Bush Wishes He Could Be Alongside Troops In Iraq But He Is Too Old [View All]

From The Washington Post
By Dan Froomkin

President Bush wishes that he could be alongside the troops in Iraq — except that he’s too old.

At least that’s what he reportedly told a blogger embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq. In the first session of its kind, Bush spent almost an hour on Friday talking with 10 so-called “milbloggers,” including two who participated by video conference from a military base outside Baghdad.

” N.Z. Bear,” one of the eight guests sitting around a table with Bush at the White House, reported: “Responding to one of the bloggers in Iraq he expressed envy that they could be there, and said he’d like to be there but ‘One, I’m too old to be out there, and two, they would notice me.’”

Maybe Bush was just making idle chit-chat. But this would not be the first time the president has appeared unaware of the hardships his war has caused hundreds of thousands of American troops — while expressing a misguided sense of bravado.

He certainly hasn’t ever put himself in harm’s way. The president who avoided serving in Vietnam as a young man has made only three visits to Iraq since declaring that major combat operations were over more than four years ago. All three of the visits were unannounced and featured extensive security.

http://www.trueblueliberal.com/2007/09/17/bushs-battlefield-envy/

Bush’s total time in country? Less than 15 hours.