Let's talk about replacing GWBush in 2004.

"We've got about 10,000 troops there, which is down from, obviously, major combat operations," he said. "And they're there to provide security and they're there to provide reconstruction help. But both those functions are being gradually replaced by other troops. Germany, for example, is now providing the troops for ISAF [International Security Assistance Force], which is the security force for Afghanistan, under NATO control. In other words, more and more coalition forces and friends are beginning to carry a lot of the burden in Afghanistan."

As I write, 26 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq since President Bush began his August vacation.

The President has been busy during his vacation. He's traveled to several fundraising events, for example, and played a lot of golf. However, he has yet to attend a single funeral or speak to even one widow or orphan or mother of our dead soldiers.
As I write, on August 22, President Bush is in the northwest. He's making a couple of speeches in Burbank, WA, and attending a private fundraising luncheon at the Seattle home of cell phone magnate Craig McCaw.

While in Washington, Bush might have made time to contact the family of Army Specialist Justin Hebert, 20, of Arlington, WA. A rocket-propelled grenade killed Spc. Hebert, serving in Iraq, on August 1 as President Bush traveled to Crawford to begin his vacation.

In today's speeches, he might have mentioned the name of Private First Class Duane Longstreth, 19, of Tacoma, WA. Pfc. Longstreth and his mother, Specialist Jennifer West, both joined the Army after September 11 to fight terrorism.

On August 8, Spc.West was serving with an Army communications unit in Germany when she was told her son was dead.

On August 8, President Bush spoke to reporters outside his ranch home about deaths in Iraq. "We suffer when we lose life," the president said. This President suffers very privately, however. He does not attend funerals; he does not speak to bereaved families on the phone.

On August 9, the President treated some of his supporters to a private barbeque near his ranch. The Bush re-election campaign shuttled about 350 top fund-raisers to Crawford, Texas, for the event. The favored few had collected $50,000 each for the privilege of chowing down with the President and his advisor, Karl Rove.

On August 9, Specialist Levi B. Kinchen, 21, of Tickfaw, LA, died in Baghdad. A fellow soldier tried to wake Spc. Kinchen and noticed he was not breathing. The Department of Defense has not released a cause of death for Spc. Kinchen.

On August 12, the President raised more than a million dollars for his re-election campaign at a reception in Denver. According to the Denver Post, 375 invited donors paid $2,000 each to snack on ham and roast beef sandwiches, spinach puffs and chicken.

On August 12, Sergeant Taft Williams, 29, died when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Iraq. Williams's wife, Staff Sgt. Ethelmay Williams, was with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team in Iraq when she learned of her husband's death. The couple have a young son.

Also on August 12, in Iraq, Private First Class Timmy Brown, 21, died when his vehicle was bombed. Staff Sergeant Richard S. Eaton, Jr., 37, died in his sleep, possibly as a result of heat stress.

On July 27, shortly before President Bush began his vacation, the Stars and Stripes published a letter from Pfc. John Bendetti in Tallil, Iraq. "During the day the temperature reaches 127 degrees in the shade," he wrote. "Due to a lack of bottled water, each soldier has been limited to two 1.5 liter bottles a day. We've had two soldiers drop out due to heat-related injuries. ... There will continue to be more heat casualties until something is done."

Private First Class David M. Kirchhoff, 31, died August 14 of heatstroke. Pfc. Kirchhoff, serving in Iraq with the Army National Guard, was the father of two children.

On August 14, the day Pfc. Kirchhoff died, a massive power blackout spread through much of the northeast United States. President Bush did not speak to the nation for four and a half hours after the blackout began. Eventually, he made a brief statement to reporters before leaving his suite at the Grant Hyatt Hotel in San Diego to make a speech at a $1 million fund-raising dinner.

Specialist Daniel Parker was from southern California, a few miles northwest of San Diego. His parents might have been comforted if the President had called. Spc. Parker was 18 years old. He died August 12 in Iraq.

Barbara