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Bush 'sorry for humiliation' of Iraqi prisoners
CNN ^ | 05/06/2004 | Breaking

Posted on 05/06/2004 11:24:57 AM PDT by Glenn

President Bushj says he is sorry for the humiliation suffered by Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. troops. Details soon.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: apology; bush; iraqiipow
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To: petercooper
We're now officially a nation of softies. Apologizing during a war for some hurt feelings and some humiliation of terrorists.

If you say so, but we're still killing them: U.S. forces take key Najaf outpost

41 posted on 05/06/2004 11:33:05 AM PDT by TonyInOhio
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To: tm22721
Rush had the sound clip.

I'm stunned. GWB may have just lost the election, the war etc.

I hope the dim/lib haters are happy at what their hounding has produced. I wonder who they think will protect them now?
42 posted on 05/06/2004 11:33:12 AM PDT by Let's Roll (Kerry is a self-confessed unindicted war criminal or ... a traitor to his country in a time of war)
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To: Glenn
Finally! I think an apology, whether he means it or not, will go a long way. I can see few negatives - especially with voters. Rush is projecting maybe...
43 posted on 05/06/2004 11:33:22 AM PDT by Egregious Philbin
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To: sarasota
Rush doesn't know what he's talking about. Again.
44 posted on 05/06/2004 11:33:23 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: All
Bush 'sorry for humiliation' of Iraqi prisoners

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Thursday said he told visiting king of Jordan that he is "sorry for the humiliation suffered" by Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Bush said he told King Abdullah II that the photos made him and others "sick to our stomachs." And he said he made it clear that "wrongdoers will be brought to justice."

Bush made his comments at a joint Rose Garden news conference with the king.

Bush rejected calls for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign for his handling of the Iraqi prisoner abuse controversy.

"He is an important part of my Cabinet and he will stay in my Cabinet," Bush said.

Earlier in the day, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, demanded Rumsfeld leave office.

"For the good of our country, the safety of our troops, and our image around the globe, Secretary Rumsfeld should resign," Harkin said in a statement. "If he does not resign forthwith, the president should fire him."

"He has to go. Nothing, I think, less will suffice," Harkin told CNN. "It's not enough just for Secretary Rumsfeld to say that some people in the lower ranks are responsible for this -- this goes all the way up."

Rumsfeld is scheduled to testify Friday morning about the U.S. military abuse of Iraqi prisoners in both open and closed hearings of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

An internal report by the U.S. Defense Department determined that Iraqi prisoners were being abused by members of the U.S. military.

Investigators, led by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, interviewed dozens of witnesses and looked at "numerous photos and videos portraying in graphic detail actual detainee abuse" that were taken by personnel at Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad.

The report said the abuse included threatening detainees with a pistol and with military dogs, sodomizing a prisoner with a chemical light and perhaps a broomstick, forcing naked prisoners into compromising positions and accusing them of being homosexuals.

Six soldiers have been criminally charged in the case and six others have been reprimanded, with two of those relieved of duty, Rumsfeld has said.

After last week's CBS broadcast showing images of Iraqis being humiliated and abused, both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have expressed outrage that they were not informed of the problem earlier.

House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said Rumsfeld's statement that the Army made the abuse investigations public in January was an insufficient explanation for not telling Congress about details of the abuse problem.

"Mr. Rumsfeld has been engaged in a coverup from the start on this issue and continues to be so," Pelosi said Thursday.

Like Harkin, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, also called for Rumsfeld to resign or be removed from office, saying the Pentagon chief concealed the matter from Bush and Congress.

The Economist magazine Thursday called for Rumsfeld to resign as did an editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman called on Bush to fire Rumsfeld "today, not tomorrow or next month."

Rumsfeld canceled a planned speech Thursday to the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to spend the day preparing for his testimony, Pentagon officials said.

In a private meeting between Rumsfeld and President Bush on Wednesday, Bush told Rumsfeld he was "not happy" that he learned about the photos by watching television, a senior administration official told CNN.

"He was not happy, and he let Secretary Rumsfeld know about it," the official said.

Bush also was concerned that he was not kept up to speed on the scope of the problem -- and how the Pentagon was handling it, the official said.

Rumsfeld also made clear that he, too, felt "he didn't know some things he should have," according to the senior official, along with another official. (Full story)

Meanwhile, the Red Cross said Thursday it had "repeatedly requested U.S. authorities to take corrective action."

Antonella Notari, chief spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said "some measures have already been taken," without revealing the ICRC's recommendations.

"I do think that our recommendations were taken seriously and I do think that now, yet even more, there are other measures that are being planned," she said. "And we do, of course, intend to continue our visits."

45 posted on 05/06/2004 11:33:27 AM PDT by areafiftyone (Democrats = the hamster is dead but the wheel is still spinning)
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To: Howlin
What a bunch of cut and runners you people are!

You said it!! Lighten up people.

46 posted on 05/06/2004 11:33:31 AM PDT by EggsAckley (........"I looked out and saw rifles everywhere. That's when I felt safe." .........)
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To: Glenn
do it now, get it over with and go back to war
47 posted on 05/06/2004 11:33:48 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch (I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it)
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To: Howlin
You'll be reminded of this as Bush II's "read my lips moment". You don't get it. He apologized to King Abdullah. WTF?!?! On the bright side, Hillary will be too old to run in 2012. ;-)



48 posted on 05/06/2004 11:33:48 AM PDT by Rightwing Conspiratr1 (Lock-n-load!)
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To: petercooper
Try to be a big boy and live in the real world, okay?
49 posted on 05/06/2004 11:34:19 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: Howlin
here are a few comments from Sen. Harkin just a little while ago

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1128618/posts?page=152#152


HArking saying "who ever took those [iraq]pics has a friend here"

Harkin saying that Rummy should put the welfare of the country above himself and do the right thing by stepping down

Harkin is laying it on REALLY thick and saying the President should be big enough and apologize ..

Hey Harkin .. HE DID!

50 posted on 05/06/2004 11:34:22 AM PDT by Mo1 (Make Michael Moore cry.... DONATE MONTHLY!!!)
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To: highlandbreeze
Well, I hope everyone is happy now.

Yup, I am happy. It takes a big man to apologize. And Bush is that man.

All of us should be very grateful that God has given us President Bush to lead us against our foes

51 posted on 05/06/2004 11:34:24 AM PDT by Teplukin
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To: BulletBobCo
Great option that must be considered in the future.
52 posted on 05/06/2004 11:34:34 AM PDT by gathersnomoss
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To: Junior_G
Read the transcript of watch the presser. Then will talk. Otherwise I think you should consider holding your peace. For your own benefit.
53 posted on 05/06/2004 11:34:57 AM PDT by Eurotwit
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To: BulletBobCo
He absolutely did say that! I heard him myself!
54 posted on 05/06/2004 11:35:03 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: OneTimeLurker
...soliders were just blowing off steam and having some fun. Spoken like a true draft dodger, IMO.

I totally agree with you. Serving in the Army (or any branch of US Military Service) is nothing like hosting a radio show.

55 posted on 05/06/2004 11:35:10 AM PDT by Cagey
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To: Howlin
Thanks for the ping. Yikes.

I will stay resolute until November.

Repeat.

I will stay resolute until November.

Repeat.

I will stay resolute until November.

...
56 posted on 05/06/2004 11:35:24 AM PDT by abner (FREE THE MIRANDA MEMOS! http://www.intelmemo.com or http://www.wintersoldier.com)
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To: Let's Roll
Why would this apology doom Bush? Sounds like Rush is freaking out.
57 posted on 05/06/2004 11:35:24 AM PDT by Junior_G
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To: Eurotwit
Exactly. It's one thing to say "I'm sorry for the humiliation..." vs. "I'm sorry, its all my fault"

Rush doesn't like it though.

Prairie
58 posted on 05/06/2004 11:35:30 AM PDT by prairiebreeze (Ted Rall is a waste of perfectly good oxygen.)
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To: Glenn
Won't change a thing.

Arabs will still hate us. Now they will see us as weak again.

Democrats will still hate Pres. Bush. Now they KNOW they have him jumping to their tune.

59 posted on 05/06/2004 11:35:32 AM PDT by PogySailor (Proud member of the RAM)
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To: Rightwing Conspiratr1
I'm sorry you feel this way.
60 posted on 05/06/2004 11:35:35 AM PDT by Cooter
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