Obama Visits Returning War Dead

[groovedaddy]

President Obama traveled to Dover Air Force Base early Thursday morning, where he met with family members and paid his respects as the bodies of 18 Americans killed this week in Afghanistan were returned to the United States.

It was the president’s first trip to the Delaware air base, the main point of entry for the nation’s war dead to return home. The trip was a symbolic one for Mr. Obama — intended to convey the gravity of his decision as he moves closer to announcing whether he will send more troops to Afghanistan.

The overnight trip was not announced in advance. The president, wearing a dark suit and long overcoat, left the White House at 11:44 p.m. A small contingent of reporters and photographers accompanied Mr. Obama to Dover, where he arrived at 12:34 a.m. aboard Marine One. He returned to the South Lawn of the White House at 4:45 a.m.

October has been the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began eight years ago, with at least 55 troops killed in action. This week alone, about two dozen soldiers have died in attacks and accidents. The bodies returning to Dover Air Force Base shortly after midnight included seven Army soldiers and three agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration who were killed when their helicopter crashed on Monday in rural Afghanistan. The bodies of eight soldiers killed in an attack on Monday also arrived on an Air Force C-17.

On a clear fall morning, Mr. Obama boarded the back of the gray plane at 3:40 a.m., standing watch as Air Force Chaplain, Maj. Richard S. Bach, offered a brief prayer over the cases containing the remains of the 15 soldiers and three federal agents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/us/30obama.html?th&emc=th

[Myrina]

1. .. who is carrying on Kennedy's legacy of attending the funerals?

:shrug: Anyone?

[Lifelong Protester]

2. I'll just say what most folks are thinking

You never would have seen this kind of engagement in reality by the last guy.
I think it very, very important that all commanders in chief do this and see up front the results of their actions and decisions. I praise our president for making this visit.

[flyarm]

3. while he send more to die..nice thoughts though..but thoughts don't keep drones from killing

innocent children..and he has royally ramped up sending the drones to kill and have killed many "collateral damage" ..HUMAN BEINGS..and sent them to their graves!

bullshit is still bullshit..just because there is a "D" behind the politicians name doesn't make it right..nor does it bring back the dead to the living!

what happened to the so called Anti war candidate that now sits in our white house????????/

oh yeah..we get promises..empty promises.

oh and what happened to all the anti war dems that used to be on this board???????

[newtothegame]

4. Anti-war went out the window and was replaced by an obsession with "making history."

I don't blame Obama, I blame DU'ers who were more focused on taking pictures of their ballots and telling their kids they voted for the 1st African-American President than on electing anyone with a desire for real change in our international behavior.

ed for sp

[BridgeTheGap]

5. I don't think Obama has broken his promises on Iraq and Afghanistan YET...though on Iraq

he's probably not going to. He never said he would pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. And make no mistake, he is faced with a dilemna. Bush's policies led to this and it's simple enough to say we should leave both places. I actually think we should. We're wasting our time in Iraq and Afghanistan. But if we just pack up and haul ass out, what comes in the wake of our departure?
Iraq might just make it on their own. They certainly have the oil reserves to bring great wealth to their country. What they don't have is resolution of ethnic conflicts. I don't think we're helping matters there.
In Afghanistan, there may have been an opportunity to do something constructive there early on. Bush blew it. We've now pissed off way too many people there by bombing wedding parties, failing to get their economy going and allowing al qaeda to escape early on. Corruption is endemic to their society. I hope there is some way of keeping the Taliban from coming back into power. They are brutal throwbacks. Maybe it's a U.N. job. There aren't any easy answers.