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Bush: 4,000 US Lives 'Were Not Lost in Vain'

Prez suffers worse 'burden' than military families, Cheney says

By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 24, 2008 7:29 PM CDT
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(Newser) – President Bush sympathizes with the families of 4,000 Americans slain in Iraq, he said today. They "were not lost in vain. One day, people will look back at this moment in history and say, 'Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve,'" CNN reports. In an ABC interview, Dick Cheney said Bush's "burden" in the war is even greater than that of grieving American families.

"The president carries the biggest burden, obviously," Cheney said. "He's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans." Earlier today, Gen. David Petraeus met with Bush to endorse a 1- to 2-month "pause" in the US troop drawdown from Iraq. Cheney said supports the pause but would not commit to future reductions.  "It may be that we can make judgements about reductions down the road," he said.

President Bush, accompanied by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, makes a statement maintaining that the 4,000 US servicemen killed in Iraq were laying the foundations for peace.
President Bush, accompanied by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, makes a statement maintaining that the 4,000 US servicemen killed in Iraq were laying "the foundations for peace."   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Remarking on the mounting death toll in Iraq today, Vice President Dick Cheney reminded the nation that President Bush carries the biggest burden, obviously.
Remarking on the mounting death toll in Iraq today, Vice President Dick Cheney reminded the nation that President Bush "carries the biggest burden, obviously."   (AP Photo/Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Allen,US Air Force, HO)
President Bush makes a statement at the State Department in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2008, maintaining that the 4,000 US servicemen killed in Iraq were laying the foundations for peace.
President Bush makes a statement at the State Department in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2008, maintaining that the 4,000 US servicemen killed in Iraq were laying "the foundations for peace."   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Bush makes a statement at the State Department in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2008, maintaining that the 4,000 US servicemen killed in Iraq were laying the foundations for peace.
President Bush makes a statement at the State Department in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2008, maintaining that the 4,000 US servicemen killed in Iraq were laying "the foundations for peace."   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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Iraq • War on Terror • Dick Cheney • US military • Iraq death toll • sympathy • Iraq war • George W. Bush

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