For two years we have heard Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and President Bush ignore, distort or trivialize American casualties in Iraq. With Wednesday's loss of 31 in a single incident, you would think there would be some sign of empathy. Instead, Mr. Bush brushed it off and turned his brief and vague reference to mourning the loss of life into a platform for more hollow "freedom" rhetoric (front page, Jan. 27).
He actually had the ego and the bad taste to say, "I firmly planted the flag of liberty in Iraq." He didn't say "they"; he didn't say "we."
The president has planted nothing but the bodies of 1,377 Americans. They are heroes. As the mother of a marine in Rutba, I wish he would just once consider acknowledging their enormous sacrifice, rather than aggrandizing himself.
Nita Martin
Wallingford, Pa., Jan. 27, 2005
He actually had the ego and the bad taste to say, "I firmly planted the flag of liberty in Iraq." He didn't say "they"; he didn't say "we."
The president has planted nothing but the bodies of 1,377 Americans. They are heroes. As the mother of a marine in Rutba, I wish he would just once consider acknowledging their enormous sacrifice, rather than aggrandizing himself.
Nita Martin
Wallingford, Pa., Jan. 27, 2005