I haven't read all the posts on this thread yet.
However, I am compelled to stick up for the President. I am totally shocked and dismayed at Rush. Sometimes Rush can be wrong!
I watched the press conference. It was also carried by at least ABC and FOX Network.
The President didn't fall on a sword and take blame he simply said a heartfelt "sorry for abuses and humiliation". Just as he told the young girl he hugged after hearing she lost her mother he said I am sorry for your pain.
If Rush has a problem with that well then I have a problem with Rush.
as per Neal Boortz:
A lot of people are wondering why we should apologize for what happened to those Iraqi prisoners while the Arab world doesn't apologize for what happened on 9/11. Listen today ... I'll tell you.
OK .. NOW I'LL ANSWER THAT QUESTION
So, why should we apologize for the actions of our troops in Iraq in light of the fact that we still haven't heard any apologies from the Arab world for the events of 9/11, or for the treatment of those four civilian contractors murdered and desecrated in Fallujah? That's easy. We're not them. We hold the moral high ground here. If we accept our ownership of the moral high ground, we must accept the standard of conduct that comes with it, including apologizing for our actions when such an apology is appropriate.
We are trying to convince the Iraqi people that America has something more to offer them than did Saddam Hussein. Yes, Saddam really did torture his people. It wasn't just humiliating pictures, it was actual rape rooms, electric shock devices, mass murders and other brutalities. Iraqis got no apologies from Saddam. Now is the time to show them that our way is better. When you see that your people have done something wrong you punish them, and you apologize to their victims. How can this message not resonate with a people who have been brutalized, without apology, for so many decades.
As for that prison? Make a big show of leveling it. Destroy it. Replace it with a memorial to those who were abused and murdered by Saddam Hussein on that site.
http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html1. Bush apologized/expressed regret because it will help protect our troops.
2. If Kerry wants to now demand a further presidential apology for 9-11, let him. Plays totally into our hands... blaming America rather than the terrorists. Let the stupid RATS go there.
Everyone, chill. In 1972 it was exactly this month, this week that Nixon mined the harbors in North Vietnam. The press screamed escalation, that it would kill the coming US-USSR summit. Nixon went on to win 49 states.