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Bush, Cheney, and their clandestine operation involving the U.S. military inside the homeland

The Washington Times has the exclusive scoop:

For much of the past seven years, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have waged a clandestine operation inside the White House. It has involved thousands of military personnel, private presidential letters and meetings that were kept off their public calendars or sometimes left the news media in the dark.

Their mission: to comfort the families of soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to lift the spirits of those wounded in the service of their country.

[...]

[T]he size and scope of Mr. Bush’s and Mr. Cheney’s private endeavors to meet with wounded soliders and families of the fallen far exceed anything that has been witnessed publicly, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials familiar with the effort.

“People say, ‘Why would you do that?’” the president said in an Oval Office interview with The Washington Times on Friday. “And the answer is: This is my duty. The president is commander in chief, but the president is often comforter in chief, as well. It is my duty to be – to try to comfort as best as I humanly can a loved one who is in anguish.”

Mr. Bush, for instance, has sent personal letters to the families of every one of the more than 4,000 troops who have died in the two wars, an enormous personal effort that consumed hours of his time and escaped public notice. The task, along with meeting family members of troops killed in action, has been so wrenching – balancing the anger, grief and pride of families coping with the loss symbolized by a flag-draped coffin – that the president often leaned on his wife, Laura, for emotional support.

“I lean on the Almighty and Laura,” Mr. Bush said in the interview. “She has been very reassuring, very calming.”

Mr. Bush also has met privately with more than 500 families of troops killed in action and with more than 950 wounded veterans, according to White House spokesman Carlton Carroll. Many of those meetings were outside the presence of the news media at the White House or at private sessions during official travel stops, officials said.

The first lady said those private visits, many of which she also attended, took a heavy emotional toll, not just on the president, but on her as well.

Sadly, this had to appear in TWT rather than the NYT, WaPo, etc. because it just doesn’t fit with the conventional wisdom that President Bush and his sidekick and puppet master, the Dark Lord Cheney, are uncaring, unfeeling, reckless leaders who view the military as a faceless group of pawns who serve (and die) at their whim-driven pleasure.

Further, the idea that a person would act in such a generous and caring fashion away from the cameras and PR spotlights simply doesn’t register to folks any more, I think.

At a time when cameras are rolling everywhere, and folks like the late Paul Newman are slapping a declaration of just how much money they’ve given to charities on the front of the products they’re selling, the idea that a person would go to any length to keep his or her charitable activities under wraps is counterintuitive to all our obsessive, paparazzi-esque mainstream media believes and stands for.

The difference in their treatment of subjects based on party affiliation is, of course, very real. Where Caroline Kennedy is somehow worthy of the U.S. Senate because she has raised money for various charities (and made sure that the newspapers and paparazzi know about it), had President Bush broadcast to the media his efforts to console the parents of wounded and killed troops, he would have been ridiculed as a publicity hound who was just putting on an act for the cameras. After all, Cindy Sheehan said President Bush wouldn’t meet with her to discuss her son Casey, KIA in Iraq (after, of course, he did meet with her, and she said the meeting went well, then changed her mind); therefore, the conventional wisdom that Bush is a hardhearted troop-hating megalomaniac must be true, as far as the media are concerned.

In reality, though, Bush has gone about his duty as Commander (and “Comforter”) in Chief with a quiet dignity, refusing to let media and cameras in to chronicle and publicize his efforts. Contrast this with incoming President Barack Obama, who refused to visit troops at Landstuhl, Germany when he was informed by the DOD that he couldn’t bring cameras, reporters, and campaign staff along with him to chronicle the visit for the public’s consumption.

Whatever problems and disagreements we all may have with President Bush (and I have more than my share, starting with ’04-’06 Iraq, ’07 Israel, ’07-’08 North Korea and Iran, TARP, immigration, NCLB, the Auto Bailout, and many, many more), there’s one fact which all who are not blinded by the most irrational form of Bush Derangement Syndrome can agree on: a very good man is leaving the White House in just under a month.

Whatever his media-driven successes as an orator and executive may be, Obama has a very high bar indeed to strive for in terms of simply being as good and caring a human being as the man he is replacing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We must all hope — even if we have grave doubts, as I do — that he is even remotely close to being up to that challenge.

COMMENTS

  • bobojake

    We will be forever grateful for your care and concern for taking care of this Great Nation which has been entrusted in your care the last 8 years. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. May your retirement be long and Happy. Thanks

  • Aaron Gardner

    Under his administration we have also seen the creation of the Wounded Warriors Project, which has helped returning wounded soldiers cope with the difficulties of re-integration into society. He hasn’t been the best conservative but as commander in chief I am not sure we could have asked for much better.

  • mbecker908

    from my son’s Btn. It was just a couple of months after this fine young Marine was KIA in Iraq and his mom received a call from the the WH. They invited her and the immediate family (which eventually included a couple of cousins) to come to a speech the President was making at an AFB near them. They accepted, they were told that the meeting would be private with only the President, his personal photographer and several families present. There would be no agenda and they were encouraged to talk to the President and ask him any questions they wanted to. On the day of the meeting, the family was picked up by a Marine Corps escort and flown to the AFB. They were present for the President’s speech although he made no reference to them. After the speech they were escorted into a private area with the other families, all together I remember there were 10 or 12 families and about 40 people total. The President’s staff person told them that Mr. Bush would have a few words to say to the group and then he wanted to meet each family individually and talk to them. They were told that he was running late and the time allotted for the session was about an hour so please make any comments and questions brief. The President showed up a couple of minutes later, talked to the group for no more than about two minutes and then went to each family. “Our” Marine Mom said he introduced himself to each individual, expressed his condolences and asked them if they had any questions or if there was anything he could do for them. She said no family was hurried in any way and they were amazed that he spent significant amounts of time with each family and talked to them until they were done talking. He was supposed to be in and out in an hour, he ended up spending almost four hours and when someone asked him about his schedule he said “This is more important that anything I have to do today.”

    It’s no secret that I don’t think much of GWB’s Presidency. But, and specifically because of his treatment of “our” Mom, I have an unending reservoir of respect for the man.

    • Mark Malcolm

      to the president (this one and others). There’s a reason men like Oliver North take the fall. The left has no concept of Honour, Duty, or Loyalty and what it means to service members and Marines in particular.

      Tell your son, thank you for his service and Sempre Fi from an old 0311 (okay, not that old).

      • mbecker908

        nt

        • Streiff

          is a Marine infantryman

          • mbecker908

            I know an 0311 is an infantryman. For some reason I managed equate his 0311 with what would come out to be 3rd Btn/11th Marines. Sheesh. Thanks for the really embarrassing correction.

    • http://jeffemanuel.net Jeff Emanuel

      …my feelings pretty accurately, as well.

    • Wayne

      my thoughts exactly. He also met with the family of a soldier from near us, among others, who was KIA, no time limit, and they talked for, what the family said was, forever. They came away with a feeling that he really got it, and they were grateful for his caring.
      Thank your son for his service. My son was in 3/4, now he’s in H&S Co, 2/3. And about to be promoted, after the first of the year, to master sergeant.

  • Joliphant

    Too often the idea is “If its not on television it didn’t happen”. The good work ceases to be the focus but being seen to be doing the work is all that matters. Its a wonderful thing to have leaders that refute this by example.

  • NC_Red_State

    Bush is bad. He caused Katrina, he caused the earthquake in China, and the tidal wave, and the recession and he hurt Tom Brady and he is the reason that Britney does not have her children….

    In reality, all of the negativity and blame that has been placed at Bush’s feet has been very well handled by a man that should be more appreciated for the job that he has done. I cannot understand the hatred for Bush nor can I stomach the blame game that never seems to hit the real culprit.

    His primary goal has been accomplished, we have been safe since 9/11….I am not confident that we will continue this streak after Jan.

    • From ME to You

      Bush is the reason that my beloved New England Patriots are without the Quarterback of the Millennium Tom Brady!!!!!

      Oh the horror….the humanity!

      Oh…he didn’t cause that….. never mind!!

      GO PATS!!!!!

      New England Patriots logo

  • NightTwister

    Like you, I question some of the policies that Bush has proposed and implemented. His greatest strengths have always been character and courage. You could always tell that he had a heart to help people, and this is more proof of that. I’m reminded of this,

    But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matt 6:6 (NIV)

    Anyone that sends troops into harm’s way should also be willing to see the consequences of that decision, so that it will only be used when all other possibilities have failed.

    • http://www.scottbomb.com scottbomb

      Matt.6
      [1] “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
      [2] “Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
      [3] But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
      [4] so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

      • Mark Malcolm

        nt

    • Wayne Stanley

      and do something nice for someone else. And dont’ tell anyone you did it.

      • JustLeaveMeAlone

        Verse 5: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward..*

        Let’s teach our kids that sometimes, a thing is worth doing simply because it’s the right thing to do, not because of who notices it.

        • Aaron Gardner

          aka doing the right thing even when no one is looking.

          • http://jeffemanuel.net Jeff Emanuel

            Especially when nobody is looking

          • Aaron Gardner
      • woodsman

        and buy their lunch or dinner. Pay for the food and tip and tell the server to tell them; Thank you…

        Not who did, just Thank you.

        • http://jeffemanuel.net Jeff Emanuel

          …paid.

    • http://jeffemanuel.net Jeff Emanuel

      One of my favorite quotations of all time is in that vein. It comes from Shakespeare’s Henry V, and was spoken by Michael Williams, a common soldier with whom King Henry, in disguise, is debating about the merits of war the night before the Battle of Agincourt:

      But if the cause be not good, the king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make; when all those legs and arms and heads, chopped off in a battle, shall join together at the latter day, and cry all, ?We died at such a place;? some swearing, some crying for a surgeon, some upon their wives left poor behind them, some upon the debts they owe, some upon their children rawly left.

      I am afeard there are few die well that die in a battle; for how can they charitably dispose of any thing when blood is their argument?

      Now, if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the king that led them to it, whom to disobey were against all proportion of subjection.

      I think that sums up very well the duty a leader takes upon himself when taking charge of lives that may well be lost due to his direct action and decisions. I think President Bush fully understands that responsibility, whatever cavalier attitude he may have painted on him by the press.

      I can only hope that the incoming president also possesses that full understanding.

  • akhardys

    bring honor and dignity back to the White House. I think he delivered. While I disagree with many of his domestic decisions, it?s been an honor and privilege to serve under him as Commander-in-Chief.

    Despite many rumblings about invading Iraq under false premises, I think history will vindicate his decision based on the circumstances and facts. Contemporaries accused Truman of vindictive motives for dropping A-bombs on Japan, but even Stephen Ambrose eventually thanked God for Truman?s decision.

    I don?t think GWB will have any trouble looking himself in the mirror or sleeping at night for failure to do all that he could to defend the Constitution against foreign enemies.

  • Marcus_Traianus

    As usual, we have the always inattentive MSM sucking their thumbs and creating surreal mendacity for a gullible public. They have opined gratuitously about so-called bad conditions at GITMO, “secret” renditions and printed front page stories about how Bush “neglected” veterans. Meanwhile, this all happens and nobody knows about it? Sure. For those who bought this propoganda “hook, line and sinker” you should be ashamed of your stupidity.

    Almost anyone that knows a veteran or active military person has been aware Bush-Cheney were doing this, to the point of exhaustion, for years.

  • olsmithie

    when you see them out in uniform.

    Well said, Jeff.

    Regards

  • deepredpatriot

    Obama won’t do this. His supporters smile whenever our troops die, since it gives the media an excuse to talk about the war. He will be under pressure not to be too nice to them.

    • bs

      That’s over-the-top and unnecessary. Please stop.

      • George Claghorn

        That comment was extremely uncalled for, deepredpatriot.

    • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

      And the moby has been banned.

      Blam.

  • smagar

    My disgust with them knows no depths

    • deepredpatriot

      they think the troops are a bunch of baby killing rednecks. None of the MSM serve or have kids who do.