President Obama Pays Respects to Fallen Troops at Dover Air Force Base

PR stunt. This is the first such event of this kind during this president’s tenure. President Obama goofed protocol by saluting the fallen soldiers. Since he has never served a day of his life in the military, he is supposed to place his right hand over his heart.

I think this is rather ghoulish, like Obama The Ghoul taking some special delight to fulfill his special need to go linger among the dead he just may so eagerly want to see. I’m finding this story quite ghoulish.

Bush AWOL and Cheney 5 deferment started the wars without giving much thought nor respect for those that would turn back home in their coffins…Remember it was nothing but a “Cake Walk”!
We won’t let You forget it….Mission Acomplish….
NOT!

Are you kidding me? 5 of the 7 comments so far are negative? A president pays his respects to fallen soldiers at three in the morning and conservatives STILL can’t find anything good to say? Incredible…

I don’t know what his motives were. (Do we ever really know why anyone does anything?) It is the right thing to do and I respect that.
The report said that it was the first time Obama did that. I guess my question for Jack Tapper would be, did GWB ever do anything like this?

I fully expect to hear of this event in a POTUS speech.

Respect has to be earned. I have none for Obama.
Using dead soldiers for photo ops disgusts me.
The press was notified and managed to be there. Where are they with regards to corrupt ACORN?

To the poster who said that ‘This was the appropriate thing to do’, I say BALONEY. The APPROPRIATE thing to do, would be to STOP FUND RAISING, STOP with the SPEACHES, cut out the DATE NIGHT garbage, and DO HIS JOB. Enough with the SYMBOLISM. Your COMMANDING GENERAL says he NEEDS MORE TROOPS. DO YOUR JOB! What a punk.

This makes me sick.. he’s using our fallen soldiers for a photo op! Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more disgusted.

President Obama’s respect for the flag and the fallen in this solemn moment is a good thing for the free and brave.
His motives are his own. We will see.

President Obama! If you want to honor the troops, or Show your respect do us all a favor Get off your A@#! and give the General what he has been asking for! It is time you Start acting like the Commander and Chief instead of the Campaigner and Chief! If you want a job that is all about the public attention , without any real responsibility Move to England and see if they will let you Be the King.

The article says the POTUS has been wanting to do this since the media ban was lifted. Why did lifting the media ban mean he could now do this? Surely as CIC he could do this without the media if he wanted to.

The article says the POTUS has been wanting to do this since the media ban was lifted. Why did lifting the media ban mean he could now do this? Surely as CIC he could do this without the media if he wanted to.Posted by: jennifert7 | Oct 29, 2009 9:47:51 AM
Because with Obama it is not about the troops the fallen heroes it is all about Obama a photo OP.

MayBee,
They could still do that unless he is there everytime the plane lands. They won’t. But they could.

Obama at Dover didn’t.
Posted by: WC Green | Oct 29, 2009 9:46:59 AM
***
Really? You know all about it and are well informed? Let’s add a dose of reality:
“Obama also met with family members in the chapel of the Air Force base.”
Personally, I prefer a President who has the guts to face the caskets, and meet with the families, and lift the ban, and absorb the cost of sending more troops from all angles, including this heart-breaking one.
And yes, Maybee, may God bless and keep the fallen, and their loved ones all of whom have sacrificed so much.

As Mark Knoller of CBS Radio notes on Twitter (he specializes in tracking this type of thing):
“It’s the first time the Commander in Chief has witnessed such a homecoming since the wars in Afghanistan & Iraq began.”
That’s rather stunning to me. All the spin of the naysayers and neocons falls away and that simple bare fact stands strong.

Alyson: “”It’s the first time the Commander in Chief has witnessed such a homecoming since the wars in Afghanistan & Iraq began.”
That’s rather stunning to me. ”
Yeah, I would have thought he would have taken advantage of the photo-op much sooner. I guess he was saving it for when it was worth the most politically to him.

That, and taking care of the troops.
Posted by: MayBee | Oct 29, 2009 10:46:59 AM
***
Okay, I found how under
resourced the troops were in Afghanistan very stunning too. As well as the fact that McCain didn’t vote in support of Webb’s bill last year.
I’m still stunned that Bush never went to Dover and met with the families then. I’d actually missed that fact and it turns my stomach– having lost a fiance in my twenties I just have my own ideas on that kind of thing, and for me, knowing the president experienced that moment… it’s another way that I just can relate to Obama better. He knew. He knew he had to do that. And good for him.
Anyway… I’m going to get off this thread now because I know some of the comments are going to be grossly inappropriate in my view, and make me feel ill.

Some people are really mean and hateful. Probably go to church each week and think they are good people.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not that you’re passing judgment or anything, right? It seems you have difficulty practicing what good old dad said.

No doubt many of those posting here are among those who clung to the belief that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that the Iraqis were responsible for 9/11. It is this type of partisan cluelessness that has led to the engagement of the US in unwinnable wars, the crumbling of our economy, and developing countries overtaking us right and left in education, health care, technology, and industrial production.
Face the facts – Barack Obama is smarter than you and me and he understands the implications of what he does. “Dithering” with respect to war in Afghanistan is paying intelligent heed to a millenia-old Afghan history of resisted occupation. Witnessing a “dignified transfer” may indeed be a photo op for Obama – one that shows the real, hard-core effects of war. NOT for self-aggrandizement.

” Surely as CIC he could do this without the media if he wanted to.
Not when all he’s after is the photo op. God has a special place in hell for that kind of person.

It is this type of partisan cluelessness that has led to the engagement of the US in unwinnable wars, the crumbling of our economy, and developing countries overtaking us right and left in education, health care, technology, and industrial production.
Posted by: Annie | Oct 29, 2009 11:08:25 AM
Wow. That’s quite the statement. Partisan cluelessness did all that? I thought it was Bush.
Emo much?

If he really cared about the troops he would end this war. Didn’t it just come out in the NYTimes that Afghanistan’s biggest druglord is on the CIA payroll? And what about the missing millions from Iraq (you remember when we were literally flying pallets of untraceable cash)? And what happened to a proper investigation of all the profiteering of contractors, companies, etc (everything from showers that electroshock troops by bad wiring, bulletproof vests that aren’t bulletproof, armorless vehicals, and so on)? War is often a racket and Obama is, apparently, a part of it.

This was the right thing to do.
The only thing that will keep me from voting again for the commander in chief is if he extends our commitment in Afghanistan and abandons universal health care for the Americans our troops are serving.
I think our commitments should be for the health of Americans, not the wealth of a corrupt dictator like Hamid Karzai. I think any soldier that dies in Afghanistan is wasting his life.

He will use this photo op for his political agenda, “feeling the pain” as part of his rationale for deciding to lose in Afghanistan after all, to assuage his leftist base, even though he once, rightly although for the wrong reason, said it was a “necessary” war, using it then to get elected. Anyone surprised by this is completely naive.
2012 can’t get here soon enough.

This guy is despicable. Anything for a photo op. BO makes me sick.

The years of drum-beating against Bush wasn’t based in the truth
,Posted by: Anonymous
truth?… well, maybe not, as truth seems to vary from one’s own expectation and POV
ie: al queda has it’s own set of ‘truths’,
republicans/neo-cons have their own set of truths
but… accuracy, there’s something one can asses with clarity, and by using that measure we find, beyond any argument or debate that the GW Bush years were an abject failure, domestic & foreign policy .
you only need examine , as Saint Reagan once implied, if we were better off before Bush, than when he left office… the answer is a quantifiable and resounding NO

Well, I only have one sad remark to make here….Obama traveled to Delaware with blood on his hands. His politcal promise to pull troops out was just that….a political promise used to win the election. Hope you can live with yourself Obama and you are a disgrace.

=== It is easy to be judgemental from your t.v. chairs.===
Unless of course you are judging Bush.

jack: “I don’t care about terrorism. Those who fear it are cowards.”
Ah, another “teaching moment.” Conservatives don’t “fear” terrorism. Instead, we take prudent notice of it and strive to eliminate it. Contrast that with the liberal approach which relegates terrorism to primarily a law enforcement matter. Further, I’d rather support a party that’s a little over-paranoid about terrorism (although, I’m not conceding Republicans have been), than a party that virtually ignores the threat.
If we ignore terrorism as you suggest, we will absolutely have a repeat of 9/11. Maybe you’ll “care” more about terrorism when some terrorist takes “care” of you and your family.

Anonymous: “you all were expecting a great cleansing only to find more of the same”
Whoaaa! You’re pretty smart, Beavis: “. . . knowing what all of us who voted for Obama expected . . .”
I notice you haven’t denied it. I don’t think anyone could — not even liberals.
“Hope and change you can believe in” LOL!

Did only one out of 18 families grant permission for the media to cover this? How many other times previously did Obama want to do this but none of the family members agreed to let media cover it? Is it not possible for him to do this without media coverage?

Whoaaa! You’re pretty smart, Beavis: “Exactly how do your assertions without sources . . .”
Here are your sources:
Iraq – WMD
———-
Iraq Survey Group Report:
“ISG found a limited number of post-1995 activities that would have aided the reconstitution of the nuclear weapons program once sanctions were lifted.”
“While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991.”
“ISG uncovered information that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) maintained throughout 1991 to 2003 a set of undeclared covert laboratories to research and test various chemicals and poisons, primarily for intelligence operations.”
“ISG judges that in 1991 and 1992, Iraq appears to have destroyed its undeclared stocks of BW weapons and probably destroyed remaining holdings of bulk BW agent. However ISG lacks evidence to document complete destruction. Iraq retained some BW-related seed stocks until their discovery after Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).”
“The IIS had a series of laboratories that conducted biological work including research into BW agents for assassination purposes until the mid-1990s. ISG has not been able to establish the scope and nature of the work at these laboratories or determine whether any of the work was related to military development of BW agent.”
“From 1999 until he was deposed in April 2003, Saddam’s conventional weapons and WMD-related procurement programs steadily grew in scale, variety, and efficiency.”
Iraq – al-Qaeda
—————
9/11 Commission Report:
“There is also evidence that around this time (March 1997) Bin Ladin sent out a number of feelers to the Iraqi regime, offering some cooperation.”
“In March 1998, after Bin Ladin’s public fatwa against the United States, two al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraqi intelligence.”
“In July (1998), an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with Bin Ladin.”
“Similar meetings between Iraqi officials and Bin Ladin or his aides may have occurred in 1999 . . . Iraqi officials offered Bin Ladin a safe haven in Iraq.”
Iraq Perspectives Project: Saddam and Terrorism Report:
” . . . the regime was willing to co-opt or support organizations it knew to be part of al Qaeda–as long as the organization’s near-term goals supported Saddam’s long-term vision.”
“Saddam supported groups that either associated directly with al Qaeda (such as the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, led at one time by bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri) or that generally shared al Qaeda’s stated goals and objectives.”

Whoaaa! You’re pretty smart, Beavis: “Do you believe the WMDs found were the WMDs this country believed Iraq had, and the WMDs for which this country went to war? Close? Do you think we would have gone to war based on what we found?”
Yes, they were the same WMDs and WMD programs. We just didn’t find the amount we expected. It has been speculated that Saddam moved them out of the country prior to our impending invasion.
Contrary to popular liberal belief, we didn’t go to Iraq just for WMDs. Iraq supported international Islamic terrorists which resulted in the killing of Americans, had links to and supported al-Qaeda, threatened the use of terrorism on all Americans, violated 16 UN Security Council resolutions over a 12 year period including the original Iraq War I cease-fire agreement, and continued development of prohibited unmanned aerial vehicles, ballistic missiles, other prohibited materials, and various WMD programs. The long list goes on and on. In the post-9/11 world, Iraq was a serious threat that would have been irresponsible to ignore. The Iraq war was justified as well as it was necessary.
Whoaaa! You’re pretty smart, Beavis: “”alarmingly, 41% of Americans answered ‘Yes’ to the question “Do you think Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001?”"
It’s not such a great leap considering Iraq was our sworn enemy that provided support to al-Qaeda, the group responsible for 9/11, as well as several other international Islamic terrorist groups. Thinking or suspecting Iraq might be involved in terrorism against our country is different than knowing. In any case, it is very plausible, and at this point very likely.

lovin’ the Iraq war revisionistas..
anything and everything to avoid responsibility for being wrong and a few semantic games to enhance their guilt….
brings back those semi-lucid days of Rummy:
‘we know where the WMD’s are, they’re North, East, South, and West’
or others like:
‘the iraq war will pay for itself’
Bush kept us safe, except for the day we were attacked

tierra: “Your evidence seems pretty conclusive – there were no weapons of mass destruction found by the UN inspectors, nor the United States after the attack.
And secondly, there was no evidence of any involvement of Iraq in 9/11.”
Wrong. According to the credible sources and citations I’ve provided, we did indeed find WMD and related programs and did indeed find evidence that Iraq supported al-Qaeda, the group responsible for the 9/11 attacks. One might argue that Iraq supported the attacks by proxy. The idea that Iraq had direct involvement is both plausible and likely.

“the Obama administration who is currently letting Afghanistan slide as the terrorists continue to grow stronger and continue to kill Americans.”
___________________________________
It was the Bush administration who put Afghanistan on the back burner for 7 years and allowed the Taliban and al Qaeda to regroup – and that is what the current administration found.
And itt was Obama who increased the troop size in Afghanistan, not Bush nor Cheney. Bush and Cheney ‘let it slide’.

tierra: “Bush and Cheney ‘let it (Afghanistan) slide’.”
While it’s true that the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq competed for troops, since we’ve realized success in Iraq the competition for troops between the two is no longer a problem. Now, there is no excuse for Obama to not fully address Afghanistan, yet he continues to let it slide. The war he claims is the war of “necessity” he let’s slide. Scary stuff!

“the Obama administration who is currently letting Afghanistan slide as the terrorists continue to grow stronger and continue to kill Americans.”
___________________________________
It was the Bush administration who put Afghanistan on the back burner for 7 years and allowed the Taliban and al Qaeda to regroup – and that is what the current administration found.
Obama increased the troop size in Afghanistan, not Bush nor Cheney. Bush and Cheney ‘let it slide’.

tierra: “Bush and Cheney ‘let it (Afghanistan) slide’.”
While it’s true that the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq competed for troops, since we’ve realized success in Iraq the competition for troops between the two is no longer a problem. Now, there is no excuse for Obama to not fully address Afghanistan, yet he continues to let it slide. The war he claims is the war of “necessity” he let’s slide. Scary stuff!
I can copy and paste too! Big deal.

Visualize Whirled Peas: “For the people who don’t particularly like propaganda disguised as good news based on false data from artificially promoting sales through government programs paid for by those of us who actually pay taxes.”
Exactly, the growth isn’t real when it’s just the government redistributing the wealth. Any dufus can spend other people’s money. Real growth happens when the private sector creates products, services, and jobs, not when the government spends the private sector’s money.

“The fact is that it has been relatively stable since the Bush administration realized success there.”
________________________________________
More nonsense. Bush’s attack killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and maimed tens of thousands more. The attack destroyed huge amounts of infrastructure and the country has been plagued by more killings, bombings and deaths since the attack. Many people have gone without electricity, proper sewage facilities, water, food and so on.
As the recent bombings demonstrated the country is still in turmoil.
Your definition of ‘success’ is a sad one indeed.

I’m pretty sure anyone who think going to a Military funeral is a photo op, but you do not grasp the courage it takes to understand that you are one responsible for their deaths. The most diginfied and honorable thing any President can do is acknowledge that fact in person and up to this point no other President stayed up that late. If you do not like President Obama that’s fine, but do not dishonor the memory of these fallen heros by making the gesture trivial.

Anonymous: “you all were expecting a great cleansing only to find more of the same”
Anonymous: “I notice you haven’t denied it. I don’t think anyone could — not even liberals.”
Whoaaa! You’re pretty smart, Beavis: “If someone doesn’t deny it gots to be trew.”
If someone doesn’t deny something, that means they either agree or they don’t have the facts to back up their contrary position. My guess is that you fall into the latter category.
Again, you don’t deny Obama failed to keep his campaign promises to reform self-described Bush administration ills. So, you weren’t expecting a great cleansing from Obama? That’s certainly not the platform he ran on. The liberal memory is short indeed. Face it, Obama’s a lame duck his first year — another first for Obama. Frankly, I don’t care if you admit it or not, the reasonable people of this nation will admit it to everyone come 2010 and 2012. See ya then!

Whoaaa! You’re pretty smart, Beavis: “Cheney told a gathering at the National Press Club in June of this year that Saddam Hussein had no ties to al Qaeda . . .”
That’s completely un-true and a perfect illustration of why you liberals can never get the facts right. Thanks for another “teachable moment.” Here’s what Cheney really said:
“there was a relationship between al Qaeda and Iraq that stretched back 10 years. It’s not something I made up. … We know for a fact that Saddam Hussein was a sponsor — a state sponsor — of terror. It’s not my judgment. That was the judgment of our [intelligence community] and State Department.”
“There clearly was a relationship. It’s been testified to. The evidence is overwhelming.”
“It goes back to the early ’90s. It involves a whole series of contacts, high-level contacts with Osama bin Laden and Iraqi intelligence officials.”

I’m pretty sure anyone who think going to a Military funeral is a photo op, but you do not grasp the courage it takes to understand that you are one responsible for their deaths. The most dignified and honorable thing any President can do is acknowledge that fact in person and up to this point no other President stayed up that late. If you do not like President Obama that’s fine, but do not dishonor the memory of these fallen heroes by making the gesture trivial.

Bush visited hundreds of families without the paparazzi in honor of the fallen.17 of 18 families declined President Obama’s most generous offer to use their families’ pain as a photo op.I didn’t agree with everything that Bush did by any means-but Obama royally screwed up with this press stunt. Get him out of office!

So all you arm chair generals have figured it all out on your own. Bush did listen to his advisors as is Obama the needs were or are being meet and we troops are gratful. We depend on our elected leaders to make good decisions all the generals in both wars are and have requested support and these things do not just happen over night. None you have a clue as what it’s like over here we don’t argue over which president is right all we care about is getting the job done and coming home. I hope Obama make the right call I hope he can stand up to his party as Bush did finish the job and not cut and run as other democrats have before him.
God Bless America

The President did not bring reporters with him — reporters have had clearance to photograph arrivals at Dover since the start of the year. I believe the photos are an opt-in thing for the family at each arrival; that’s why we only have photos from one family that night. They’d already made their call, before the President’s schedule was confirmed.
Be as sour as you want about policies or random grudges, but Obama is right to actually face the consequences of current policy and pay respects to the fallen. And the families get to make the call regarding photos.
Not everything fits into some grand, PR-tastic conspiracy. Sometimes it’s just a case of a President wanting to pay his respects with as little fanfare as possible. And judging from the quality of the tape/images and the early hour, he went out of his way to prevent a “photo op” feel.