Laura Bush to travel to Middle East in October

[sabra]

Source: ABC News/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. First Lady Laura Bush plans to visit the Middle East in October on a public diplomacy tour, the White House said on Monday.

The White House would not say which countries she would visit but said that among the themes of the trip will be her effort to promote awareness about breast cancer. She will also discuss education initiatives, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

The announcement of the trip comes as U.S. President George W. Bush, was due to hold meetings in New York aimed at laying the groundwork for a U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian peace conference to be held in November in an as yet unannounced venue.

Read more: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3643057

[goclark]

1. Excellent she is on a worthwhile mission

and she is away from GW at the same time.

[hlthe2b]

2. Not my first thought...

Rather, haven't those in the ME suffered enough? :eyes: Sorry, but how anyone can have respect for Pickles remaining, is beyond me. What exactly HAS she done as first lady...?

[goclark]

8. If she can help anyone understand anything that

will help them with Cancer, that is fine IMO.
As far as the rest of your statement, I agree totally. :)

[MasonJar]

12. Now do NOT be unfair. After all she cancelled her poetry reading party

when some invitees wanted to read anti-war poems back in 2002ish! No sarcasm intended of course!

[hlthe2b]

15. yeah... and she's cleaned up all the gangs, right?

I mean she's a one woman guarantee that all Shrub's promises are kept.... Next up, off to Mars, Laura!!!!!!!





:sarcasm:

[0rganism]

3. I trust she'll get a warmer reception there than the Iranian president got here

Let's hope the Saudis really dig that message about breast cancer, especially the part where she shows them diagrams of how to do a self-exam through a burqa...

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

4. I thought public diplomacy was Karen Hughes job

Karen Hughes’ “Listening Tour” and Its Aftermath

http://www.washington-report.org/archives/December_2005/0512024.html

[stillcool]

5. aw shucks....

she's going to miss all the fun..

NORTHCOM Plans 5 Day Martial Law Exercise (Oct. 15-20)
By Lee Rogers - Intel Strike Contributing Writer

The United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) has just announced plans for an anti-terrorism exercise called Vigilant Shield 08. The exercise which is slated to run from October 15th to October 20th is described as a way to prepare, prevent and respond to any number of national crises. The exercise is simply a test case scenario for the implementation of martial law. Although the description of the exercise is disturbing, USNORTHCOM also announced that they are more prepared for a natural disaster and a terrorist attack after they used their response to Hurricane Katrina as a test laboratory. During Hurricane Katrina, authorities violated the constitutional rights of citizens by stealing people’s firearms and even relocating people against their will. These announcements are incredibly disturbing on a number of levels as the nature of Vigilant Shield 08 and the admission that Hurricane Katrina was used as a test laboratory shows that the government is actively preparing the military and government institutions for martial law.

Below is the full press release from USNORTHCOM describing Vigilant Shield 08. Also check out the Vigilant Shield 08 fact sheet by clicking here: http://www.northcom.mil/News/2007/VS-08_fact_sheet.pdf
North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command along with U.S. Pacific Command, the Department of Homeland Security as well as local, state and other federal responders will exercise their response abilities against a variety of potential threats during Exercise Vigilant Shield ‘08, a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-designated, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)-sponsored, and U.S. Joint Forces Command-supported Department of Defense exercise for homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities missions.

VS-08 will be conducted concurrent with Top Officials 4 (TOPOFF 4), the nation’s premier exercise of terrorism preparedness sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, and several other linked exercises as part of the National Level Exercise 1-08. These linked exercises will take place Ocober 15-20 and are being conducted throughout the United States and in conjunction with several partner nations including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as the Territory of Guam.

VS-08 and National Level Exercise 1-08 will provide local, state, tribal, interagency, Department of Defense, and non-governmental organizations and agencies involved in homeland security and homeland defense the opportunity to participate in a full range of exercise scenarios that will better prepare participants to prevent and respond to national crises. The participating organizations will conduct a multi-layered, civilian-led response to a national crisis...
http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=4185

[Hulk]

6. Hot damn....she'll finally learn where it is.

I'm sure this lady is a wondeful person, but intelligent, ambitious, independent minded....is a real stretch.

I doubt she even knows where the Middle East is. She is the biggest ZERO as a first lady that this country has had in recent history.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. Laura may be the only person left connected to this administration

who might possibly get a warm reception in the Middle East. There may be no one else to send on a diplomacy tour.

[rodeodance]

9. you forget--We still have Karen Hughes

te he

[madrchsod]

10. she`s decided that going anywhere with him is a major downer

i think she`s decided to actually make something out of herself, not for him, but herself.

[Bitwit1234]

11. And yet the bush administration has just cut

chemo therapy for low income people in this country. How more inhumane can this administration get. I wonder if they are not all robots. Sent here by some agency from outer space to ruin the world so they can take over.

[chelsea0011]

13. We can pay for this shit but no money for insuring kids?

[tanyev]

14. She'll leave the pain in the neck at home this time.

[Doctor_J]

16. Snark

snigger. a Hail Mary from the worst and most hated regime in history. Luckily for democracy the slobbering GOP media minions are just as hated and mistrusted as * himself. Their fawning coverage of this pathetic spectacle will be ignored and ridiculed.

[JeanGrey]

17. I wish somebody would promote awareness of

lung cancer. It is the #1 cancer killer - more than all the others combined, and last figures I saw showed that a fourth of all new cancer victims are either non-smokes or never smokers. And yet we spend a fraction of the research cost on lung cancer we do on breast cancer. I have a friend who is 42 and battling stage 4 lung cancer - never smoker and vegetarian. She tells me some people have started avoiding her because they can't wrap their minds around the fact that they are not safe from lung cancer. Even doctors won't endorse early screening by cat scan for those most at risk which means a lot of people are dying for nothing.

[Sonora Nora]

20. laura's trippin'

And as an ambassador w/an anticancer message, what about her chain-smoking? What about her own dirty lil secret? How hypocritical can a bush be?

[JeanGrey]

24. I'm glad for anything that raises funds for cancer - I'd just like

to see some thrown at lung cancer the No 1 killer.

[WritersBlock]

18. Gonna stop off in Iraq & drop off the twins, Laura?

Whole bunch of folks their age are already there to keep them company.

[Demeter]

19. Does Anyone Else Think This Is Nuts?

Would you send your spouse to the Middle East if you were planning to bomb Iran, had an out-of-control occupation in full flame, and couldn't visit yourself without doing so under cover of darkness?

Does W hate Laura that much? Is her death the pretext for the next war?

What would drive her to do such a foolish, dangerous thing? Hoping for the release of death?

I can't wrap my mind around how (or if) these people think.

[Javaman]

22. I was thinking the exact same thing...

perhaps there is trouble in paradise and moron* needs it to look like an accident.

[Marrah_G]

21. I just have to say this

At least in a Burka she won't be able to make her usual hideous wardrobe picks. Unfortunately, the veil won't hide those scary ass, drugged out eyes.

[InkAddict]

23. Someone rubbed the Magic Lantern

perhaps in Dubai UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, or Turkey? Cross arms/blink eyes. There are some FABULOUS hotels/spas (some dry--a world without alcohol).

Genie to teach self-exams in the harems? Political discourse for pillow time?

Perhaps she fancies herself Anna?

Does The Clinic need to fill up a new floor or want a new wing?

BW reward security assignments?


All quite cynical thoughts, I know.

[bdamomma]

25. oh please Laura just stay home.

[truthisfreedom]

29. Or, just stay there.

Maybe they want her.

[HuffleClaw]

26. a ploy to make her a martyr and thus a justification for war?

or just plain lunacy?

[snooper2]

27. That's what I was thinking...

He's sending her over there to have her killed, he won't have to give her any money, and he can start banging Condi on a regular basis.

[HuffleClaw]

28. it is the sort of casual yet calculated sort of brutality i'd expect from bush

in EVERY speech i've seen him give he smirks/giggles when talking about death and he could get a LOT of mileage from her demise 'at the hands of the evildoers'. he's got his 'war authorization' now, he can do what he likes. all he needs is an excuse.