Dishonoring America's Veterans, * AWOL from Arlington Ceremony

[paineinthearse]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

"The President will commemorate Veterans Day by honoring our veterans in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on Friday, November 11, 2005...." Yesterday, the AP reported * would be at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Monroe County, PA. Confirmed by article below. CSPAN1 is covering the national services at the Arlington National Cemetery & Vietnam Vets' Memorial. CSPAN2 is re-broadcasting Rep. Pete Hoekstra's 11/9 leak press conference and other non-veteran events. CSPAN3 is broadcasting veterans' oral histories.

Why is * not at either the Vietnam Vets' Memorial or the Arlington National Cemetery ceremonies, are they too close to the graves of some of the 2100 US service-people killed in the war on Iraq? Why is there no CSPAN coverage of the pResident at the Tobyhanna Army Depot? (I heard radio story this morning (based on an AP-written story) that *'s topic at Tobyhanna Army Depot was to be justification to going to war in Iraq.

http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:8080/cspan/fullschedule.csp?timeid=211998433012

CSPAN

10:50 AM EST
1:10 (est.) LIVE
Ceremony
Veterans Day Observance
Arlington National Cemetery
Richard Cheney , United States
Guy C. Swan III, U.S. Army
The beginning and end of this live program may be earlier or later than the scheduled times.

12:50 PM EST
0:40 (est.) LIVE
Ceremony
Vietnam Memorial Veterans Day Observance
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
Jan C. Scruggs , Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
Peter M. Dawkins , U.S. Army
The beginning and end of this live program may be earlier or later than the scheduled times.

CSPAN2

12:01 PM EST
1:16 (est.)
Forum
Promoting the Rule of Law
American Bar Association
Nita Lowey , D-NY
Carl Gershman , National Endowment for Democracy

01:20 PM EST
0:04 (est.)
Interview
Political News Review
C-SPAN, Washington Journal
Chuck Todd , Hotline, The

01:26 PM EST
0:30 (est.)
Congressional News Conference
Intelligence Committee Investigations
U.S. Capitol
Peter Hoekstra , R-MI

CSPAN3

12:12 PM EST
1:18 (est.)
Interview
Veterans Oral History
Library of Congress, Veterans History Project
Sam M. Gibbons , D-FL

01:31 PM EST
0:41 (est.)
Interview
Veterans Oral History
Library of Congress, Veterans History Project

02:14 PM EST
0:57 (est.)
Interview
Veterans Oral History
Library of Congress, Veterans History Project
Max Cleland , D-GA

http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15520936&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6

Bush will observe Veterans Day at Tobyhanna Army Depot
By:Borys Krawczeniuk

President George W. Bush will celebrate Veterans Day at the Tobyhanna Army Depot.

White House spokesman Allen Arbey said Bush would visit the region Friday to talk about the war on terrorism and pay tribute to veterans.
Arbey declined to confirm Bush will visit Tobyhanna, but two Republican sources and U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, said the electronics maintenance depot is Bush's destination. Kanjorski, whose district includes the depot, said Bush currently is scheduled to speak between noon and 1 p.m. The event is not likely to be open to the general public, he said.

The visit will give Bush an opportunity to appear in front of thousands of employees and invited guests at the region's largest employer. The depot is expected to add 600 employees by this time next year, putting its total employment at about 4,900, at least partly because it gained jobs in the latest round of base closings.
The president's visit comes at a time his national job approval rating in polls is sagging as the war in Iraq continues.

"He's looking at that as something he has to talk about," said Kanjorski, who added that he's been invited to fly to the region from Washington with the president. The congressman said he doesn't think the visit carries any political overtones connected to the U.S. Senate race next year. "No, I think it's more to stabilize what's happening at least somewhat," Kanjorski said. Incumbent Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn Hills, faces a tough re-election battle, probably against Democratic state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr. of Scranton.

This will be Bush's fifth visit to the region as president. He visited Scranton in January 2003 to talk about medical malpractice insurance reform. He made campaign stops last year the day after the Republican National Convention at Lackawanna County Stadium in Moosic and later at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre and the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township.

Bush Forcefully Attacks Iraq Critics
Norman Transcript, OK - 9 minutes ago

http://www.normantranscript.com/feeds/apcontent/apstories/apstorysection/D8DQE3BO0.xml.txt/resources_apstoryview

Bush Forcefully Attacks Iraq Critics

By DEB RIECHMANN
The Associated Press

TOBYHANNA, Pa. —

President Bush, in the most forceful defense yet of his Iraq war policy, accused critics Friday of trying to rewrite history and charged that they're undercutting America's forces on the front lines. "The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges," the president said in his combative Veterans Day speech. "While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began," the president said. Bush's combative defense of his policy came at a time of growing doubts and criticism about a war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,050 members of the U.S. military. As casualties have climbed, Bush's popularity has dropped. His approval rating now is at 37 percent in the latest AP-Ipsos poll, an all time low point of his presidency.

<snip>

The president spoke at the Tobyhanna Army Depot on a stage decorated with posters that said "Strategy for Victory." His appearance came as his primary justification for the 2003 invasion _ that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction _ has come under fresh attack on Capitol Hill. Democrats have seized on the indictment of a now-resigned senior White House aide in the CIA leak case to shine the spotlight on how the president and other officials used intelligence about Iraq in the weeks and months leading up to the war.

<snip>

"Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and mislead the American people about why we went to war," Bush said. He said those critics have made those allegations although they know that a Senate investigation "found no evidence" of political pressure to change the intelligence community's assessments related to Saddam's weapons program. Bush also said they know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions citing Saddam's development and possession of weapons of mass destruction.

"More than 100 Democrats in the House and the Senate who had access to the same intelligence voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power," he said. Bush did not single out any critics by name but said many of them had supported Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., his rival for the White House in last year's presidential elections. The president said the criticism has taken a toll on U.S. forces. "These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will," Bush said. "As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them," the president said. "Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. And our troops deserve to know that, whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united and we will settle for nothing less than victory." "We will never back down. We will never give in. We will never accept anything less than complete victory," Bush declared.

Bush said the United States and its allies are determined to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of extremists and prevent them from gaining control of any country. Bush singled out Syria for particular criticism, saying its government had taken "two disturbing steps" in recent days. He cited the arrest of Syria pro-democracy activist Kamal Labwani and a "strident speech" by President Bashar Assad. In that speech, Assad said his government would cooperate with a U.N. investigation that implicated Syrian officials in the killing of a Lebanese leader, but warned he would no longer "play their game" if Syria "is going to be harmed." Bush said Syria "must stop exporting violence and start importing democracy."

more.....

[Roland99]

1. The Propagandist holds true to form. Denigrates America on Veterans' Day.

http://www.conjur.com/blog/2005/11/11/the-propagandist-holds-true-to-form-denigrates-america-on-veterans-day/

You know, it was right around this time of year in 2003 when I began to question the president and the invasion of Iraq. I was a lifelong Republican (but did vote for Clinton in 1992) and was even in support of invading Iraq (I hang my head in shame now for doing so).

BUT, what got me thinking was that I started noticing in late 2003 that * was consistently defending his reasons for going to war. I though, "hmm...if there's nothing to critics' claims, why give the critics a voice and respond to them?" So, I started doing some research. That's when I came upon the writings of Hersh and found out about the PNAC. Then I learned of Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski and the OSP. Then I realized this administration paid (to the tune of >$300,000/mo) for manufactured evidence from Chalabi and the INC in order to justify the invasion of Iraq.

All we heard prior to March 2003 was WMD! WMD! WMD! WMD!

That was the reason given to justify invading Iraq in that possession of WMDs placed Saddam in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions and violated the cease-fire agreements thereby justifying an invasion.

Well, almost 3 years later and the only "WMDs" found were those behind IAEA seals and a couple dozen of empty shells that were capable of containing chemical weapons.

So, today, in 2005 (two years after * had already been solidly in defense mode), the Propagandist gets up in front of brave and valiant veterans on this Veterans' Day and spews some of the most disgusting and insulting crap that did nothing but dishonor our brave men and women in uniform. He had the gall to say that it was irresponsible to "rewrite the history" about going to war in Iraq. Holy cow! That's exactly what this administration has done from day one! When John Dean, Nixon's presidential counsel and convicted in the Watergate scandal, says that this administration is worse than Watergate, it's time to take note!

The Propagandist is now trying to say, as the new GOP talking points direct, that everyone, including the Democrats, thought Saddam had WMDs and everyone had the same intelligence. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a bald-faced lie as we have seen the evidence trickle out over the last 2 1/2 years. We know this administration concocted the potion used to hypnotize the Senate in the post-9/11 fear-mongering world of politics and scared them into voting to give authorization, if necessary, to invade Iraq.

Everyone did NOT have the same intelligence. The Senate was given a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that was completely devoid of wording that expressed doubts about the claims or showed that some equipment had dual-use capability and, therefore, was not a positive sign of WMDs.

What we saw and heard today in the Propagandist's speech was an affront to all things for which this great nation stands. It's a travesty and a mockery of our republic and insults the concept of democracy.

My heart breaks to see true Americans, like the man I saw jogging along the road just now as I came back to work from lunch. This man was holding a very large American flag (looked like he had a support brace as I'm sure it was heavy) and jogging along the road, I guess in support of Veterans' Day. That man is a patriot and loves his country for what it is supposed to represent. Our current government is trashing the name and reputation of this great nation.

It's time to take America back from the criminals that have corrupted her in the name of the almighty dollar.

[DeepModem Mom]

2. I wonder if this is a first - a President not visiting there on Vets Day?

As I remember, they always bring a wreath of flowers? If so, more shame on Bush for making a political speech before a captive audience of soldiers, instead of honoring our dead.

[paineinthearse]

3. Arlington National Cemetary Information

Excellent question. Ask the caretakers / historians at http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/contact_us.html

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Looks like the President often speaks, but not always --

Clinton spoke eight times, each year of his Presidency.

http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/speakers.htm

[LittleClarkie]

5. This guy would have been there

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. ..

:cry: And he would not have given a political speech. He also wouldn't have cut veterans benefits or shut them of out veterans' hearings on the Hill. ** is scum! Not worthy of the title "Commander in Chief"!

[LittleClarkie]

9. I know, my friend, he has been a veteran

and so he would know how to honor them. NO CHICKENHAWKS!

[hippiegranny]

6. sounds like the speech was pretty short on

Veteran's Day commemoration, and extremely long on trying to salvage the Titanic.

[paineinthearse]

7. Question - at today's WH press briefing, did anyone ask Scottie why

* skipped Arlington for another stop of the dog and pony show at Tobyhanna Army Depot?

[upi402]

10. lapdog and stable-pony show = WH presscorpse

Posers or journalist... I'd have to go with posers.