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.
What a complete jerk Thompson is. Why doesn't he issue formal invitations in gold-lined envelopes? We know the food supply is a target. To admit such weakness from his post is almost seditious.
Yeah, the basic infrastructure attacks were a major concern right after 9-11.There are probably a LOT MORE things that I haven't thought of where we're vulnerable.
What a difficult job, to try to prevent another attack.
Bush is right, we can stop 1,000 attacks (be RIGHT 100% of the time), but the terrorists only have to be "right" once.
Talk about mission impossible.
Keep scraping that barrel my friend and eventually, if you try hard enough, you may find true cause for disdain in the USA.
The III Corps CO immediately determined that there was a security issue and that henceforth all members of the media would need to be escorted by PAOs. Of course they are short handed in the PA office and only a very few media would be able to be accommodated.
Mmmm.... nice dovetail there AFE.
Completely agree.
Buy unprocessed foods grown in the USA and stop worrying.
I don't expect perfection.
But how about the most obvious threats to the homeland?
It's more the concept of not controlling what's crossing our borders and entering our ports, isn't it??
lol
I nearly fell off my chair when I heard he said this on TV.
What is wrong with him?
That's like telling criminals that I don't know why nobody has robbed my house yet because it would be so easy to break into.
We saw the panic and huge problems a little anthrax in the mail caused this nation...poison in the food supply could be MUCH worse.
Do you really believe that it is possible to control every single thing crossing our borders? No way, not ever. We can try to control rampant illegal immigration and try to sniff out nuclear materials but beyond that - impossible.
At some point we have to individually accept responsibility for taking care of ourselves during changes in our environment. The "government" can only go so far and expectations of it providing complete security for us is a pipe dream and we all ought to get real.
Bush Downplays Thompson's Terror Worries
1 hour, 24 minutes ago Top Stories - AP
By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) played down on Saturday a stark warning from his resigning health chief that the nation's food supply is largely unprotected from terror attack.
AP Photo
Bush said that the government is doing what it can to safeguard the public from threats, but much work remains.
"We're a large country, with all kinds of avenues where somebody could inflict harm," said Bush, asked about the issue after an Oval Office meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. "We've made a lot of progress in protecting our country, and there's more work to be done, and this administration is committed to doing it."
Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a speech Friday announcing his coming departure from the Bush Cabinet that he worries "every single night" about a possible terror attack on the food supply.
Despite dramatic increases in inspections of food imports, only "a very minute amount" of food is tested at ports and airports, Thompson said.
"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."
Asked to respond to Thompson's comments, Bush neither criticized them nor implied that the food supply is safer than Thompson asserted.
Bush asked for Congress' help to boost domestic security, urging lawmakers to confirm quickly his choice to take over leadership of the Homeland Security Department. On Friday, Bush nominated former New York Police Chief Bernie Kerik to succeed Tom Ridge, who announced his resignation Tuesday from the department created to oversee the nation's protection from attack.
Of Kerik, Bush said, "I hope the Senate confirms him quickly so he can get to work."
Bush's security efforts on the home front even got a plug from the president's foreign guest.
"You are trying your best to address the issue of terrorism all over the world, and obviously the most important part is to protect your own, the United States, from terrorism," Musharraf said.
"You are trying your best to address the issue of terrorism all over the world, and obviously the most important part is to protect your own, the United States, from terrorism," Musharraf said.
>>>
Our best? I know perfect is not possible. But, *OUR BEST*? C'mon...
But how about the most obvious threats to the homeland?Absolutely. The biggest one I can think of is the ease of entry
at our borders both north and south.Build a wall, install electronic security breach detection/surveillance
and have personnel to pursue those who breach.
Sanity BTTT
Your Central Committee handlers will be contacting you shortly for re-education training...lol
"What a braindead statement to make, I always thought this guy had a screw loose."
No, that's his brother, Ed, LOL! I'm glad to have Tommy coming back home to Wisconsin. He was an awesome Governor for our state for many, many years. He kept us in the black and was a great advocate for us. The socialist weenie we have for Governor now (Doyle) is the one with the screw loose.
I'm not sure why Tommy would burn this bridge, especially after President Bush hand-picked him for HHS? I know Tommy is not done being a politician, so that was a big, big gaff. The only reason I can think of is that he's spent the past four years being ignored, shusshed or poo-pooed about his concerns. I think the guy is just frustrated. He's not one to hide his light under a bushel, as they say.
He may be better suited to being a Big Fish (Governor) in a smaller pond (Wisconsin) than in the national limelight.
Gotta cogitate on this one some more...
"Our best? I know perfect is not possible. But, *OUR BEST*? C'mon..."
It all costs money - we are running a severe deficit and fighting a serious war on terrorism. The gays would like us to spend ALL our tax money on a vaccine against AIDS.
The point is - how much money do we allocate for inspections of every single item crossing our borders? You are responsible for you; if you are a conservative, stop planning on "the government" looking out for your welfare 24 hours a day and accept your responsibilities.
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