Open Letter to George Bush

Cindy Sheehan posted an open letter to George Bush on Daily Kos My family is spending our 2nd Thanksgiving without Casey thanks to you and your lies.

When did Bush lie? Was Bush telling a lie when he said "He'll (Saddam Hussein) use those weapons of mass destruction again as he has 10 times since 1983"? Oh wait, that was said by Sandy Berger (Feb 18, 1998). Was Bush telling a lie when he said "Saddam has chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."? Oh wait, that was said by Madeleine Albright (Nov 10, 1999). Was Bush telling a lie when he said "Iraq's search for WMDs has proven impossible to deter... it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power"? Oh wait, that was said by Al Gore (Sept 23, 2002). Was Bush telling a lie when he said "We know that he (Saddam) has stored nuclear supplies, secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons"? Oh wait, that was said by Al Gore (Sept 23, 2002). Was Bush telling a lie when he said "Saddam Hussein has engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology, which is a threat to countries in the region, and he has made a mo ckery of the weapons inspection process"? Oh wait, that was said by Nancy Pelosi (Dec 16, 1998). Was Bush telling a lie when he said "If Saddam rejects peace, and we have to use force, or purpose is clear: We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program"? Oh wait, that was said by Bill Clinton (Feb 17, 1998). Was Bush telling a lie when he said "We must stop Saddam from ever again jeopardizing the stability and security of his neighbors with WMDs"? Oh wait, that was said by Madeleine Albright (Feb 1, 1998). (Thanks to Joe Baumgartner, Broken Arrow, for the above quotes, printed in the Tulsa World Nov 23, 2005.)

I am spending the day crying on a plane on my way to come to Crawford to again ask you for a meeting

You have already had a meeting with the President. Are you so brain damaged that you don't remember it, or do you think that you are entitled to a second one, when many of the other families have not yet had a first meeting with the President.

..... I don't know why you like Crawford so much,

Maybe it is because it is HOME.

but I love it because of the Camp Casey Peace Community that arose during August this year when you wouldn't meet with me..... Since August, when I wanted to ask you the question: For what noble cause did you kill Casey and the others, over 200 more of our brave young men and women have been killed in the charade of Iraq

I believe the number is over 2000, but President Bush did not kill any of them. There were 405399 American casualties in World War II. Did people blame President Roosevelt for killing them? People compare Iraq with Vietnam. 58,226 were killed in action or classified as missing in action in Vietnam; that is a LOT more than 2,000, and we abandoned the South Vietnamese to domination by the North. They did not have an election to elect an interim government, have another vote to approve a constitution, and they are not about to have another election to elect a government with 4 year terms.

.... Also, since August we have discovered that American forces are using chemical weapons in Iraq. The Army admitted that white phosphorous was used as an offensive weapon against "enemy combatants."

According to this news item in a Pakastan newspaper "White phosphorus is a conventional munition. It is not a chemical weapon. They are not outlawed or illegal,” Lt-Col Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, told the BBC in an interview. “We use them primarily as obscurants, for smokescreens or target marking in some cases. However, it is an incendiary weapon and may be used against enemy combatants."... Robert Tuttle, US ambassador to Britain, wrote in a letter published by The Independent newspaper on Tuesday that “US forces do not use napalm or white phosphorus as weapons”. But Venable said white phosphorous was useful to shift insurgents from positions that could not be targeted by normal artillery. “It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants,” he told the BBC. “When you have enemy forces that are in covered positions that your high explosive artillery rounds are not having an impact on one technique is to fire a white phosphorus round into the position,” he said. “The combined effects of the fire and smoke - and in some case the terror brought about by the explosion on the ground - will drive them out of the holes so that you can kill them with high explosives.”

Oh really, George, since when did a weapon fired from a distance distinguish between enemies and innocents?.... By the way, George, isn't the use of chemical weapons prohibited? Don't you always say that "Saddam is a bad man" for using chemical weapons on his own people? So is it okay for you to use chemical weapons in Iraq because the citizens of Iraq are not "your people?"

Saddam used them on Iran as well, but in both cases to kill people, not to make smoke to drive people out of holes.

.... George, for the sake of the Iraqi people, don't you think it is time to bring our military forces home from Iraq?

And abandon them to a Taliban style government the insurgents want? We are staying for the sake of the Iraqi people who are on the verge of democracy, where they will select their own government.

.... George, also for the sake of our wonderful, brave, and very young people who proudly wear the uniform of the USA: it is time to bring them home. They have done everything you have asked of them. They have also done things that make at least one quarter of them very sick in their hearts and souls....

All I have heard the soldiers say is that they believe they are doing very good things for the Iraqi people. If they felt as you say, then why are reinlistment numbers so high?