- President George W. Bush has acknowledged US troops made
mistakes, but stopped short of offering an apology for the abuse of Iraqi
prisoners.
-
- In an interview broadcast on Arab television last night,
President Bush said that Americans are appalled by the abuse and deaths
of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of US. soldiers, and promised that "justice
will be delivered."
-
- "The people in the Middle East must understand that
this was horrible," Bush said, trying to calm international outrage.
He went on two Arabic-language television stations to take control of the
administration's damage-control efforts.
-
- The first question Bush had to tackle was that the evidence
of torture made many Arabs believe that the US was no better than Saddam
Hussein's government, notorious for torture and murder.
-
- But drawing a distinction with Saddam's regime, he said,
"A dictator wouldn't be answering questions about this."
-
- Bush said the abuses were "terrible" for America's
image abroad.
-
- "I think people in the Middle East who want to dislike
America will use this as an excuse to remind people about their dislike,"
he said.
-
- Interviewed on the US-sponsored Al-Hurrah television
network, Bush said that Iraqis "must understand that I view those
practices as abhorrent. They must also understand that what took place
in that prison does not represent the America that I know. "Most US
soldiers are "good, honourable citizens that are helping the Iraqis
every day. It's also important for the people of Iraq to know that in a
democracy, everything is not perfect, that mistakes are made," the
president said.
-
- While Bush did not offer an apology, Condoleezza Rice,
his national security adviser said on Tuesday that "we are deeply
sorry for what has happened."
-
- The commander of US-run prisons in Iraq, Major General
Geoffrey Miller, also apologised yesterday for the "illegal or unauthorized
acts" of US soldiers.
-
- Asked why Bush himself had not apologized, McClellan
said: "I'm saying it now for him."
-
- Just six months before the US election, the prisoner-abuse
controversy poses a major problem for Bush, already on the defensive about
rising American casualties and persistent violence. Angry lawmakers called
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Capitol Hill to testify on Friday
while Senate leaders - Republicans and Democrats alike - discussed a Senate
resolution to condemn the abuses.
-
- The number of prisoner deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan
known to be under U.S. investigation or already blamed on Americans rose
to 14.
-
- While Bush said he retained confidence in Rumsfeld, White
House aides said the president let the secretary know he was not satisfied
with the way he was informed about the unfolding controversy.
-
- In particular, Bush was unhappy about not knowing about
the pictures before they were shown on television.
-
- Rumsfeld did not know about the images until CBS aired
them last Wednesday, a senior White House official said.
-
-
- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page
/0,5744,9483753%255E1702,00.html
|
