Bush on back foot over US casualties in Iraq

By Mark Coultan Herald Correspondent in New York
August 24, 2005

Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq, has done what others have failed to do. She has forced President George Bush to directly talk about the number of US casualties in the war.

Breaking his holiday at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Mr Bush travelled to Utah to address a meeting of veterans from previous wars to try to turn the Sheehan argument on its head.

He said that to withdraw from Iraq would not honour those Americans who had died there. In a departure from previous war speeches he mentioned the number of casualties the US has suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he continued his strategy of linking the attacks of September 11, 2001, with the Iraq conflict, and insisting that the war there was vital to ensuring security at home.

"A policy of retreat and isolation will not bring us safety," Mr Bush said. "The only way to defend our citizens where we live is to go after the terrorists where they live.

"Since the morning of September the 11th we have known that the war on terror would require great sacrifice as well.

We owe them something. We will finish the task that they gave their lives for. We will honour their sacrifice by staying on the offensive against the terrorists, and building strong allies in Afghanistan and Iraq that will help us win and fight - fight and win the war on terror."

Since the war began the Bush Administration had tried to avoid highlighting casualties, going to great lengths to stop people seeing photographs of bodies being returned to the US. Although Mr Bush has met the families of many war victims, he has not been photographed at military funerals, unlike previous presidents.

The protest outside Mr Bush's ranch has become a rallying point for anti-war protests that the White House has unsuccessfully ignored. The President has refused to meet Ms Sheehan. Instead he has concentrated on selective public relations events, such as inviting reporters to cycle with him around his property and even asking the Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, along.

But with the US on holiday and news slow, Ms Sheehan has been dominating the media. Even when she left Crawford to be with her sick mother, the protest has shown no sign of ending, attracting Joan Baez, that veteran of another anti-war age, for a concert at the demonstrators' camp.

The Sheehan movement, Gold Star Families for Peace, appears to have broken the psychological barrier against war protests. But although opposition is growing, it has not so far included the public protest marches of the Vietnam War. Support for the troops, as opposed to the Administration, remains extremely high.

Ms Sheehan now threatens to shadow Mr Bush around the country. An advertisement featuring her aired in Utah before his visit, and Gold Star Families for Peace is planning a large march in Washington next month.

■ Reuters reports: Al-Qaeda in Iraq said yesterday on the internet that it was behind a failed rocket attack on US Navy ships in the Jordanian port of Aqaba.

Link Here