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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (474727)	10/11/2003 2:23:42 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Syria: We Will Defend Ourselves Saturday, October 11, 2003 DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria (search) said Saturday that relations with the United States were deteriorating because of an Israeli airstrike, and warned it has the right to defend itself if Israel attacks again. The Foreign Ministry comment came nearly a week after Israeli warplanes bombed a camp outside Damascus (search) on Sunday, saying it was a training camp for the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad (search). The group had claimed responsibility for a homicide attack in Israel the day before that left 19 people dead. "Syria has the right to exercise its right to self-defense ... in all available ways," Syrian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Bushra Kanafani told reporters in Damascus. She declined to elaborate on what means Syria would use, saying self-defense has different forms. Kanafani also said relations between Syria and the United States were worse than they had been for years because of U.S. support of Israel. Syria presented a motion to the U.N. Security Council (search) calling on the world body to condemn Israel, but the council postponed a vote. The United States has warned it would veto any motion that did not also condemn the suicide bombing. "When the United States says that Israel is defending itself when it attacks an abandoned civilian target under untrue pretexts and threatens to use its (U.N.) veto against condemnation ... this will have negative results on relations," she said. Kanafani said the camp targeted by Israel was abandoned by Palestinian militants years ago. Tensions have been rising in recent months between the United States and Syria, mainly over Iraq. The United States says Syria lets insurgents slip across the border to fight coalition soldiers. Kanafani denied those claims, saying it is difficult to control such a long border. She hinted that Syria could help calm the situation in Iraq. "Syria has many friends in Iraq and ... we can play a constructive role in the advancement in the chaotic situation in Iraq," she said. "Cutting the dialogue with Syria, accusing Syria of raising problems through people going through the border is not going to help our constructive role in Iraq." On Wednesday, the U.S. Congress gave preliminary approval for sanctions to be imposed on Syria, a move that Western diplomats said could lead to more damaging U.S. measures. The Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act accuses Syria of sponsoring terrorists, seeking weapons of mass destruction and occupying Lebanon with more than 20,000 troops. Kanafani said "those who are concerned about punishing Syria in the United States are specific groups who work for Israel first and for the interest of America after that." The measure itself will not have much impact on Syria, Kanafani said, adding that U.S.-Syrian trade is less than $400 million a year. Syria, which hosts leaders of Palestinian militant groups, is already under several U.S. restrictions because Washington considers it a sponsor of terrorism. Kanafani said Syria wants "a constructive and objective dialogue that takes into consideration our interests and national interests and this is what we are seeking if this is possible with the current American administration." She said the United States "seems to want to change the world on its model ... but interfering in domestic problems is not accepted."

To: calgal who wrote (474727)	10/11/2003 2:25:15 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

White House Officials Say Iraq Is Improving Saturday, October 11, 2003 Using the final day of the business week to defend the Bush administration's "first-strike doctrine," several top White House officials spoke out Friday to defend U.S. military action in Iraq. The remarks — given by Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the top U.S. general in Iraq — came as two more U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq. The soldiers were the victims of an ambush Thursday night in a Baghdad neighborhood, military officials said. Read about the ambush of U.S. soldiers. The public relations campaign was an attempt by the Bush administration to deflect criticism of the government's handling of post-war Iraq and downplay reports of infighting over Iraqi policy among Bush officials in Washington. Rumsfeld told Fox News that most of violence in Iraq was happening in Baghdad, where the majority of reporters have been stationed since the combat phase of the war ended in April. "It's an accurate representation of what people are seeing, but it happens to be a relatively narrow slice of what we're seeing in Iraq," Rumsfeld told Fox News. "Baghdad is the most difficult situation we've got. The situation is better in the north, better in the south." The defense secretary downplayed a Friday New York Daily News report of clashes among Bush administration cabinet leaders and the president's disappointment in the work he's done as head of defense. "I think it's been blown significantly out of proportion," Rumsfeld said. "The National Security Council is doing what its charter said it should do: coordinate among the various agencies. This problem we're wrestling with in Iraq is about Iraq. It's not about the people in the National Security Council." Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, Iraq's top U.S. general, said during an exclusive interview with Fox News in Baghdad that the climate in Iraq had changed for the better. "This is a place of freedom, not a place of fear like it used to be," Sanchez said. "We have to tell the American and the international community that a large part of that blanket of fear is gone from this country and the people are back to living." He acknowledged that problems remain, but he said those were to be expected. "There are still attacks going on. We are still in a low-intensity conflict and we will be for a while. We will continue to take some casualties but we need to stay committed," Sanchez told Fox. "This is clearly a battle ground in the global war on terrorism and Americans will win here." Also on Friday, during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Rumsfeld told the audience of 500 that he was surprised by the effectiveness of Saddam Hussein's loyalists to sustain the Iraq conflict long after the end of major combat. He called the continuing fighting serious but described it as low intensity. He said coalition forces made 1,700 patrols daily in Iraq and only a tenth of 1 percent of those involved any kind of armed conflict. "It is a very low-intensity situation, percentage-wise. Nonetheless, people are getting killed," Rumsfeld said. Fear instilled in the Iraqi people by the ousted leader's former paramilitary force is contributing to the situation, he said. Rumsfeld also called the coalition's achievements in Iraq impressive, listing the opening of schools, hospitals and a new central bank. "These are things that took a year, two years, five years, 14 years in Germany after World War II and in Japan after World War II, and they're being done in a matter of months," he said. Cheney, in a speech to the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said the war with Iraq is part of a larger fight against terrorism across the world. Read more about Cheney's comments. "Some claim we should not have acted because the threat from Saddam Hussein was not imminent," Cheney said Friday. "Terrorist enemies of our country hope to strike us with the most lethal weapons known to man, and it would be reckless in the extreme to rule out action and save our worries until the day they strike." He said doing nothing is not the answer. "It comes down to a choice between actions that ensure our security and inaction that allows danger to grow," the vice president said. And on Thursday, President Bush had no apologies for the U.S. approach to the situation in Iraq. Read more about Bush's speech. "This is a new kind of war and we must adjust ... and America's following a new strategy," he said. "We're not waiting for further attacks. We're striking our enemies before they can strike us again.…Wars are won on the offensive." Fox News' Mike Tobin in Baghdad, Tony Snow in Washington and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

To: calgal who wrote (474727)	10/11/2003 2:27:13 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Bush steps up pressure on Castro By Joseph Curl THE WASHINGTON TIMES President Bush yesterday announced a new effort to weaken communist dictator Fidel Castro's stranglehold on Cuba, vowing to step up enforcement of U.S. travel restrictions to the country and to increase the number of Cuban dissidents allowed into America. In a Rose Garden event to commemorate the day Cuba celebrates the 1868 start of its quest for independence from Spain, the president said free nations have urged Mr. Castro to move toward democracy by holding "free and fair elections" for the good of his people, all to no avail. "The dictator has responded with defiance and contempt and a new round of brutal oppression that outraged the world's conscience," Mr. Bush told about 50 Cuban Americans. "Clearly, the Castro regime will not change by its own choice. But Cuba must change." The president announced three initiatives "intended to assist the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom and to prepare the U.S. government for the emergence of a free and democratic Cuba," the White House said in a statement. The initiatives would: •Curtail travel to Cuba by Americans by increased enforcement and inspections of travelers and shipments to and from the island. •Increase the number of new migrants admitted from Cuba "through a safe, legal, and orderly process." •Create a new Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba to help prepare the U.S. government to provide effective assistance to a free Cuba. The increased access to America comes after Havana cracked down on dissidents, imprisoning 75 Castro opponents in April, some for as long as 28 years. Cuban exile groups, an influential voting bloc in Florida, have pushed Mr. Bush to take a more aggressive line on Cuba. They welcomed his moves to toughen policy on the communist-run island, with some saying their pressure had paid off. "This is precisely what we have asked for, that the laws should be implemented," said Ninoska Perez, leader of a hard-line exile group called the Cuban Liberty Council, which strongly opposes any easing of U.S. trade and travel restrictions on Cuba. Cuban American National Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas Santos praised the creation of the presidential commission. "We have high expectations," he said. The new commission will be spearheaded by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez, a Cuban. The commission will develop a plan "to establish democracy and the rule of law, create the core institutions of free enterprise, modernize infrastructure and provide health, housing, and human services when Castro is out of power," the White House said. "The transition to freedom will present many challenges to the Cuban people and to America, and we will be prepared," the president said. Mr. Bush said he had asked the Treasury Department to begin "strengthening enforcement of those travel restrictions to Cuba that are already in place." Under U.S. law enacted in 1961 as part of a broad embargo against the communist regime, Americans are not allowed to spend money in Cuba unless they have special authorization from the Treasury Department. The president said that exceptions to the law — which include allowing visits to family, to deliver humanitarian aid or to conduct research — "are too often used as a cover for illegal business travel and tourism, or to skirt the restrictions on carrying cash into Cuba." "We're cracking down on this deception. ... U.S. law forbids Americans to travel to Cuba for pleasure. That law is on the books and it must be enforced." Using the new Department of Homeland Security, the president said there would also be increased inspections of travelers and shipments to and from Cuba. The president also announced that the United States will increase the number of Cuban immigrants it allows into the country, although the White House offered no firm numbers. Under a 1994 agreement with Havana, which was prompted by an exodus of Cubans to South Florida, the United States began giving out about 20,000 visas in each fiscal year. Last year, however, the U.S. goal was not achieved. "We are working to ensure that Cubans fleeing the dictatorship do not risk their lives at sea. My administration is improving the method through which we identify refugees, and redoubling our efforts to process Cubans who seek to leave," Mr. Bush said. "We will increase the number of new Cuban immigrants we welcome every year. We are free to do so, and we will, for the good of those who seek freedom. Our goal is to help more Cubans safely complete their journey to a free land." Mr. Bush also said his administration would make greater efforts to send broadcasts into Cuba. "We continue to break the information embargo that the Cuban government has imposed on its people for a half a century," he said. "Repressive governments fear the truth, and so we're increasing the amount and expanding the distribution of printed material to Cuba, of Internet-based information inside of Cuba, and of AM-FM and shortwave radios for Cubans. "We know that the enemy of every tyrant is the truth," Mr. Bush said. "We're determined to bring the truth to the people who suffer under Fidel Castro." • This article is based in part on wire service reports.