Bush, who has never been to a soldier's funeral, whose Pentagon won't allow pictures of their caskets and who only mentions losses when they are in double digits, that Bush grieves for every loss in Iraq. And he won't see Cindy Sheehan:
President George W. Bush said on Thursday he sympathized with a mother who lost a son in Iraq and has been leading a protest vigil near his ranch, but that he would not pull U.S. troops from Iraq now as she has demanded.What she wants to know, George, is why her son and the other soldiers were killed in Iraq. For what purpose, she wants to know. You can't answer that question without lying.
"I grieve for every death," Bush said as Cindy Sheehan remained camped out about five miles away. For six days she has been demanding Bush meet with her about her son, Casey Austin Sheehan, an Army specialist killed in combat in Baghdad in April 2004.
"It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel about the death that takes place," Bush said.
But, he added, "pulling the troops out would send a terrible signal to the enemy."
White House officials said Bush had no plans to meet with Sheehan, saying he met with her in June 2004. National security adviser Stephen Hadley and deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin met her on Saturday, the day she started her vigil.
