To counter all that Democratic talk about fighting the wrong war in Iraq, somebody in the White House brilliantly decided to let a Reuters correspondent sit in on the President's video conference yesterday with Ambassador to Afghanistan William Wood and US military and civilian personnel in Kabul.
Sitting at a conference table, Bush listened to a description of the fighting there and could hardly contain his excitement
"I must say, I'm a little envious," he confessed. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history."
Bush's envy is understandable four decades after he missed all the excitement in Viet Nam by serving in the National Air Guard back here. With him at the video conference was Vice President Dick Cheney, who received five deferments and "had other priorities in the '60s than military service."
The Presidential nostalgia is poignant. Sadly Afghanistan now is no country for old men.
Dick Cheney and George Bush should have a go at it anyway. Dick has a good deal of experience with guns and George knows how to cut and run, as he did during his service years, if things get too hot and romantic.
ReplyDelete"I must say, I'm a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you...in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger."
-- George W. Bush, during a video conference with military briefers in Afghanistan