Dem Senator (HARKIN) Calls for Rumsfeld to Resign

AP ^ | 05/06/04 | SONYA ROSS

[Pikamax]

Dem Senator Calls for Rumsfeld to Resign

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By SONYA ROSS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The White House reaffirmed President Bush (news - web sites)'s support of embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday even as a Democratic senator became the first in Congress to demand Rumsfeld's resignation over the U.S. military's abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, demanded Rumsfeld's ouster "for the good of our country, the safety of our troops, and our image around the globe."

"If he does not resign forthwith, the president should fire him," said Harkin, whose statement came as White House spokesman Scott McClellan said President Bush "absolutely" wants his defense secretary to remain in office.

"The president very much appreciates the job Secretary Rumsfeld is doing and the president has great confidence in his leadership," said McClellan. The spokesman declined to characterize Bush's comments to Rumsfeld in a private conversation between the two men on Wednesday, though another Bush aide said the president had given his Cabinet officer a "mild rebuke."

Rumsfeld, scheduled to testify publicly before a Senate committee on Friday, abruptly canceled a scheduled speech in Philadelphia in order to prepare for the hearing, according to a Pentagon (news - web sites) official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Harkin, a critic of the administration's foreign policy, said in his statement that "the secretary must be held accountable" for abuses in military prisons. "The United States Constitution assures civilian control over the military. The blame cannot and should not remain solely with low-level soldiers," he said.

Reports of abusive treatment of Iraqi detainees, including Iraqis forced to submit to sexual humiliations, have sparked a torrent of criticism in Congress from lawmakers demanding that the administration investigate fully.

Several Republicans have expressed unhappiness in recent days that they were not informed of the abuses until they were disclosed publicly on CBS, which aired photographs as evidence.

"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," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in a CBS morning interview.

White House aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that privately, Bush made it clear to Rumsfeld 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.

The president, in an interview Wednesday with the U.S.-sponsored Al-Hurra television network, expressed "confidence in the secretary of defense" and "confidence in the commanders on the ground in Iraq (news - web sites)." He promised "people will be held to account" for the prisoner abuses.

Whether Rumsfeld will be one of those people remained unclear.

Rumsfeld 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.

In 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 (news - web sites)'s government.

"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.

Rumsfeld 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.

But 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.

"The Congress ... has been kept completely in the dark," McCain said.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Then watch. Once he resigns, they won't vote for his replacement in confirmation hearings, holding it up for months, on the basis he or she would be "too conservative".

[AmericanInTokyo]

Then watch. Once he resigns, they won't vote for his replacement in confirmation hearings, holding it up for months, on the basis he or she would be "too conservative".

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Is Harkin calling for Kerry to resign because of his admitted atrocities?

[sully777]

Form Letter

Dear Senator Harkin,


The Supreme Court of The United States ruled that photographs, literature, and sexual acts of a homosexual nature including (but not exclusive to) the following: S&M, bestiality, pedaphilia, bisexuality, sodomy, and orgies ARE protected behaviors of the Constitution of the United States. The alledged Iraqi torture was in fact protected behavior and free speech among "consenting adults" as you are already fully aware. Therefore, may I respectfully suggest an appropriate name for the investigating committee as The Mapplethorpe Commission, in honor of that classic homo-erotic photographer?

Sincerely,
Name Withheld

[Cicero]

As I recall, two or three Republican congressmen muttered something about Monica when clinton began bombing Belgrade, completely contrary to our national interest. But they quickly shut up when the media and the Democrats screamed that no patriot would complain about the administration during a time of war. The Republicans are STILL refraining from noticing that clinton handed Kosovo over to a gang of drug-running, church-burning, ethnic-cleansing murderous Muslim thugs, or that clinton had no "exit plan" for Bosnia and Kosovo.

[Naspino]

I hate politics. When an employee gets arrested for a crime do we call for his CEO to resign? Liberals detest the whole notion of "responsibility" yet when it suits their political motives they become its most extreme proponent.

[conservonator]

Tom Harkin: future unidentifiable object in the dung heap of history...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Tell once again how you went toe to toe with North Viet MiGs, Tom.

[jwalsh07]

No.

Next!

[COEXERJ145]

Rumsfeld to Harkin: Go Pound Sand!

[Howlin]

Is Harkin calling for Kerry to resign because of his admitted atrocities?

Absolutely!!!

Why would McCain and Harkin support a man who has already ADMITTED and never retracted the fact that he, himself, committed atrocities during a time of war?

[sarasota]

This is getting better and better--for Republicans. Dems have the knack for making themselves look dumb and dumber. Those calling for his resignation are simply crybabies responding to their inner child who's crying, "But nobody told me..."

[Corporate Law]

"Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, demanded Rumsfeld's ouster "for the good of our country, the safety of our troops, and our image around the globe.""

Sen. Harkin, YOU should be the one who does this, and have should have done so years ago (like when you visited Ortega).

[ScaniaBoy]

In 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

Excuse me. How many US soldiers have been injured by WMDs in Iraq????

Is it a trainee journalist at large on AP again?

[Howlin]

Every single person who espouses these demands and condemantions should be asked if they are also demanding that Kerry withdraw from the presidential race.

After all, if this looks bad for American, how could we ever allow an admitted murderer and torturer to hold the Oval office?

[Naspino]

A good concern about Kerry is that he has admitted to commiting war crimes in Vietnam. What is to stop Vietnam from asking the ICC (which obviously Kerry will try to ratify) to try Kerry? Talk about a disgrace to the nation.

[GulliverSwift]

I think the case against Rumsfeld is nothing more than a dung heap. Of course, I haven't looked at the evidence. But neither has old dung heap.

[Howlin]

I'd love to hear them try to explain why that doesn't apply to him!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

They would love for Rummy to be gone, because people love the guy. He's one of the few in government who isn't afraid to say exactly what he thinks, and they can't stand it.