csua.org/u/d4l -> news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050823/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush;_ylt=AqycXiiDQ_3ROHQ9PPddqosD5gcF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Bush said he understood the anguish of the woman whose son was killed in Iraq last year. But he said he disagreed with her assertion that US tr oops should be brought home before more die in a "senseless war." "I think those who advocate immediate withdrawal from not only Iraq but t he Middle East are advocating a policy that would weaken the United Stat es," Bush said. The president said US troops in Iraq are keeping Americans safe and tha t Iraqis are making progress toward democracy. He urged patience as offi cials in Baghdad struggle to complete a constitution. "The fact that they're even writing a constitution is vastly different fr om living under the iron hand of a dictator," Bush said.
He said the next step was to establish a government in Ga za that responds to the Palestinian people. Bush, dressed in blue jeans and a fleece jacket, spoke underneath the tal l pine trees at the Tamarack Resort, where he is spending two nights awa y from his ranch. His visit to the mountain getaway came between two spe eches to rally support for the war one Monday in Salt Lake City and an other Wednesday in Nampa, Idaho, that is to be followed by more than two hours of private meetings with relatives of dead soldiers. Bush met Sheehan last year at a similar series of meetings with families of the war dead. But Sheehan says there have been developments since the n and she has more she wants to say to Bush. Her vigil in Crawford, Texas, has given momentum to the peace movement, a nd even some Republicans have said Bush should meet with her. "Well, I did meet with Cindy Sheehan," Bush said Tuesday. And there 's a lot of points of view about the Iraq war."
Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld was asked about Sheehan's vigil and what he would say to her if he had the chance. "While it has t o be a heart-wrenching thing for each of the families involved, our task is to try to help them and the country understand the importance of the work that's being done," he said. Bush spoke once before about Sheehan, during a foreign policy summit at h is ranch on Aug. He said then, too, that he sympathized with her but disagreed with her call to bring the troops home immediately. He said Tuesday, "She doesn't represent the view of a lot of the families I have met with." After speaking to reporters, Bush took a bike ride and then had dinner pl ans with Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and the state's congressional delega tion. He said he also planned to spend some "quality time" with the firs t lady. Bush spoke a day after the Iraqi parliament missed a second deadline to a pprove a draft constitution. Iraqi leaders completed a draft and submitt ed it to parliament by the midnight deadline, but they delayed a vote fo r three days to give them time to persuade Sunni Arab negotiators to acc ept it.
Condoleezza Rice and that she is optimistic that Sunnis will accept the draft. And I sus pect most mothers, no matter what their religion may be, will choose a f ree society so that their children can grow up in a peaceful world."
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