Apparently Dubya Reads Maureen Dowd After All. This is not really the occasion to make punditry-hay with a memorial service for fallen heroes, but not to note that Bush has suddenly chosen to publicly honor our war dead and their families after the hammering he's taken--and given--over the issue from his critics, led by Ms. Dowd, would be negligent journalism.
FORT CARSON, Colo., Nov. 24 — President Bush offered personal condolences on Monday to the families of 26 soldiers killed in Iraq, meeting privately with 98 parents, spouses, children and other relatives of the dead at a time when his handling of war casualties has become a political issue.
"I want to thank the families of the fallen soldiers who are here with us today," Mr. Bush said in an address to troops before the private meeting. "Our prayers are with you."
How to deal with the casualties of war is a quandary for any president, and particularly so for Mr. Bush, whose handling of Iraq has become a central issue in the presidential campaign. A further challenge, White House aides have said, is how to express sympathy for those killed without showing favoritism for one family over another or drawing attention to the mounting number of deaths.
Among the people he met after the speech here were family members of some of the 16 soldiers killed when a missile brought down a Chinook helicopter near Falluja on Nov. 2.
On the day of that attack, Mr. Bush, who was at his ranch in Texas, made no comment on the casualties, and the White House limited its response to a general statement of regret for all loss of life in the conflict.
The president's decision not to make a direct statement was seen by some of his critics as an effort to avoid political fallout from the mounting death toll in Iraq, and as part of a pattern in which the administration has also restricted photographers' access to scenes of coffins arriving in the United States.
