My husband died in vain: What one British widow will tell Mr Bush this week

The Independent on Sunday (U.K.) ^ | 11/16/03 | Severin Carrell and Andrew Buncombe

[Pokey78]

President George Bush will be accused this week of lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in a face-to-face meeting with the families of British soldiers killed in the war, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

Mr Bush announced last week he was prepared to meet a small group of families of the British war dead. The names have not been officially revealed but two of the invited families have come forward to talk exclusively to the IoS, saying they will challenge the US President to explain why he went to war without a United Nations mandate and why no chemical and biological weapons have been found.

Lianne Seymour, whose husband, Commando Ian Seymour, was killed in a helicopter crash at the outbreak of the war, welcomed the chance to meet Mr Bush. But she dismissed his claim that the 53 Britons killed so far in Iraq had died in a good cause. She said: "Bush has been suggesting that he's going to put our minds at rest. He suggests our husbands' lives weren't lost in vain. However, I'm going to challenge him on it.

"They misled the guys going out there. You can't just do something wrong and hope you find a good reason for it later. That's why we have all the UN guidelines in the first place."

Another relative, Tony Maddison, whose stepson Marine Christopher Maddison was killed, allegedly by friendly fire, during a battle near Basra, said: "I'm beginning to feel Mr Blair has been a puppet, so I'm looking forward to meeting Bush, to ask: 'What are you doing to our Prime Minister? Look what he's doing to our country.'"

Mr Maddison and his wife, Julie, suspect that the spectre of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was raised to "frighten" the country into war, although they think it was right to topple Saddam. "We've gone to war for the wrong reasons," he said. "I'm still hoping that weapons of mass destruction will be discovered, but I'm beginning to think we were being lied to."

Details of Mr Bush's meeting with the families are being kept secret for security reasons, but it is expected to take place at the end of the week at an undisclosed location in London.

The three-day state visit this week will be met by an unprecedented security operation. About 5,000 police officers and 250 US secret service agents will guard the President and cover a series of protests being planned. The scale of the antipathy many Britons feel towards Mr Bush was revealed last night by a YouGov poll in which 60 per cent of those questioned branded him a threat to world peace.

In a significant about-turn, the police are expected to allow the largest march, on Thursday, to go past Downing Street and Parliament in a bid to avert violent clashes with hardline demonstrators.

Among the marchers will be the sister of Lieutenant Philip Green, a Royal Navy helicopter pilot killed in a crash in the Gulf. Juliet McGrory, whose father, Richard Green, has fiercely attacked the war, said: "Bush says my brother died for a 'noble cause', which, after the pain of recent months, I find an incredible statement. I don't understand how killing innocent civilians can possibly be described as a 'noble cause'. The trip is nothing more than a masquerade and a PR opportunity."

The state visit can hardly have come at a worse time for Mr Bush, with polls in the US showing that public confidence over his ability to deal with the problems in Iraq is falling. For the first time, more than 50 per cent have said they "disapprove" of the way he is handling the situation.

The trip threatens to be a PR disaster for the President and his officials have tried - apparently in vain - to ensure that is he kept as far away from demonstrators as possible.

Asked this week about the protesters he will encounter in the capital, Mr Bush said: "I don't expect everybody in the world to agree with the positions I've taken. I'm so pleased to be going to a country which says that people are allowed to express their minds. That's fantastic. Freedom is a beautiful thing."

Quite how his meeting the families of British servicemen killed in Iraq will be perceived at home is unclear: the President has not attended the funerals of any of the American troops killed. Nor has he visited any of the thousands of injured troops who have returned to the US.

[Old Sarge]

Brits.

[Pukin Dog]

Nor has he visited any of the thousands of injured troops who have returned to the US.

A baldface lie.

Enjoy your socialism you brown-teeth bastards.

[Rome2000]

The Indepenent, continuing in the traditon of Tokyo Rose and Axis Sally, disperisng enemy lies and propaganda in an attempt to destroy morale and sap us of our will to fight.

Mildred Elizabeth Sisk (aka Axis Sally) was 56-years-old when she began serving a federal prison sentence for treason in 1949. Working for Radio Berlin, Axis Sally--pictured here in a Bureau of Prisons mug shot--was infamous for her anti-Semitic and anti-Roosevelt propaganda broadcasts before and during World War II.

U.S.-born Iva Toguri D'Aquino, who was dubbed "Tokyo Rose" for broadcasting anti-American propaganda from Japan during World War II, was convicted of treason and sent to federal prison for about seven years (this picture was taken at the lockup in Alderson, West Virginia). D'Aquino was pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977.

thesmokinggun.com

[Jeff Head]

A real shame that they will tarnish the memory and sacrifice of their loved ones.

[ladyinred]

The very sad thing is the lady is the one who has been lied to. President Bush didn't lie, the leftist's are the liars. Her husband did not die in vain, and it's tragic that she will forever think so.

[PeteFromMontana]

I smell politics at work here, has anyone seen Carville in England lately?

[JudgemAll]

OK, who is the volunteer soldier here? As for mislead... it's uterly ridiculous to feel mislead when told to shoot at Saddamites... but then again, it seems she would hold the view that Fedayeen or PA terrorists have a righteous cause on the other hand.

[91B]

Why is it incumbent for our President to meet with the families of soldiers killed from another country? If these relatives want to get answers about why their troops died let them ask their own elected officials. President Bush was not the one who decided to send their loved ones to combat, it's as if they think that they don't have their own government. The Brits decided to do what they did for their own reasons. I'm glad that they supported us, but Bush didn't "do" anything to Blair. One would hope that an elected head of government would be man enough to make his own decisions.

[cake_crumb]

President George Bush WILL be accused?? Uh...the weeping widow is getting the story out AHEAD of time?? Kinda detracts from any attempt at a show of raw emotion. ANNOUNCING it ahead of time makes it look...well...STAGED. REHEARSED, even.

LMAO. The left used to be better at manipulating the public's emotions than this.

Now they look like a low rent sideshow act where the bearded lady's beard is a fake and the strongmen lifts styrofoam barbells.

[Pedantic_Lady]

I smell politics at work here, has anyone seen Carville in England lately?

Nope. I'm in England...haven't seen his mug here recently.

[Pedantic_Lady]

I think it's actually a good idea; most British people see this war as America's war. A lot of people here feel that the UK is merely along for the ride because Blair can't say no to Bush. The armed forces here are a volunteer force, but the British have a right to feel the way they feel, especially when they're losing husbands, wives, sons, and daughters in this conflict. Members of the British military volunteer for service, but they don't pick their assignments. If they're posted to Iraq, they have to go...whether they agree with it or not.

There is a great deal of pain and outrage over this conflict in the UK.

[jocon307]

"D'Aquino was pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977."

She was pardoned, I didn't know that. What a disgrace. All these people should be shipped to the middle east and forced to live under Muslim hegemony. Let them see how they like it.

I can't stand these quislings!

[91B]

If Blair "can't say no to Bush" then you have a Tony Blair problem, not a George Bush problem, and you need to take it up with Tony Blair. George Bush has to answer to his own constituents, not Blair's.

[NicknamedBob]

"...I'm beginning to think we were being lied to."

Of course you were being lied to, and you still are. But not by Bush and not by Blair.

What kind of twisted military genius was Saddam Hussein, who led the world to believe he had WMD if he didn't? We know he used to have them, because he used them.

I find so many parallels between Saddam Hussein and Adolf Hitler, it's intriguing. 'Let's lose the war so we can attack them from behind.' What a maroon.

[jocon307]

"...most British people see this war as America's war. "

Well let me say this, most British people, and most American people, and most people everywhere better get a clue. This is a war for Western Civilization. For 40 years, or more, jihadists of the Muslim persuasion have been trying to destroy our civilization. They want to impose Islam at the point of the sword. They want to kill and/or subjagate all Christians, all Jews, all Hindus and all others and rule the world.

My beloved W and my much beloved Blair are against that. They are right. The sob-sisters of the left are wrong. I for one will not don the burkha. Any Brits dames who wish to do so have my sympathy.

Are you getting it yet?

[Pedantic_Lady]

If Blair "can't say no to Bush" then you have a Tony Blair problem, not a George Bush problem, and you need to take it up with Tony Blair. George Bush has to answer to his own constituents, not Blair's.

I don't disagree with that; we DO have a problem with Blair. Not only has he pretty much gone along with everything Bush has asked him to (even when it has been bad for Britain and against the wishes of his constituents), he's a disgusting liar and despicable politician to boot. During his time in office, schools have gotten worse, NHS waiting lists longer, crime up in double digits, gun crime in certain areas up in TRIPLE digits, and house price inflation is out of control.

Unfortunately, it isn't as simple as "voting him out." His own party (Labour) has to want him out before he can be thrown out of office. His likely successor is Gordon Brown, who is even WORSE. The only hope for getting rid of him is voting in the Conservatives at the next election (which probably won't happen) or the Lib Dems, who don't have enough support.

We're stuck with Labour for a while.

[wimpycat]

Nor has he visited any of the thousands of injured troops who have returned to the US.

That's a HUGE lie.

[Howlin]

If this doesn't prove that George W. Bush is a better man than most of us, nothing will.

To meet with these people, knowing the trashing he is going to get, is beyond my comprehension.

Compassionate conservative.

[Pedantic_Lady]

Hey...all I'm trying to do is to explain popular opinion in this country and why some people here behave the way they do, and you're biting my head off. How 'bout a little tolerance and understanding? I'm actually IN the UK, have been for almost 3 years, so my finger is on the British pulse.