csua.org/u/b7f -> www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/administration/whbriefing/
Check here weekdays at mid-day for my read on the most interesting items about the president and his staff from major newspaper, magazine and bro adcast Web sites and weblogs.
Barbara Slavin wrote in USA Today: "In a heated exchange that elec trified the hearing room, Sen. Slavin quotes Boxer: "Your loyalty to the mission you were given, to sell this war, overwhelmed your respect for the truth." And Rice's response: "Senator, I have to say that I have never, ever lost respect for the truth in the service of anything. I really hope t hat you will refrain from impugning my integrity." But that doesn't really help the reader who's trying to decide on the mer its of the case. What specific evidence was Boxer citing to impugn Rice' s credibility?
transcript of CNN's "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer on Se pt. "RICE: You will get different estimates about precisely how close he is. We do know that he is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon. We do know tha t there have been shipments going into Iran, for instance -- into Iraq, for instance, of aluminum tubes that really are only suited to -- high-q uality aluminum tools that are only really suited for nuclear weapons pr ograms, centrifuge programs. "We know that he has the infrastructure, nuclear scientists to make a nuc lear weapon. And we know that when the inspectors assessed this after th e Gulf War, he was far, far closer to a crude nuclear device than anybod y thought, maybe six months from a crude nuclear device. "The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking g un to be a mushroom cloud." Boxer continued: "On July 30th, 2003, you were asked by PBS NewsHour's Gw en Ifill if you continued to stand by the claims you made about Saddam's nuclear program in the days and months leading up to the war. "In what appears to be an effort to downplay the nuclear-weapons scare ta ctics you used before the war, your answer was, and I quote, 'It was a c ase that said he was trying to reconstitute.
text) Bush himself said: "If the Iraqi r egime is able to produce, buy or steal an amount of highly-enriched uran ium a little larger than a single softball, it could have a nuclear weap on in less than a year." And, Boxer said: "On October 10th, '04, on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wal lace, three months ago, you were asked about CIA Director Tenet's remark that prior to the war he had, quote, 'made it clear to the White House that he thought the nuclear-weapons program was much weaker than the pro gram to develop other WMDs' Your response was this: 'The intelligence a ssessment was that he was reconstituting his nuclear program;
Boxer concluded: "So here you are, first contradicting the president and then contradicting yourself. So it's hard to even ask you a question abo ut this, because you are on the record basically taking two sides of an issue. "MS RICE: Senator, that was just a question of pointing out to people th at there was an uncertainty. No one was saying that he would have to hav e a weapon within a year for it to be worth it to go to war. BOXER: Well, if you can't admit to this mistake, I hope that you'll -- "MS RICE: Senator, we can have this discussion in any way that you would like. But I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integri ty.
Rice will return for more questions this morning, after which the Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to quickly appr ove her nomination. Legislative leaders plan to bring the nomination to the full Senate tomorrow. "Senate Democrats tried repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, to pin down Rice on the specifics of the administration's exit strategy for Iraq and on w hether the administration now concedes fault with the way it handled the Iraq war or interrogations of terrorism suspects."
Nicholas Kralev writes in the Washington Times: "Secretary of State-d esignate Condoleezza Rice yesterday branded six countries . as 'outp osts of tyranny,' coining a term reminiscent of President Bush's 'axis o f evil' three years ago. " 'To be sure, in our world, there remain outposts of tyranny, and Americ a stands with oppressed people on every continent,' she said, naming Cub a, Burma, North Korea, Iran, Belarus and Zimbabwe."
Steven R Weisman and Joel Brinkley write in the New York Times that Rice "declared that the United States was making 'some progress' in trai ning Iraqi security forces." of Delaware, the ranking Demo crat on the committee, "dismissed as 'malarkey' Ms Rice's assertion tha t 120,000 Iraqi troops had been trained. He said that based on his own i nterviews on trips in Iraq, the actual number of fully trained Iraqis wa s closer to 4,000."
Paul Richter writes in the Los Angeles Times: "In a sometimes stormy 9 1/2-hour session, Rice signaled little overall change in the Bush admi nistration's approach to dealing with other countries. Rice said that as secretary she would strive to work through alliances, but only if the e fforts were productive."
Tim Grieve writes in Salon: "Nothing changes at noon on Jan. And if there was any lingering question about that - - any vague hope that the president's second term might be different tha n his first -- Condoleezza Rice put the matter to rest during her confir mation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday. Th e United States will have a new secretary of state Thursday.
"Thomas, one of Capitol Hill's most powerful figures on tax policy, is th e highest-ranking House Republican official to cast doubt on the preside nt's plan for creating individual investment accounts. "Thomas's comments, which took the White House by surprise, reflected som e Republicans' view that the White House has mishandled the plan's rollo ut and that a fresh start is needed to allow a chance for getting Democr atic support."
Susan Page writes in USA Today that Bush "will be leading a nation th at is less optimistic about the future than it was when he was inaugurat ed for his first term. Then, 56% of those surveyed by USA TODAY/CNN/Gall up were generally satisfied with the way things were going in the USA; He'll face a public that is deeply divided over his leadersh ip. "That divide has solidified over the past four years, costing him the hon eymoon that presidents -- even second-term presidents -- typically enjoy at inauguration. He takes office with a job-approval rating of 51%, the consistently lowest of any re-elected president in modern times. Partis an divisions eased when Presidents Clinton, Reagan and Eisenhower were s worn in a second time. "What's more, he'll be pursuing an agenda that differs from the challenge s most Americans identify as top priorities. Their most urgent concerns: education and health care costs."
Ronald Brownstein writes in the Los Angeles Times: "Americans remain deeply divided over President Bush's performance and priorities as he be gins his second term, a new Los Angeles Times poll has found. "Bush arrives at his second inaugural Thursday buoyed by a public prefere nce for smaller government, continued confidence in his efforts against terrorism and support for some of his top goals -- such as simplifying t he tax code, limiting medical malpractice claims and proceeding with Ira q's Jan. "But the poll also found most Americans skeptical about his call to restr ucture Social Security, unhappy about his handling of the Iraq war and o pposed to making his first-term tax cuts permanent if they would produce further federal budget deficits, as almost all projections show they wo uld." Another finding: "In the days leading up to Bush's inaugural, the poll fo und that 75% believed he should scale back the celebration amid the war in Iraq and the tsunami disaster in Southern Asia."
Doyle McManus writes that, in the same poll, "the percentage of A mericans who believed the situation in Iraq was 'worth going to war over ' had sunk to a new low of 39%."
James Harding writes in the Financial Times: "This week, amid an inau guration that mixes presidential majesty, pricey lobbying opportunities and a partisan victory thrash, giddy Republicans are hailing the 43rd pr esident as a man poised ...
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