For Fourth, Bush Accentuates Military
President Links Anti-Terrorism War With Colonists' Fight for Independence

By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 5, 2003; Page A02


DAYTON, Ohio, July 4 -- President Bush waxed patriotic today, using the 227th birthday of the United States to link the founding of the nation with his administration's heavy reliance on the U.S. military.

In a speech laced with praise of U.S. troops and of freedom, Bush portrayed his anti-terrorist focus as an extension of the colonial resentments of British tyranny that produced the Revolutionary War.

At a time when the war in Iraq and persistent violence in its aftermath are being challenged by Democrats, traditional U.S. allies and much of the Iraqi population, Bush issued a fresh defense of the administration's Iraq policies. And he indicated that he would not hesitate to deploy forces whenever, and wherever, he considers military intervention in the best interest of the United States and local populations around the globe.

In a reference to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the defining event of his presidency, Bush said: "The United States will not stand by and wait for another attack, or trust in the restraint and good intentions of evil men."

"Without America's active involvement in the world, the ambitions of tyrants would go unopposed, and millions would live at the mercy of terrorists," he said before a wildly receptive crowd estimated at 25,000 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. "We will act whenever it is necessary to protect the lives and the liberty of the American people."

Today's appearance was a coup for Dayton, timed to coincide with an elaborate Inventing Flight celebration that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the beginning of flight by the Wright Brothers, the city's most famous native sons. Bush noted that occasion, saying, "I wonder what Wilbur and Orville would have thought if they had seen the flying machine I came on today."

He arrived the day after a lavish opening ceremony, the work of a Los Angeles production company, on a stage meant to look like an airport runway. At midday today, Bush's backdrop was no less laden with its own symbolism.

He spoke from an outdoor stage at the base's Air Force Museum, the largest military aviation museum in the world. Framing him were a giant flag, star-spangled banners and bunting, and several aircraft from the Air Force's Tactical Air Command -- including bombers used in Iraq.

The image cloaked him in military trappings more tightly than at any time since early May, when, dressed in a flight suit, he staged a controversial landing on an aircraft carrier off the California coast to declare that "active combat operations" in Iraq had ended.

Shortly before noon today, the crowd members baking in strong sun and heat, rose to their feet and looked skyward as Air Force One completed a near-full circle overhead before touching down on the base -- the third time the president has landed at Wright-Patterson in the past year. It was hot enough that Bush shed his coat and tie, appearing in a blue shirt with open collar and rolled-up sleeves.

The White House's choice to link Bush to the military's aura -- his aides plan to make his military leadership a significant theme of the 2004 campaign -- was a departure from his Fourth of July speeches the first two years of his presidency. In Philadelphia in 2001 and Ripley, W.Va., last year, he emphasized his belief in the importance of religion in American life, a theme he touched lightly today.

Instead, he declared, "Our nation is still at war. The enemies of America plot against us." But he blended that message with his characteristic emphasis on "compassion."

"Listen, we are a strong and powerful nation because we've got a great military, but we're also strong because we are a nation of fine hearts," he said. And in a preview of his trip to several African nations next week, he noted that the United States is expanding its investment in work to prevent and treat AIDS in 14 countries that have been ravaged by the disease -- a dozen of them on the African continent.

Today's event was an official presidential appearance, not a campaign event. But Bush arrived in western Ohio at a time in which his fledgling reelection campaign is devoting heavy attention to the state, which is considered crucial in next year's presidential race.

Five days ago, Vice President Cheney attended a fundraiser in Akron, Ohio, which raised $600,000. Less than a week before that, first lady Laura Bush was in Cincinnati, where she read to schoolchildren and spoke at a fundraiser hosted by a wealthy businessman and old friend, Mercer Reynolds III, who is the Bush campaign's finance chairman.

White House senior adviser Karl Rove was to headline another fundraiser here a month ago, although his appearance was postponed.

After speaking here, the president returned to the White House, where he was to watch the fireworks tonight.



© 2003 The Washington Post Company

...bailed out of Philly for the Fourth (because 10,000 Protesters were eagerly awaiting him) the pResident scheps into a Military Base to regale them with his bravery.

I think I am going to be sick. Bleccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

BUSH LIED AND PEOPLE DIED. But it wasn't anyone who counts he didn't know any of them and none of his Cronies Kids could show up for the "Party".