loved ones, said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Bush is midway through a week of travel to four key battleground states in the presidential election campaign: Florida, Missouri, Washington and Nevada. Florida, where the 2000 race was decided, offers the winner 27 electoral votes.
A key political factor in the 2000 Florida vote was the number of absentee votes cast by members of the military. It could be even more important this year, with far more military men and women deployed overseas. Overall, military members tend to vote mostly Republican.
In his hangar speech, Bush told troops halfway around the world: "By helping the rise of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan and throughout the world, you are giving people an alternative to bitterness and hatred and that is essential to the peace of the world."
"You face hard duty. You've endured the heat of the Persian Gulf and the harsh winters of Central Asia," Bush said.
His pep talk came a day after disclosure of a poll commissioned last month by the outgoing Coalition Provisional Government showing that Iraqi support for the U.S. occupation had dropped sharply, with 92 percent of Iraqis considering the United States an occupying force and more than half believing all Americans behave like those shown in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse photos.
McClellan, Bush's press secretary, said the results were not surprising.
"The president has previously said on a number of occasions that no one wants to be occupied. We don't want to be occupiers," McClellan told reporters on Air Force One.
"That's why we're moving forward," McClellan said.
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) walks among workers and their families to a speech site at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, June 16, 2004. Bush spoke to thousands of servicemen and women at the base which was also transmitted live via satellite to U.S. troops in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), and later attended a briefing at Central Command Headquarters in Florida. REUTERS/Jason Reed
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) speaks at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, June 16, 2004. Bush spoke to thousands of servicemen and women at the base which was also transmitted live via satellite to U.S. troops in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), and also attended a briefing at Central Command Headquarters in Florida. REUTERS/Jason Reed
The title almost desesrves a barf alert I think
President Bush (news - web sites) greets military personnel at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, Wednesday, June 16, 2004. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Subtle but consistent.
Bttt.
Holding aloft up-turned chairs, Iraqis demonstrators demand that the mayor of Basra be thrown out of office, during a protest in the southern city of Basra, June 16, 2004. REUTERS/Atef Hassan
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) is introduced by Major General Lance Smith, Deputy Commander of Central Command, before the President made remarks at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, June 16, 2004. Bush spoke to thousands of servicemen and women at the base which was also transmitted live via satellite to U.S. troops in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), and later attended a briefing at Central Command Headquarters in Florida. REUTERS/Jason Reed
When President Bush says that we won't forget them, I don't think even he knows how true that is.
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