Posted on 12/04/2004 11:39:17 AM PST by ApesForEvolution
WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) expressed no alarm Saturday about a warning from his outgoing top health official that the U.S. food supply is vulnerable to terror attacks but would not deny the assessment and assert that the nation's food is safe.
Reuters Photo
Thompson Resigns From Cabinet Post (AP Video)
Bush was questioned, after an Oval Office meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, about comments by Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Secretary Tommy Thompson about the vulnerability of the U.S. food supply. Thompson spoke Friday as he announced his coming departure from the Bush administration.
"We're a large country with all kinds of avenues where somebody can inflict harm," Bush said. "We're doing everything we can to protect the American people. There's a lot of work to be done."
Thompson had said he worries "every single night" about a possible terror attack on the food supply, and despite dramatic increases in inspections of food imports, only "a very minute amount" of food is tested at ports and airports.
"For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do," Thompson said. "We are importing a lot of food from the Middle East, and it would be easy to tamper with that."
Thompson was the latest of eight members to quit Bush's 15-member Cabinet as the president moves into a second term.
Bush himself decided that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would not go, ignoring criticism about Rumsfeld's handling of Iraq (news - web sites) and giving the secretary a strong vote of confidence to remain at the Pentagon (news - web sites). That decision, sealed Monday in an Oval Office meeting with Bush but not announced until Friday, settles one of the last major questions about who in the Cabinet goes and who stays.
Besides the eight members whose departure has been announced, Treasury Secretary John Snow has not received a public endorsement of continued service, even though White House officials have described him as a valuable member of the president's economic team.
Snow, who has been in the job less than two years, declined in an appearance Friday on CNBC to reveal whether he has submitted or offered to submit his resignation.
Rumsfeld's tenure has been marked by unanticipated postwar violence in Iraq and more than 1,250 U.S. deaths, as well as enormous increases in spending on the military after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Despite controversies, the hawkish, sometimes acid-tongued Rumsfeld has kept Bush's confidence.
Rumsfeld also has a long history of influential support from Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) from their days together in the Ford administration in the mid-1970s.
Rumsfeld has a full plate: continuing military operations in Iraq, focused now on securing the country ahead of January elections; the ongoing effort in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and a plan to modernize the military.
Bush believes Rumsfeld is "the right person at this moment in our history in fighting the war on terror to lead our armed forces," a senior administration official said in describing the president's decision.
The secretary's future had been the subject of much speculation, after revelations about abuses at Abu Ghraib and other U.S.-run prisons in Iraq. Though Bush steadfastly backed his defense chief — one of the more hawkish members of his administration — Rumsfeld had many detractors in Congress and the military.
It had been widely believed at the Pentagon that Rumsfeld wanted to stay on, at least for a time, in order to oversee the continuing transition in Iraq and shepherd his plan for a fundamental transformation and modernization of the U.S. military.
Rumsfeld, 72, is the oldest person to serve as secretary of defense. He also was the youngest when he ran the Pentagon for President Ford.
Rumsfeld took intense criticism from members of Congress last spring when the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal became public. He told the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites) that he would quit if he thought that would help, but not simply to satisfy the administration's political enemies.
Rumsfeld said he would take the blame for the scandal. After the completion and publication of several in-depth investigations, the pressure for him to resign abated during the summer.
In recent interviews, Rumsfeld had refused to talk about his future, except to say he remained committed to transforming the military to make it more capable of fighting wars of the 21st century.
Many have criticized him for failing to foresee the insurgency that has taken thousands of Iraqi lives and killed hundreds of American troops since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime was toppled in April 2003.
Rumsfeld has acknowledged that the strength and resilience of the insurgency was underestimated.
It was not clear how long Rumsfeld's top deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, and chief policy adviser, Douglas Feith, would remain. Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said Friday that Feith told his staff he intended to stay for a while.
I believe he is the 1st Mexican POTUS we've elected and we are paying/going to pay dearly for it...
Lest we forget the possible options to his election.
Interesting
Just wait for the first attack, and then respond I guess. Man.Seriously, though, I don't know. It's got to be a major concern.
I hadn't even thought of it, until this comes up.
You should pay less attention to the media then, 'cause they don't have a flipping clue. GO KERIK.
As if this hadn't occurred to AQ? Gimme a break. Food isn't the only risk pouring in over the borders. Consider all the white powder coming in by the ton. Now realize that FARC in Colombia is working with Hugo Chavez and the Cubans. Now recall that Cuba has a well developed bio-tech capability.
Bush had damned well get control of the borders or he's likely to be wearing it around his neck and the Republican Party with him. I don't balme Thompson a bit for expressing his frustration.
Any word on whether Tommy Thompson has emerged from under his bed yet?
Thanks for another great catch, G.D. Of course, this thread isn't about a possible terror threat, it's for those who want to whine about border policy. The fact that the article is obvious gloom and doom SPIN means nothing to such posters. It's fuel for their bitterness, and that's what matters.
We've got to get the fence away from the courts, out of control of the envirohumanrightsnazis and on the ground.
But aren't the drones equipped with cameras protecting us from uninvited guests?
And aren't the only people swarming over from the Mexican border merely Arab Moslem Mexican tomato pickers and gardeners who deal in "food preparation"?
Dubya & Co. had better stick the finger in the dike on ALL COUNTS.
Not nearly so massive as the cuts during the Impeached One's term and that of GHW Bush. In 1992 the last Bush I year military spending was 4.9% of GDP, in 2000 it was 3.0% As of 2002 it was back up to a whopping 3.4%.
We are at war. Military spending goes up during wartime. (not enough in this instance, IMHO). Not mentioned of course are the cancellations of entire weapons systems under Rummy, including the Paladin mobile gun and Comanche (semi)stealth helicopter. Those aren't the only ones either. But no one expects anything other than an anti Bush, anti military and anti American agenda from AP these days.
Correct...how sad that such a great country has been reduced to that.
If Kerik is allowed to do what's necessary, but remember, Ridge lied his a** off for this administration...
Heheheheeee...har-har.
Seems some are more concerned than others...and I'd hate to explain that to the victim's survivors...if there are any.
"We knew it was an open door, but we just couldn't...uh. We're sorry."
That's not too hard, but without room to grow something for the cows and pigs to eat, it could be problematical. Chickens and rabbits however are easy to raise even in an urban environment. Goats are another possibility. The young ones are quite tasty. (Cabrito, yumm). You can also get milk from them to make a decent cheese or for cooking. I don't much care for the taste myself, but it's drinkable.
GREAT can be replaced with "the most powerful" and THAT my friend says it all.
I agree with that.
The writer and the entire piece are Communist fluff.
I found the Thompson/Bush words to be perplexing...
I know. Not good. :^(
So all I have to do is make room to grow for myself, then I'm "in like Flint"?
I question how much more powerful we are than the Russian/Red chinese alliance, both acting against us through Muhammadan/Communist proxies...
I thought of it on September 12th, 2001. So did a bunch of pundits...along with our water supply, electrical systems - every other thing people imagined. Betcha fifty bucks Osama bin Laden thought of it a long time ago, too.
Tommy shouldn't have said it, but I'm amazed that people think this is going to be some kind of revelation to terrorists.
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