Letter to the editor: War's costs include lost opportunities

Here is how one anti war Bush hater released his anger

Bush Heckler Arrested After Punching Wheelchair-Bound Girl
Thursday, April 24, 2008

A man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna outside the 92nd Street Y was arrested after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents had told him to shut up, authorities said Wednesday.

German Talis, 22, was shouting obscenities at the Bushes, who were leaving the building Tuesday, when he crossed paths with Wendy and John Lovetro and their daughter Maureen, 18, who has cerebral palsy.

They had been in the audience to hear the Bushes talk about their children's book, "Read All About It."

"He began yelling about Iraq and Iran at Jenna Bush. She was waving at the crowd. I told the guy,'What are you doing? Shut up. This is about a child and books,' " said John Lovetro. "He was unperturbed. I said,'Get out of here! You're being a moron!' "

The next thing he knew, Talis was allegedly punching Maureen, a fan of the first lady since meeting her in 2004.

My, don't you just love the libs who are so opposed to the war and violence?

We know Bush is trying mightily to provoke Iran. He has illegally attacked an Iranian consulate in Iraq (an act of war), taking six protected consular officials there captive. He is sending a second aircraft carrier battle group into the Persian Gulf, and is setting up Patriot anti-missile missile bases along Iran's western border. This buildup has all the earmarks of a pre-invasion. All that's needed now is a pretext--a real or faked attack on an American ship, perhaps, ala the Gulf of Tonkin "incident" that launched America into the Vietnam War.

Treason is the number one impeachable crime under the Constitution, and we're at a point where Congress is going to have to act or go down in history as having acquiesced in the worst presidential crime in the history of the nation.

BushedAgain wrote:

We know Bush is trying mightily to provoke Iran. He has illegally attacked an Iranian consulate in Iraq (an act of war), taking six protected consular officials there captive. He is sending a second aircraft carrier battle group into the Persian Gulf, and is setting up Patriot anti-missile missile bases along Iran's western border. This buildup has all the earmarks of a pre-invasion. All that's needed now is a pretext--a real or faked attack on an American ship, perhaps, ala the Gulf of Tonkin "incident" that launched America into the Vietnam War.
Treason is the number one impeachable crime under the Constitution, and we're at a point where Congress is going to have to act or go down in history as having acquiesced in the worst presidential crime in the history of the nation.

It is something to see the kook left supporting the enemies of the US all in a feeble attemot to score political points

While you are at it "Bushed Again" make sure you take care of those wheelchair bound Bush supporters. They are a growing danger to your party

SayWhat wrote:

Good letter, Bob. When is your next protest on the square, we'll be there. To cmypoint: Yes, there are many innocent Iraqi men, women and children being murdered every day by the invaders and occupiers of their homeland. Do you think these terrible insurgents, fighting from their homes, should just roll over and offer us their country to be used as we see fit? Most of the people we are murdering are not al Qaeda, they are citizens of Iraq defending their country. If the USA was invaded, you could call me an insurgent too. I'll fight the occupiers with everything I can muster. Never surrender on your own turf, is this so hard to understand? We are not there to make their life better or create a democracy, we want control of their oil and everybody else's we can get our lying thieven hands on. We are there to take their oil

SAYWHAT...I better NOT CATCH YOU using ANY PETROLEUM PRODUCTS EVER AGAIN. NOT EVEN THE GREASE THAT LUBRICATES THE TINY PLASTIC GEARS IN YOUR PRINTER OR THE WD-40 TO QUIET YOUR SQUEEKY DOOR HINGES. I ALREADY ASSUME YOUR CAR IS TOTALLY ELECTRIC AND IT WAS BUILT WITH NO RESOURCES THAT USE OIL,SUCH AS HYDRAULIC LIFTING MACHINES,SHEET METAL BENDERS,CNC MACHINES,ETC...ECT...ECT...AND JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS,YOU ARE ON THE RECORD FOR CALLING U.S.MILITARY MEMBERS MURDERERS(EVERYDAY AT THAT)...NICE WORK!
MY I OFFER YOU TRAVEL EXPENSES TO RELOCATE YOUR ADDRESS TO ANOTHER COUNRTY,YOUR CHOICE,I'LL PAY!
THIS IS A SERIOUS ONE TIME OFFER,YOU HAVE 1 WEEK TO SUBMIT YOUR REQUEST AND I'LL GLADY HELP WITH YOUR MOVE. AND I'M NOT CLAIMING YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO SPEW THIS HATEFULLNESS ON THE INTERENT, I JUST FIGURE YOU'LL BE HAPPIER ELSEWHERE.

There is universal agreement that the events of Sept. 11, 2001 altered the course of history. However, the response of the Bush administration to 9/11 eventually had a far greater impact than the original tragedy.

Seen in that light, Oct. 14, 2001 was an even more momentous day.

That was the day President George W. Bush rejected an offer by the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 terror.

Afghanistan’s deputy prime minister, Haji Abdul Kabir, had announced that if the United States stopped bombing Afghanistan and produced evidence of bin Laden’s involvement in 9/11, "we would be ready to hand him over to a third country."

Bush responded: "There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty.… Turn him over.”

But according to Milton Bearden, a former CIA station chief who oversaw U.S. covert operations in Afghanistan in the 1980s:“We never heard what they were trying to say. We had no common language. Ours was,'Give up bin Laden.' They were saying,'Do something to help us give him up.'… I have no doubts they wanted to get rid of him. He was a pain in the neck.''[Washington Post, Oct. 29, 2001]

If the United States had seriously pursued the Taliban’s offer, managed to apprehend Osama bin Laden peacefully and arranged a fair and transparent trial, such as the Madrid bombing trial currently underway in Spain, al-Qaeda might have been neutralized without firing a shot.

No war would have meant no Guantanamo, no Military Commissions Act, no suspension of habeus corpus or debates about torture.

Soon after 9/11, President Bush said: "I see opportunity.” He was right. This was an opportunity to provide the world with a splendid demonstration of American dedication to the rule of law and a world without war.

U.S. international moral authority, high in the weeks following 9/11, would have increased. Instead, the opposite has happened.

In a recent survey by the British Broadcasting Corp.'s World Service more than 28,000 people in 25 countries were asked to rate 12 countries – Britain, Canada, China, France, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, Russia, the United States and Venezuela – as having a positive or negative influence on the world.

The United States had the third highest negative ranking, behind only Israel and Iran. I'm surprised we are not #1. Bush still has time.

worldinspector wrote:

No patriotic American who has paid any attention at all to the past 7 years supports what Bob rightly calls our illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq.
It is sheer tragedy that our sons and daughters are being sent to Iraq for no reason except the corrupt military-industrial complex profits that the great Republican President and Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us against many years ago.
The reality is that this slow, sure destruction of the U.S.... and Iraq ... was caused by 8 percent our our population -- the 25 million out of our 300 million population -- who voted for Bush.
Or as one British newspaper headline put it after the '04 election, "HOW COULD 25 MILLION PEOPLE BE THAT STUPID."
Or as one of my favorite bumper stickers puts it: "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."
P.S.: Unlike Bush-Cheney, I served.
"Obama '08"

Inspector - why would you have stayed a citizen of this counrty these last 8 years knowing that the "stupid" people would rule. it seems to me that you must be the stupid one. my favorite bumper sticker is, "who you callin stupid?stupid!"

jack wrote:

Here is how one anti war Bush hater released his anger
Bush Heckler Arrested After Punching Wheelchair-Bound Girl
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna outside the 92nd Street Y was arrested after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents had told him to shut up, authorities said Wednesday.
German Talis, 22, was shouting obscenities at the Bushes, who were leaving the building Tuesday, when he crossed paths with Wendy and John Lovetro and their daughter Maureen, 18, who has cerebral palsy.
They had been in the audience to hear the Bushes talk about their children's book, "Read All About It."
"He began yelling about Iraq and Iran at Jenna Bush. She was waving at the crowd. I told the guy,'What are you doing? Shut up. This is about a child and books,' " said John Lovetro. "He was unperturbed. I said,'Get out of here! You're being a moron!' "
The next thing he knew, Talis was allegedly punching Maureen, a fan of the first lady since meeting her in 2004.
My, don't you just love the libs who are so opposed to the war and violence?

Great example of how all liberals are, jack. I for one am a flaming liberal paraplegic beater. Glad to know you can accurately show how all liberals are with this one example of a 22 year-old. Thanks!

OneMoreTime wrote:

If the United States had seriously pursued the Taliban’s offer, managed to apprehend Osama bin Laden peacefully and arranged a fair and transparent trial, such as the Madrid bombing trial currently underway in Spain, al-Qaeda might have been neutralized without firing a shot.
No war would have meant no Guantanamo, no Military Commissions Act, no suspension of habeus corpus or debates about torture.
Soon after 9/11, President Bush said: "I see opportunity.” He was right. This was an opportunity to provide the world with a splendid demonstration of American dedication to the rule of law and a world without war.
U.S. international moral authority, high in the weeks following 9/11, would have increased. Instead, the opposite has happened.
In a recent survey by the British Broadcasting Corp.'s World Service more than 28,000 people in 25 countries were asked to rate 12 countries – Britain, Canada, China, France, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, Russia, the United States and Venezuela – as having a positive or negative influence on the world.
The United States had the third highest negative ranking, behind only Israel and Iran. I'm surprised we are not #1. Bush still has time.

onemoretime-you make some good points there,but do you seriously think the taliban would have apprehened OBL? the taliban i believe were more interested in keeping the U.S. out of their opium crops and interrupting the flow of the illegally derived drugs to our counrty and others. and about that 28,000 person worldwide survey,most of those individuals get their news from state run or liberal media outlets,how'd ya think that would turn out? the only reason Iran did poorly was because their president said that Iran didn't have homosexuals and that the practice of such was immoral. i recently read a survey that said 91.2% of inmates in federal prison didn't approve of the prison warden's policies.

Sick-Tired wrote:

<quoted text>
Great example of how all liberals are, jack. I for one am a flaming liberal paraplegic beater. Glad to know you can accurately show how all liberals are with this one example of a 22 year-old. Thanks!

Can you imagine if a conservative punch a Black wheelchair person with cerebal palsy while attending an Obama rally? There will no doubt a full scale investigation lead by Pelosi, Kennedy, Kerry, Obama, Clinton, Jesse and Al. The liberal media will cover this story non-stop until the election. This has been sweep under the rug by the liberal press

It never stops amazing me that everyone wants to blame someone else much less the president for the problems. Nobody was complaining when the housing market was booming and the stock market was making money. Did everyone then say Bush is doing great.

Why don't you all grow up and stop whining about your problems.
1) You signed the mortgage for an ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage).

2) You bought the big SUV that only gets 13 MPG.

3) You bought the 4000 square foot home that uses oil to heat.

The government did not do any of these.
How many of you actual are doing something to help the troops overseas(Irag and Aghanistan) send care packages, going to the local Va, going to the soldiers house and helping those left behind, car pooling using less oil and gas.

Why don't we stop the whining and come up with a viable option of exiting Iraq. To just leave and let it return to the way it was would be more of a disrespect to those that died.

And incase your wondering I work two jobs, I volunteer, and I have a SUV. Why becasue I made those decisions not you and not the government. And Yes I have a brother who is leaving in August for 18 months for Iraq.

God Speed to all those willing to make the sacrifice be it Military or Public Servant ( I am refering to Fire, EMS and Police)

Lest you forget the infamous Jamie Gorelick's famous "wall" that kept the CIA from passing info to the FBI. In October of 2000, FBI Agent Ali Soufan was investigating the attacks on the USS Cole. Working around the clock in Yemen, Agent Soufan found a possible connection between the bombing and Al-Qaeda in the person of a one-legged jihadi named Khallad. Over the course of the following months, Agent Soufan would send multiple entreaties to the CIA asking for more information about the terrorist organizer Khallad, specifically in conjunction with an alleged meeting of Al-Qaeda agents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The CIA had information that could have led Agent Soufan to discover that two of the future 9/11 hijackers had attended that meeting. He could have placed them at their current location: the United States. Three times Agent Soufan was denied the information that he—and the American people—so desperately needed. As a result, a combination of turf wars between national security agencies, an unwillingness to share information, a failure to identify credible threats to U.S. national security, and even personal animosity contributed to the success of one of the most destructive terrorist attacks in history. For nearly two years, two Al-Qaeda operatives lived in the United States with the CIA’s knowledge. Had that information been shared with the FBI, American citizens might be living in a different world today. Agent Soufan didn’t know it at the time, but he was the nation’s best chance to stop the 11 September 2001 attacks. Our national security system prevented information critical to America’s safety from reaching the people who needed it most. As a direct result of this national security failure, more than 2,000 people lost their lives on American soil.

You can take lots of examples and find a better use for the funding. I think peaceniks should know that if it weren't for those going to war you would not have the freedom to complain. The bottom line is your actions aide the enemy. Vietnam proved that as the war was lost in the streets of America, not in the jungles of Vietnam.
And, my son just took his medical records to a recruiter. His oldest friend goes to Iraq weeks from now. This is agonizing for us all, but I honestly believe pulling out will only embolden the enemy and make things worse.

Festus wrote:

You can take lots of examples and find a better use for the funding. I think peaceniks should know that if it weren't for those going to war you would not have the freedom to complain. The bottom line is your actions aide the enemy. Vietnam proved that as the war was lost in the streets of America, not in the jungles of Vietnam.
And, my son just took his medical records to a recruiter. His oldest friend goes to Iraq weeks from now. This is agonizing for us all, but I honestly believe pulling out will only embolden the enemy and make things worse.

I wish your son and his friend well. I for one, know how difficult it is for a parent to watch a child take that oath knowing that sometime in the near future you will be watching them board a plan to go into battle. I struggle with it everyday, but I know that he is in God's hands. Whatever happens, I will get through it. Start building your support group now. Your friends, family, co workers are going to see you at your worst and your best. Trust me, the overwhelming pride in knowing that you raised a child to stand tall for what he believes in will outweigh the agony of war. God Bless every member of our military. I was lucky enough to spend some time recently with a young soldier who returned from Iraq in February. His enlistment is almost finished. However, he believes so strongly in what we are accomplishing that if guaranteed another tour in Iraq he is ready to re-enlist. How amazing is that?! He is a true American Soldier.

Also don't forget, WMD, and A bigggg banner saying, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED", and the wonderful warm glow we all get when we remember, the pretzel saying, In 5 years, Iraq oil will pay for this war. one worthless drugie and boozer.

BushedAgain wrote:

There is universal agreement that the events of Sept. 11, 2001 altered the course of history. However, the response of the Bush administration to 9/11 eventually had a far greater impact than the original tragedy.
Seen in that light, Oct. 14, 2001 was an even more momentous day.
That was the day President George W. Bush rejected an offer by the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 terror.
Afghanistan’s deputy prime minister, Haji Abdul Kabir, had announced that if the United States stopped bombing Afghanistan and produced evidence of bin Laden’s involvement in 9/11, "we would be ready to hand him over to a third country."
Bush responded: "There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty.… Turn him over.”
But according to Milton Bearden, a former CIA station chief who oversaw U.S. covert operations in Afghanistan in the 1980s:“We never heard what they were trying to say. We had no common language. Ours was,'Give up bin Laden.' They were saying,'Do something to help us give him up.'… I have no doubts they wanted to get rid of him. He was a pain in the neck.''[Washington Post, Oct. 29, 2001]

Maybe you ought to read a real history book other than some cartoon blog! I hear there are still rooms available in Afghanistan for people like you.

""The Taliban refused to directly speak to Bush, stating that talking with a non-Muslim political leader would be an insult to Islam. But they made statements through their embassy in Pakistan: the Taliban rejected the ultimatum on September 21, 2001, saying there was no evidence in their possession linking bin Laden to the September 11 attacks.""

Prior to 9-11 -----
The UN Security Council had issued Resolutions 1267 and 1333 in 1999 and 2000 directed towards the Taliban which applied financial and military hardware sanctions to encourage them to turn over bin Laden for trial in the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in August 1998, and close terrorist training camps.

Lil john: Iraqi Deaths Since U.S. Invasion: 1,205,025. These are not al Qaeda deaths. Lil john, I won't call you any names or tell you to do a little research but you should find post #35 embarrassing.McCain will make Bush look like Ghandi.

Military Mom wrote:

<quoted text>
What makes you think my son is lower enlisted? Did I say that. I'm sure he isn't as highly ranked as your brother. However, he is an officer. I know the heartache that family members are forced to endure. Because of this, I also know that our soldiers job is much easier when they are not faced with loud mouthes who insist on spewing propaganda bull----. You say this war is unnecessary, but I say that we are no longer a United Nation because of the unnecessary crap that the democrats are feeding us. I am open to change my opinion as to who our next president will be; but I need a good reason. Obama is talking the talk; but I haven't heard any suggestions on how he plans to make all these great changes. As for Hillary....I remember the Clinton era. We might not be in an "unnecessary" war if Billy would have done his job correctly to begin with. How quickly we forget!

Thank you for writing what the majority of Americans think, Bill Clinton was a washout who helped get us INTO the war. Now he wants to stand behind Billary and look like a Bobble Head while she spews what he tells her to. I support our men and women, both enlisted and officers, who bravely fight for our Country. God Bless your son and all the others in uniform.

I hate that they have to hear these spineless Dems running their mouths about the war and run down moral in the troops. The service men and women I talk to know that we're fighting for the harder right, and they aren't just the enlisted.

Lil john writes: ""The Taliban refused to directly speak to Bush, stating that talking with a non-Muslim political leader would be an insult to Islam. But they made statements through their embassy in Pakistan: the Taliban rejected the ultimatum on September 21, 2001, saying there was no evidence in their possession linking bin Laden to the September 11 attacks."" That's the point Lil john, there is still no evidence linking bin Laden to 9/11. The U.S Government has never produced any. All the Taliban wanted was evidence, do you have it Lil john?

SayWhat wrote:

Lil john: Iraqi Deaths Since U.S. Invasion: 1,205,025. These are not al Qaeda deaths. Lil john, I won't call you any names or tell you to do a little research but you should find post #35 embarrassing.McCain will make Bush look like Ghandi.

maybe you would like to publish the organization that counted these "deaths" or did you just happen to come by them on some blog?

Btw dude we were talking about afganistan!