Bush Invokes Military Mother to Defend War

Borrowing the words of a military mother whose husband and five sons have served in Iraq, President Bush told thousands of soldiers and airmen Wednesday that winning the war was worth the sacrifice of losing lives.

By invoking Tammy Pruett of Pocatello, Idaho, Bush’s speech to Idaho National Guard members and Air Force personnel marked the latest effort by the White House to respond to growing antiwar protests being led largely by relatives of fallen troops.

“There are few things in life more difficult than seeing a loved one go off to war,” Bush told an audience of more than 9,000 crammed into the Idaho Center in Nampa, a Boise suburb.

“Tammy says this -- and I want you to hear this: ‘I know that if something happens to one of the boys, they would leave this world doing what they believe, what they think is right for our country. And I guess you couldn’t ask for a better way of life than giving it for something that you believe in.’

“America lives in freedom because of families like the Pruetts,” Bush said.

Pruett, a 46-year-old administrative assistant, was in the audience with her husband, Leon, and received a kiss on the cheek from Bush after the speech. The couple, who were featured this year on CNN, said they received a call about a week ago from the White House requesting their presence at Wednesday’s event.

The quote from Pruett drew sustained cheering.

It was a moment that underscored the growing reliance on symbolism by both sides in the struggle for public opinion, a struggle that surveys show the White House has been losing in recent weeks.

Even some prominent Republicans have criticized Bush and drawn parallels between Iraq and Vietnam. GOP strategists are worried that the war’s mounting death toll could hurt their candidates in the 2006 and 2008 elections should the United States continue to maintain a large presence in Iraq.

The most prominent of the antiwar activists is Cindy Sheehan, the Vacaville, Calif., woman whose son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, died in Iraq in 2004. On Aug. 6, she set up a protest encampment near Bush’s ranch outside Crawford, Texas, saying that she would remain there until she met with the president face to face or until he returned to Washington in early September.

Having left last week after her mother fell ill in California, Sheehan returned Wednesday to “Camp Casey,” which has grown to two sites, both adorned with small wooden crosses symbolizing troops’ deaths.

Other relatives of fallen troops have joined Sheehan, whose efforts are being bolstered by liberal groups such as MoveOn.org and TrueMajority.

Bush, who returned to Crawford late Wednesday, interrupted his vacation this week to defend his Iraq policy. He addressed veterans in Utah on Monday and told reporters Tuesday that Sheehan’s views did not reflect the feelings of most military families he had met with since the war began.

After his speech Wednesday, Bush and his wife, Laura, met privately for about three hours with 68 members of 19 families of dead troops. A White House spokesman said it was an emotional session. “Sometimes they share tears, sometimes they share laughter, sometimes they share both,” the spokesman said.

To date, Bush has met with 972 family members representing 291 of more than 2,000 troops who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In his remarks, the president sharpened his response to the protesters’ calls for the U.S. to pull out of Iraq, suggesting that such a move would leave Iraq a “failed state” and a staging ground for terrorists, similar to Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

For the second consecutive day, Bush sought to paint the critics of his Iraq policy as opponents of his larger anti-terrorism agenda, even though the protesters are focusing primarily on Iraq.

“An immediate withdrawal of our troops in Iraq, or the broader Middle East, as some have called for, would only embolden the terrorists and create a staging ground to launch more attacks against America and free nations,” he said. “So long as I’m the president, we will stay, we will fight, and we will win the war on terror.”

As Bush promised again Wednesday to forge ahead, the news from Iraq continued to illustrate the pressure facing the White House.

Violence was reported in several Iraqi cities, including a series of insurgent bombings, rocket attacks and shootings in Baghdad that killed at least 15 people and injured dozens, while officials in the transitional National Assembly prepared to approve a draft constitution despite divisive debate among various groups over its content.

Bush, who in recent days praised Iraqi government officials for their work on the constitution, seemed to acknowledge Wednesday that the process was not all positive.

Still, he expressed confidence that the Iraqi talks, like the United States’ constitutional struggles two centuries ago, would have a happy ending.

Like the U.S. Founding Fathers, Bush said, “they will come up with a system that respects the traditions of their country and guarantees the rights of all their citizens.”

In addressing National Guard troops, Bush confronted a service branch unaccustomed to extended tours of duty but whose soldiers have been forced into almost permanent duty in Iraq.

More than 240,000 Guard members have been mobilized since the Sept. 11 attacks to serve overseas; more than 1,700 Guard members from Idaho are in Iraq.

Bush reminded his audience that he once served in the Texas Air National Guard. And, as he did Monday, he offered specific casualty figures -- an acknowledgment that he was well-aware of the mounting death toll that had raised public anxiety and fueled opposition.

“In this war, we have said farewell to some very good men and women, including 491 heroes of the National Guard and Reserves,” he said. “We mourn the loss of every life. We pray for their loved ones. These brave men and women gave their lives for a cause that is just and necessary for the security of our country, and now we will honor their sacrifice by completing their mission.”