Bush in Britain....

During his visit to the UK, Bush wants to offer his prayers and tell the bereaved families their loved ones did not die in vain.

But Reg Keys, who lost his 20-year-old son Tom in June 2002, said he holds Bush and Tony Blair responsible for his death.

"I don't know how the man (Bush) has the nerve to show his face in his country after costing the lives of 53 British servicemen," said Mr Keys, of Llanuwchllyn, near Bala.

[...]

Mr Keys said other nations had the "backbone" to stand up to waging war on Saddam Hussein.

Mr Keys said: "I haven't had an invitation for an interview with Mr Bush, if I did I would literally walk from Wales to London to meet the man, look him in the eye and tell what I think of him.

"They didn't die for a noble cause, they died for Bush's political reasons, they were just sacrificial lambs."

[...]

"As Tom used to say in his phone calls - 'Dad, you will never westernise this country, they will never be democratic, there are too many tribal factions in this country for it to be a democracy'."

"He felt they were getting nowhere, they would try to train Iraqi police, you couldn't trust them anyway, you could put them in charge of weapon searches and they would just let their friends drive through with weapons.

"He felt it was futile, they were trying to impose Western values on a country which would not be westernised."

Bush's official response to the prospect of meeting anti-war protestors in Britain has been along the lines of "they're lucky to live in a country where people are free to say anything." This echoes--almost verbatim--what he said about protestors in Australia.

As for Bush's own country, I've seen damn few articles in any mainstream media as heartbreakingly critical as this short BBC piece. What does that say about our freedom to "say anything" and have it be heard?

Moreover, good luck getting within a mile of President Bush with any sort of anti-administration protest sign.

Complete story here.