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Obama honors the fallen
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President Barack Obama, Dover Air Force Base, AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama made an unannounced trip early this morning. Before sunrise the President left the White House and went to Dover Air Force Base to pay tribute as the bodies of 18 military personnel killed in Afghanistan were returned to U.S. soil. It is at Dover Air Force Base where those who have fallen in combat return to America. The White House notified a small group of reporters a short time before the President departed with military leaders and a few close aides.
The President's attendance at this solemn event marked yet another break with the policies of his predecessor. George W. Bush met with families of those killed in action but never stood on a tarmac saluting fallen soldiers as they returned, and went as far as imposing a unilateral ban on photographing of U.S. war dead, even if the families of those soldiers requested such documentation (President Obama lifted the ban shortly after taking office). This morning the President met and prayed with the families of the soldiers; as reported by the Associated Press, "the solemn process of transferring remains...unfolded in four separate movements. Obama took part in them all."
President Obama did not have to do this. He could have chosen the path of his predecessor and never stood at attention on the tarmac at Dover. Obama knows full well that those on the right will mock his action this morning. I hope they won't; for the sake of those fallen soldiers I hope they keep their outbursts in check but I don't actually see that happening. Instead I think they'll follow the lead set by Dick Cheney; as President Obama decides whether to send more troops into combat the former Vice President mocked him, characterizing the President's careful consideration as "dithering." The attack prompted conservative columnist George Will to say in response to Cheney: "A bit of dithering might have been in order before we went into Iraq in pursuit of non-existent weapons of mass destruction." President Obama responded by reassuring those who serve: "While I will never hesitate to use force to protect the American people or our vital interests...I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way."
This morning President Obama broke with the actions of his predecessor because taking responsibility is what a Commander in Chief should do. He is responsible for their going, he owes it their families and to the American people to salute them when they return. The President can't be there every time but when he can he should.
It's a hell of a lot more important than donning a flyboy outfit and posing under a banner saying Mission Accomplished.
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