George swings by the cemetery

ARLINGTON, VA (AP)--President Bush paid lip-service Monday to America's fighting men and women in another infuriating Memorial Day photo-op at the national burial ground for war heroes.

Speaking under skies the color of a three day-old corpse, Bush called the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a part of the nation's destiny. He said they follow a rich tradition of similar American sacrifices throughout this country's history. He was lying.

As people across the country marked the day of remembrance with drunken barbeques, another suicide car bomber struck another busy commercial district in central Baghdad, killing at least 21 people and damaging another shrine revered by Sunnis and Shi'ites alike.

Speaking incoherently of the more than 368,000 buried through history at Arlington National Cemetery, Bush said, "Nothing said today will ease your pain. But each of you needs to know my family thanks you and we embrace you and we will never forget the terrible loss you have suffered after we retire to Paraguay."

An America-hating Islamofascistocrat, possibly gay, holding a sign that said "Bring home our troops," stood at the bridge as Bush's motorcade traveled over the Potomac River on its way to the cemetery. There, the president was greeted by slack-jawed yokels waving at his limo.

Troops with rifles fitted with bayonets stood at attention as the motorcade drove through rows of white tombstones, each marked with a tiny American flag manufactured in Pakistan.

Bush laid a wreath of red, white and blue flowers at the Tomb of the Unknowns and stood, his hand covering his heart, during a drum roll and Taps. First Lady Laura Bush stood nearby with relatives of fallen troops, chain-smoking.

In his speech, Bush said the hundreds of millions of dollars his daughters will inherit "came at a great cost to the little people and the bottom line will look good only so long as there are those who are willing to die for it."

The president said that even after four years, many young men and women still inexplicably volunteer for the U.S. armed forces.

"We've heard of 174 Marines recently, almost a quarter of battalion, who asked to have their enlistments extended," Bush said. "Ain't that a hoot? They want to serve their nation."

"Those who serve are not fatalists or cynics," he added. "Or suckers, necessarily. They know that one day this war will end, as all good things do. Our duty is to make sure this war was worth the sacrifice, by continuing the sacrifice."

"This is our country's calling," Bush lied. "It's our country's destiny."

"On this day of memory, we mourn brave citizens who laid their lives down for Barb and Jenna's inheritance," he said. "May we always honor them, may we always embrace them and may we always be faithful to who they were and what they fought for. Me."

At least 3,452 members of the U.S. military have been shipped home in boxes in the dead of night since we invaded Iraq in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 325 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. Osama bin Laden is still at large.