5/5/05 Tom DeLay:

[MRS]

"calling for Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation is as bad a signal as saying the war is unwinnable"

[Root Doctor]

Let this be a lesson to you, kids: pest control chemicals will seriously rot your brain.

Rumsfeld stays, Bush says

Published 5/6/2004 3:35 PM

WASHINGTON, May 6 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush said Thursday that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld still has a job in the Bush administration despite the spiraling Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal and Pentagon failure to advise the president on the results of an official investigation into the affair.

"Secretary Rumsfeld is a really good secretary of Defense," Bush said during an appearance with Jordan's King Abdullah. "Secretary Rumsfeld has served our nation well.

"He is an important part of my Cabinet and will stay in my Cabinet."

Bush, two months after completion of the report by an Army general, learned of the reported widespread abuses by U.S. troops and of the photographs taken of sexual and physical degradation through a television program last week.

The report, by CBS, had been voluntarily withheld two weeks from broadcast by the network at the request of senior military officials.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan had earlier made a similar assertion, saying the president's confidence in Rumsfeld was not wavering.

"Absolutely not," he said. The president greatly appreciates the leadership of Secretary Rumsfeld and all our men and women in the military who are doing an outstanding job. The president has great confidence in the job Secretary Rumsfeld is doing, and he appreciates his service."

Reports quoting an unidentified White House official said Rumsfeld was personally chastised by Bush Wednesday over his not being told about the investigation results before they appeared on television and sparked a firestorm of worldwide criticism and condemnation, leading to Bush giving interviews with Arab television stations in an effort to offset damage done. Bush Thursday would only say "I told him I should have known about the pictures and the report," but did not elaborate.

U.S. military personnel are accused of having sexually humiliated and abused Iraqi detainees late last year at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, a facility notorious during the Saddam Hussein regime for torture and executions. The alleged abuse was reported by a soldier and the Army announced an investigation in January.

Photographs taken by guards at the prison showed naked Iraqi detainees piled in heaps and in other humiliating postures as soldiers nearby grinned. Another reproduced Thursday on the front page of The Washington Post showed a naked Iraqi on the floor with a collar and lease attached to his neck and held by a female soldier.

"The acts were abhorrent and sickened my stomach," Bush said Thursday. "... It's a stain on our country's honor and reputation."

Bush again promised a thorough, system-wide investigation and punishment for those found guilty of abuse.

Six U.S. soldiers face charges so far and others could be in the offing.

The military has announced other investigations are taking place, including at least one probe into the deaths of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan who were in U.S. custody.

The scandal has deeply embarrassed the administration and tarnished the image of U.S. troops in Iraq trying to bring stability and a future free of the fears and abuses of the Saddam years. Bush, in answer to a question by an Arab television interviewer Wednesday, simply said "terrible," when asked the scandal's impact.

"People in Iraq must understand that I view those practices as abhorrent," Bush told al-Hurra television. "They must also understand that what took place in that prison does not represent America that I know."

The day before, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice issued an apology in an interview with an Arab media organization.

Rumsfeld, the architect of the Iraq War, was pilloried on Capitol Hill over the scandal, with criticism over it, the lack of information being given to Congress and the president creating a rare bipartisan outrage.

At least two Democrats, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, have called for Rumsfeld's resignation.

Rumsfeld will face that fury Friday when he appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

King Abdullah, meeting with Bush over the stalled Middle East peace initiative, said he was horrified by the images of abuse he saw but didn't believe the actions of a few were a reflection of U.S. morals and values.

[Captain Hate]

How did it get to be 2005?

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by Captain Hate

How did it get to be 2005?

Yeah, actually that confused me at first. I thought for a second that Michael was making a prediction of something DeLay was going to say a year from now, which seemed odd.

Originally Posted by crawjo

Yeah, actually that confused me at first. I thought for a second that Michael was making a prediction of something DeLay was going to say a year from now, which seemed odd.

You people are on your own.

I personally do not question the powers of The Schaumann.

Besides, he *GULP* knows where I live.



*trembling*

[MRS]

'04, sorry, vote against slaughtering brown children

but then who do you vote for, that fucking Leb?