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(05/07/04 4:21am)
WASHINGTON, D.C., -- Escalating criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the U.S. military's abuse of Iraqi prisoners raised new questions Thursday as to whether Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would hold on to his job.\nIn an editorial, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch called for Rumsfeld to resign over the "botched handling" of the investigation into the prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and over earlier Iraq war decisions. And, a column in The New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman called on President Bush to fire Rumsfeld "today, not tomorrow or next month."\nAsked about the column, Republican Sen. John McCain told CBS' "The Early Show," "I don't presume to tell the president what he should do, but it's obvious that there's a lot of explaining that Secretary Rumsfeld and others have to do."\nPublicly, President Bush has stood by his defense secretary, though White House aides said he made it clear to Rumsfeld on Wednesday that he was displeased over not learning about the pictures of U.S. soldiers posing with hooded or naked Iraqi prisoners until the images aired on national television.\n"I've got some confidence in the secretary of defense, and I've got confidence in the commanders on the ground in Iraq," the president said during an interview Wednesday with the U.S.-sponsored Al-Hurra television network. Bush promised "people will be held to account" for the prisoner abuses.\nWhether Rumsfeld will be one of those people remained unclear.\nTwo Bush advisers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that Bush stood firmly behind Rumsfeld despite what one called the "mild rebuke." They said it was important that the Arab world and the American people know that Bush was unhappy with the way he was informed of the prisoner abuse, suggesting that leaking word of the rebuke was a political and diplomatic maneuver rather than a signal that Rumsfeld's job is in trouble.\nRumsfeld himself has deflected questions about whether he should resign. But as the defense secretary prepared for Friday's congressional hearing on the prison abuses, the chorus of criticism gathered strength.\nIn its Thursday editions, the Post-Dispatch called for Rumsfeld's resignation not only because of the prisoner abuses but also because Rumsfeld "seriously underestimated" both the number of U.S. troops needed in the Iraq conflict and the threat from weapons of mass destruction posed by Saddam Hussein's government.\n"It's the accumulation of all these miscalculations, misconceptions and missteps -- and an arrogant inability to admit his mistakes -- that require him to step down," the editorial said.\nRumsfeld was the architect of the Iraq war -- and his department largely controlled the postwar occupation. As that occupation has become plagued by wide-ranging problems, including a stubborn insurgency, the criticism of him has grown. There were complaints that reconstruction contracts were not issued competitively and that there were too few U.S. soldiers on hand to secure the country.\nBut the complaints have crystallized now -- especially among Democrats, but even among Republicans -- over the pictures of prisoner abuse by U.S. forces, and whether the Pentagon informed Congress or the president soon enough about the growing investigations.\n"The Congress ... has been kept completely in the dark," McCain said.\nRumsfeld was to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday.\n"Get Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Myers a new job," Ivo Daalder, national security expert at the Center for American Progress, said, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, in his criticism.\n"The notion here that we can somehow deal with this in the normal routines of business ought to be dispensed with," added Daalder, a former senior official at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration and a foreign-policy adviser to former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean. "This is something that requires drastic action."\nAlthough the Bush administration has offered few specifics on how far it will take its quest for accountability, it has shown little inclination to go after top Pentagon brass like Rumsfeld and Myers.\nAnd troubles in Iraq don't necessarily translate into trouble for Rumsfeld, said Peter Brookes, diplomacy and national security expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.\n"Just like in a sporting match, if the game doesn't go the way you want when you take the field, you don't pick up the ball and go home," Brookes said. "You have to adjust your game"
(03/03/04 4:24am)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Bush administration rejected Tuesday bids for power in Haiti by rebels and insisted they lay down their arms and return to their homes.\nThere is a political process under way to pick up after the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and "the rebels do not have a role in this process," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.\n"The rebels have to lay down their arms and go home," Boucher said in rejecting a declaration by rebel leader Guy Philippe that he had become the new chief of Haiti's military and other assertions of power by other rebels.\nRoger Noriega, the assistant secretary of state for the region, said of Philippe, "He is not in control of anything but a ragtag band of people."\nThe buildup of the international presence in Haiti will make Philippe's role "less and less central in Haitian life," Noriega told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "And I think he will probably want to make himself scarce."\nAsked when that would be, Noriega said within the next few days. "We have sent that message to him. He obviously hasn't received it."\nThe Bush administration, meanwhile, tried to set aside the controversy over Aristide's departure from Haiti, expressing little interest in his claims he was forced to go into exile by the American military.\n"I think the story's been addressed," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said, referring to emphatic administration denials. "The decision to leave was Mr. Aristide's to make."\nAristide's resignation letter said he was leaving "in order to avoid a bloodbath," according to a U.S. translation from Creole. "I accept to leave, with the hope that there will be life and not death." A copy of the letter was provided by the Bush administration.\nBut Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, said he thought there ought to be some investigation of the claim Aristide was forced out and escorted by U.S. troops.\n"I don't know the truth of it. I really don't," Kerry said on NBC's "Today Show". "But I think it needs to be explored and we need to know the truth of what happened."\nMcClellan responded to Kerry by launching a fresh attack on Aristide's leadership.\n"It was Aristide's failed government that empowered armed gangs to control the country," McClellan said. "It was a failed government that condoned official corruption, including drug trafficking. It was a failed government that engaged in acts of political violence against a peaceful democratic opposition."\nThe spokesman declined to say what evidence the administration has to support his claim that Aristide's government condoned drug trafficking.\nPresident Bush called President Jacques Chirac of France and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil to review developments in Haiti.\nMcClellan said U.S. officials were not trying to contact Aristide. "There are some absurd accusations that some are choosing to repeat and they do nothing to help the Haitian people through this difficult period," McClellan said.\nBlack lawmakers and others demanded an investigation into the way the administration treated Aristide in the hours before he left his country and turned up in the Central African Republic. They built their objections around repeated claims by Aristide that U.S. officials forced him out.\nWith Aristide gone, and rebels who brought him down inside Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, the first significant U.S. military presence began arriving Monday.\nThe Pentagon said as many as 400 Marines were there -- with hundreds more to come. As many as 2,000 U.S. troops could eventually go to Haiti to help curb the chaos, but Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said U.S. troops would remain in Haiti only for a short time. An interim international force that could include up to 5,000 troops from France, Canada and elsewhere was expected to stay until replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force.\nAristide told The Associated Press his resignation was coerced. He said U.S. agents who came to his home "were telling me that if I don't leave they would start shooting and be killing in a matter of time." It was unclear whether Aristide meant the rebels or U.S. agents would begin shooting.\n"I was forced to leave," Aristide said in a telephone interview from Africa.\nSecretary of State Colin Powell and Rumsfeld denied that, but U.S. officials acknowledged privately Aristide was told if he remained in Haiti, U.S. forces would not protect him from rebels who wanted him put on trial on allegations of murder and corruption.
(02/28/03 4:08am)
WASHINGTON -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Thursday he is not convinced that Osama bin Laden is alive, but he wishes the al Qeada leader would appear to answer for his actions -- "to God and to mankind."\nDuring a news conference at the National Press Club, Karzai said he doubts the authenticity of recent audiotapes in which someone said to be bin Laden tries to rally Iraqis and expresses a desire to die a martyr.\nIf bin Laden has more to say, Karzai said, he should do so on videotape.\n"If he is alive, then he must show up and have a video for us to watch," Karzai said. "If he can send an audiotape, he can also send a videotape. They are almost the same size. ... That would be, for us, an indication that he is alive."\nU.S. intelligence officials are almost certain the voice on the tape belongs to bin Laden.\nKarzai's assessment also contradicted that offered Monday by his foreign minister, Abdullah, who said he believes bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar, former leader of the Taliban movement, may be hiding in the mountains along the border with Pakistan. Abdullah was seated beside Karzai as he spoke Thursday, and did not react to Karzai's remarks.\nThe Afghan president said bin Laden was a ruthless exploiter of poor Muslims and the perpetrator of "unbelievable brutality" against Afghans. "And then he went beyond that to attack humanity all over, in America and in the Islamic world," Karzai said.\n"I'm looking for him, to find him," he said. "Why would he go around and keep killing people? He has lots to answer, to God and to mankind"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
ATLANTA -- President George W. Bush urged an uneasy nation Thursday night to meet "our great national challenge" to protect America against future terrorist attacks by volunteering for community service and watching for suspicious activity. \n"Our citizens have new responsibilities," the president said in his address. "We must be vigilant, inspect our mail, stay informed on public health matters."\n"We will not give in to exaggerated fears or passing rumors," Bush said. "We will rely on our good judgment and our common sense."\nBush spoke in the Georgia World Congress Center before a ticketed audience of 5,000 people, mostly public servants -- police, postal workers, firefighters, soldiers. They cheered and applauded the president. \n"There is a difference between being alert and being intimidated, and this nation will not be intimidated," Bush said. \nNearly two months after the hijacker attacks in New York and Washington, the president said the United States will emerge stronger. \n"None of us would ever wish the evil that has been done to our country, yet we have learned that out of evil can come great good. During the last two months, we have shown the world America is a great nation,"he said. \nThe address was billed as an update on the war in Afghanistan, the anthrax scares at home and the new responsibilities of government and all Americans. He also outlined actions the government has taken to strengthen homeland security. \n"Our great national challenge is to hunt down the terrorists and strengthen our protections against future attacks; our great national opportunity is to preserve forever the good that has resulted,"Bush said. "Through the tragedy, we are renewing and reclaiming our strong American values."\nHe said the country is different -- "sadder and less innocent; strong and more united" -- than before the attacks. \nHe spoke in Atlanta, chosen because it is home to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nation's leading disease control facility. \nRecognizing in polls a desire by Americans to get involved in the fight against terrorism, the president suggested ways people can serve their country. He urged people to head into "careers of service,"such as firefighting or police work. \nHe said people should volunteer to work in hospitals and other places on the front lines of terrorism response, such as military installations. \nFriday, Bush was announcing a "dramatic increase" in the use of National Guard personnel for airport security, including the stationing of Guardsmen at airport boarding gates, an administration official said. \n"Many ask what can I do to help in our fight? The simple answer is all of us can become a September 11th volunteer by making a commitment to service in our own communities,"Bush said. \nBush announced that the national service groups created by former President Clinton in 1993, AmeriCorps and Senior Corps, would provide more than 20,000 government-subsided volunteers to help police, fire and public health departments and "free up"the professionals for work on the front lines of homeland defense. \nBush also created a task force on citizen preparedness, which will have 40 days to give him recommendations on helping Americans prepare their homes, neighborhoods, schools and workplaces for the potential consequences of any future attacks. \n"One way to defeat terrorism is to show the world the true values of America through the gathering momentum of millions of acts of responsibility and decency and service,"he said. \nBush asked states to help develop a modern civil defense service. The program would be modeled after volunteer firefighter programs, which provide trained, equipped firefighters. \nThe president had little progress to report during his planned Georgia World Congress Center address. The chief suspect in the Sept. 11 hijackings, Osama bin Laden, remains free in Afghanistan despite the pounding by American bombs, and investigators remain baffled by the anthrax attacks. \nStill, Bush confidently predicted victory in the terrorism fight.
(04/03/02 4:32am)
PHILADELPHIA -- President Bush unveiled a new initiative to expand the nation's early childhood education system Tuesday, saying teachers of pre-kindergarten youngsters need more training and higher salaries. \n"Every child must have an equal place at the starting line," Bush told an audience of educators, parents and students. \nBush's program would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to launch a new project to train all the nearly 50,000 teachers in Head Start, the federally run preschool program, in the reading teaching techniques. \n"To close the achievement gap (in) our schools we must close the early childhood education gap in our society," the president said. He said he would like to spend $45 million to research "early literacy programs and practices." \n"Every Head Start center in the nation must teach these skills," Bush said. \nBush and lawmakers offered separate proposals to reach the same basic goals. \nSen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said he and a bipartisan group of colleagues would propose legislation to give incentive grants to states to coordinate existing early childhood programs of all kinds, including Head Start, preschool programs in public schools, in daycare centers and at home. \nKennedy proposed giving states $5 billion over five years. The money would be available to preschool programs that care for and teach children as young as newborns. \n"To make a real difference for our youngest children, we must add flesh to the bones of the president's commitment," Kennedy said. \nLike Bush's K-12 education plan, which Kennedy helped develop, the congressional early childhood proposal would subject local programs to "rigorous evaluation" by state departments of education. \nThe legislation, cosponsored by Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, would tie teachers' training to their salaries and give parents information "in a way that is understandable," Kennedy said in a statement. Bush proposed a similar public awareness campaign. \nThe president was attempting to shift some attention from the war on terrorism and Mideast violence to his domestic agenda. "One way to fight evil is to do some good," Bush said. \n"I'm going to be relentless and tireless…to make sure our homeland is secure," the president said. At the same time, he said, "The new civil right in America is reading." \n"My administration will not be distracted from these goals," he added. \nBarbara Willer, deputy executive director of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, said teacher turnover due to low salaries is among the biggest problems of early childhood programs. She said preschools and day care centers lose about one-third of their teachers each year to turnover. \n"Unless strategies to improve teaching and learning are accompanied by strategies to ensure a trained, qualified and stable work force, they will fall short of their mark," Willer said.
(09/11/01 5:31pm)
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AP) -- As chaos unhinged New York and Washington, President George W. Bush commanded the full force of the United States government to \"hunt down and to find\" the terrorists responsible.\n\"Terrorism against our nation will not stand,\" he declared Tuesday.\nIn Florida for a pair of education speeches, the president scrapped his schedule and said when he heard the first reports of attacks on New York\'s World Trade Center that he was hastening back to Washington.\nBut with the White House evacuated under threat of attack and his wife hunkered down in an unidentified secure location, the president and Air Force One were rerouted -- under escort by military fighter jets -- to this Louisiana air base.\nIn a conference room dotted by portraits of decorated Air Force officers, the commander in chief announced that the U.S. military was on \"high-alert status.\"\n\"Freedom itself was attacked this morning and I assure you freedom will be defended. Make no mistake. The United States will hunt down and pursue those responsible for these cowardly actions,\" Bush said.