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Posted on 03/04/2002 1:47:10 PM PST by ATOMIC_PUNK
Bush: U.S. Will Defend Itself 'At Any Price'
— By Arshad Mohammed
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - President Bush on Monday mourned the deaths of U.S. soldiers in the Afghan war but said the United States would defend itself "at any price."
Al Qaeda and Taliban forces shot down a large U.S. Army helicopter on Monday, killing seven U.S. soldiers, while an eighth died when he was apparently shot or fell from a second helicopter during a big offensive against al Qaeda and Taliban forces dug in high in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
"This nation will defend ourselves and freedom at any price," Bush told students at Eden Prairie High School during a one-day visit to Minnesota. "It is too precious a gift for future generations to give up to terrorists."
Bush launched his war on terrorism in Afghanistan five months ago, toppling the Taliban regime that harbored Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, which the United States blames for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Aides said Bush was keeping close tabs on the action in Afghanistan, where U.S. and Afghan forces as well as soldiers from Western allies Australia, Denmark, France and Germany were attacking a pocket of regrouped al Qaeda and Taliban forces.
"There is some serious combat as I speak," Bush told the students. "I want to assure the students who are here and the loved ones of those military (who died) -- defending freedom is a noble cause and it is a just cause."
He added: "People say, well how long is this going to last? And the answer is, for however long it takes to make sure America is secure. People say, well the hard part is over with, and my answer is no it's not -- we're just beginning."
Speaking earlier to reporters, Bush said he was saddened by the deaths of the U.S. soldiers but determined to fight on. Speaking of bin Laden, he said: "He's on the run, if he's running at all."
"Any time somebody loses their life, the American people will mourn and are sad -- and I feel that way too," Bush said. "On the other hand, I am just as determined now as I was a week ago or three months ago to fulfill this mission and that is to make sure our country is safe."
Citing fierce resistance from al Qaeda and Taliban forces, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld earlier said a U.S. special forces MH-47 "Chinook" helicopter was downed by ground fire near Gardez in the icy mountains of eastern Afghanistan.
The eighth American soldier died when he apparently was shot or fell from a second helicopter that was under fire, Rumsfeld and Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news briefing.
After visiting the school, where he talked up his plans to improve teacher training, Bush was to speak at a fund-raising event to collect about $2 million for his fellow Republicans, including Norm Coleman, who hopes to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone in November's congressional elections. fend Itself 'At Any Price'
Translation=Bush hits Dacshle right between the eyes in one clean shot.
Oh well...
MN is an ultra-left wing state --- however, this leftist philosophy is really just confined to the major metro areas. I was born and raised in Mpls years ago, when it was actually a pretty good place to live. We now have moved away from the metro area to outstate MN, the main reason for a better place to raise the kids.
Eden Prairie is in the middle of liberalville, but the rest of MN (outside of the range) is quite conservative.
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe (little did JFK know he would be speaking of his own brother!) to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
I simply am fed up with this nonsense.
One freeper's opinion.
--Boris
Wow ! Good catch I missed that. That is an outrageous but not unexpected bit of editorializing on American Broadcasting's (ABC's) part.
Should we Freep them ?
Well then, there's no need for me to donate again. After the last freepathon, I'm paid up for the next 25 years using your formula.
Thanks.
That ought to cause yet another bad case of Euro panty-bunching.
Well, maybe, but I'd say MA is way out front on that. MN is more of populist state. In fact the Democratic Party there is called the Democrat Farm Labor Party, harking to it's roots. They are liberal, but not nearly so statist as many other places. Hubert Humphrey was from there, and he once said:
"Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. This is not to say that firearms should not be very carefully used, and that definite safety rules of precaution should not be taught and enforced. But the right of citizens to bear arms is just one more guarantee against arbitrary government, and one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible." Sen. Hubert Humphrey, Know Your Lawmakers, Guns Magazine, Page 4, Feb. 1960.
So those Democrat Farm Labor types aren't ALL bad.
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