Bush says Iraq occupation forced him to give up golf

Last year, when Laura Bush told NBC's Ann Curry that "no one suffers more than" George W. Bush over the tragedy in Iraq, many Americans cocked their heads to the side and said, "huh?"

What on earth could that have meant?

Was Mrs. Bush saying that the suffering of the wives and husbands, the parents and chilren of American troops in Iraq paled in comparison to that of George W. Bush, who boasted infamously that he sleeps "much better than a lot of people would assume"? Could she have possibly meant that her husband was suffering more than the wounded and maimed soldiers fighting for basic medical care in poorly-run military hospitals? Was she suggesting, in defiance of all human decency, that her husband was in greater distress than the Iraqi people, of whom hundreds of thousands have been killed, and millions displaced?

What, we wondered, could Laura Bush have possibly been talking about?

Now, perhaps, we know.

US President George W. Bush said in an interview out Tuesday that he quit playing golf in 2003 out of respect for the families of US soldiers killed in the conflict in Iraq, now in its sixth year.

"I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal," he said in an interview for Yahoo! News and Politico magazine.

"I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf," he said. "I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them."

I suspect that if you asked most people with loved ones in Iraq, they would probably say they couldn't care less whether Bush plays golf or not. I suspect that if Bush really wanted to show "solidarity" with the troops and their families, he might start by explaining honestly just why on earth they are in Iraq, and then by letting them know when they might be able to come home.

Don't forget that this is the same George W. Bush who ate birthday cake with John McCain while New Orleans drowned.



Am I really supposed to believe that this man - this man - had that much compassion for the troops and their families?



Please.