Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday offered sympathy to the families of fallen soldiers who face 'irreplaceable' losses but insisted the Iraq war was worth fighting despite growing American unease. Cheney spoke in Springfield, Missouri, the day after supporters of anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan held a series of candlelight vigils around the country to call attention to her demands for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The vice president did not mention Sheehan, whose 24-year-old son Casey was killed in combat in Iraq, but in an address to veterans he spoke at length about the difficulties faced by families like Sheehan's. Cheney speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, June 13, 2005. (Chris Kleponis/Reuters)
So how come he didn’t publicly encourage his children to serve? None of them are in the military, just like their father wasn’t in the military. The entire family has no idea what serving in the armed forces is like, and no idea of what an ‘irreplaceable’ loss really is.
Barbara Bush just before the start of the war on Iraq:
“Why should we hear about body bags, and deaths, and how many, what day it's gonna happen, and how many this or what do you suppose? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?’
Afghanistan:
This past April, the UN eliminated the job of its top investigator on human rights in Afghanistan after he criticized violations by US forces in that country. His name was Cherif Bassiouni. He criticized the US for detaining prisoners without trial and from barring almost all human rights monitors from visiting the prisons. He also noted that US troops were breaking into homes with no legal authority, engaging in torture. The UN eliminated this position under pressure from the USA.
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