Posted on 08/19/2003 7:29:05 PM PDT by ejdrapes
Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said the bombing should ``explode the illusions of postwar progress and stability the Bush administration continues to cling to.'' Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said: ``It is becoming increasingly clear each day that the administration misread the situation on the ground in Iraq and lacks an adequate plan to win the peace and protect our troops.''
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Wednesday August 20, 2003 3:09 AM
By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush said the United States ``will persevere through every hardship'' in Iraq and will not flinch in the war against terror despite attacks like Tuesday's deadly bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.
``By attempting to spread chaos and fear,'' Bush said, ``terrorists are testing our will. Across the world, they are finding that our will cannot be shaken.''
The U.N. bombing - and the growing list of American casualties - marked a sharp escalation of violence that runs in the face of White House assurances that the U.S. occupation authority is making progress on security and will ultimately defeat those trying to destabilize the country and kill American troops.
Tuesday's attack comes on the heels of a car bombing at the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, which killed 19 people, and suspected sabotage against Iraq's main oil pipeline into Turkey and, separately, against Baghdad's water supply. U.S. forces continue to be plagued by deadly guerilla-style attacks.
``Every sign of progress in Iraq adds to the desperation of the terrorists and the remnants of Saddam's brutal regime,'' Bush said in a hastily arranged appearance before reporters at his ranch, about three hours after a truck bomb ripped through the Baghdad hotel where United Nations operations were based. ``The civilized world will not be intimidated, and these killers will not determine the future of Iraq.''
The bombing killed more than a dozen and wounded dozens more. Sergio Vieira de Mello, the chief U.N. official in Iraq, was among the dead. In a statement deploring Vieira de Mello's death, Bush saluted what he called the diplomat's lifetime of selfless service advancing the cause of human rights around the world. Later, in a call to the president of Vieira de Mello's native country, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bush said his death ``was a grave loss,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
The explosion prompted criticism of the White House by some Democratic presidential candidates.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said the bombing should ``explode the illusions of postwar progress and stability the Bush administration continues to cling to.''
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said: ``It is becoming increasingly clear each day that the administration misread the situation on the ground in Iraq and lacks an adequate plan to win the peace and protect our troops.''
Bush, spending August vacationing on his Texas ranch, learned of the bombing while on the golf course. After getting updates from national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and other aides, he cut his game short at the 12th hole and hurried back to his ranch.
Before the bombing, at a gas station en route to his golf game, Bush had given reporters an upbeat assessment of U.S. efforts in Iraq. He applauded Tuesday's capture of Saddam Hussein's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, and pledged to continue going after Saddam loyalists.
``Slowly but surely, we'll find who we need to find. It's just a matter of time,'' Bush said. ``There is an international effort going on that will help Iraq reconstruct itself and help Iraq develop into a peaceful, democratic country.''
But as Bush returned to the ranch, aides realized those could not be his only words - nor golf course shots the only pictures - on the day of one of the largest setbacks to the U.S. reconstruction effort.
So reporters were assembled in a helicopter hangar on his ranch, and the president appeared shortly afterward, having changed from his golf outfit into a jacket, white dress shirt and red tie.
Bush called those responsible for the bombing ``terrorists'' whose actions were all the worse because their targets were U.N. personnel ``on a purely humanitarian mission.''
``The terrorists who struck today have again shown their contempt for the innocent. They showed their fear of progress and their hatred of peace,'' Bush said in a four-minute statement, after which he allowed no questions. ``These murderers reveal themselves once more as enemies of the civilized world.''
He said the United States will stand by the Iraqis.
``The terrorists want to return to the day of torture chambers and mass graves,'' Bush said. ``The Iraqis who want peace and freedom must reject them and fight terror.''
And Bush pledged that such terrorist actions will not deter the United States from its missions in Iraq and elsewhere.
``We will persevere through every hardship,'' he said. ``We will continue this war on terror until the killers are brought to justice. And we will prevail.''
In calls to U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, made after Bush returned to his ranch, the president offered U.S. assistance as well as sympathies for the loss of life. From Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell also telephoned Annan.
Bush said he directed Bremer to give ``all possible assistance'' to the rescue effort, and discussed with Annan ``the vital work in Iraq that continues.''
He also spoke by phone Tuesday night with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The two agreed on the need for the coalition partners and the Iraqi people to steadfastly battle the destabilizing forces, McClellan said. The leaders also discussed Tuesday's deadly suicide attack in Jerusalem.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said U.S. officials will review security needs in Baghdad in light of the bombing.
But he added, ``We're not at a point, at a moment right now, without any knowledge of how this happened, who did it and the facts on the ground, to start making security assessments and start prescribing new security measures.''
The absurdity of actually claiming that every bomb or gunshot is "proof" that a military situation is a disaster. These men are not even remotely equipped to guide America in a dangerous World.
But Of course we lost dozens per day in Vietnam, and that was much less winnable. Defeating them on this issue should be a cakewalk if the rebuttal is well organized. Don't call them traitors, just desperate political opportunists. Let them repeat that charge with feigned outrage.
I haven't even asked about the goings-on at DU for that very reason - I don't feel like replacing my monitor.
Worth repeating…
What they deserve is a bucket of hot tar and a sack full of feathers. Lieberman probably thinks since he's been the most supportive of the dwarves on the war (not saying much) that he could pull this attack off. As for Kerry, he's just a total doofus who's watching the wheels roll into the ditch.
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