Hello all.
I was part of a unique demonstration in Portland, Oregon today and wanted to let you all know about it. A group of military family members and veterans hand-delivered a letter to Condoleezza Rice, a letter signed by 141 military folks who are concerned about President Bush's poor leadership on the War in Iraq.
See below for our story.
Update [2004-9-8 13:52:14 by pacific city]:
I posted the entire letter in the comments below.
Today we hand-delivered a letter to Condoleezza Rice and asked her to give it to President Bush. The letter was signed by 141 military family members and veterans from Oregon and expressed our concerns about the Bush Administration's poor leadership in Iraq. Here's an excerpt:
President Bush, do you believe enough in the quality of your leadership to
send your own daughters into Iraq? For the families of our military men and
women, this is not a hypothetical question. They deserve stronger
leadership than they have now. They deserve a president who brings allies
together and conducts a truly effective war on terror.
Our voices are among the voices that have been ignored for too long by your
administration. But we are now making them heard.
(the letter is pretty long, but if you want me to send you the text or post in comments, I'll be glad to do so.)
Here's how the day played out:
Condoleezza Rice gave a speech today to the World Affairs Council in Portland. We gathered a group of 40-50 military family members and veterans near the Convention Center where she was to give her speech. And as a group, we marched to the Convention Center, read our letter in front of lots of media and walked inside.
she will actually read the letter.
[A few comments on her speech: The topic was the War in Iraq. And within the first two minutes, Ms. Rice mentioned 9/11. No big surprise and she continued to repeat the same Bush Administration justifications and talking points we have all heard since the war started. "America and the world are safer...", "Iraq is part of the war on terror...", "We are laying the foundation for democracy in the Middle East...". Still no ability for her or any other Bush surrogates to acknowledge the failures and admit that changes need to be made. The status quo in Iraq is simply unacceptable.]