Fireworks in Washington, despair around the world (Guardian)

If I was in Bush’s position, there is no way that I would have had a massive party to celebrate my inaugration, especially one lasting three days and costing tens of millions of pounds. It’s just tasteless.

Imagine that there are soldiers far from home dying because you put them in harm’s way. How on Earth could you even consider going out and throwing the biggest party in Washington’s history? The guilt of sending hundreds of young men to their deaths would be all-consuming, and any public appearances would be subdued and reflective. And if you were to invite servicemen to the White House, would you really want to invite them to a ball? Or would this seem rather flippant and inappropriate, given that their colleagues are still in danger in Iraq? How can anyone throw a party to celebrate the horrors of sending someone to war? Fireworks seem particularly inappropriate.

This administration has a terrible record on this issue. I cannot tell you how terrible it made me feel to think that Donald Rumsfeld could not even be bothered to personally sign letters of condolence.

I hope that some of these people point these failures out to Mr Bush. Perhaps it will alert him to the true horror of war, which he really doesn’t seem to understand.