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

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (509997)	12/15/2003 7:44:00 AM
From: tonto	Respond to of 769670

Tough call on penalty. Good arguments can be made for life and death sentences. ``Here's a man who has killed so many tens of thousands of people, who will have to be held accountable and brought to justice in some form, in some way,'' Rumsfeld told CBS.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (509997)	12/15/2003 8:00:57 AM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Democrats hurting selves with attacks By Ed Kociela Nearly a year ago, when Howard Dean entered the Democratic Party's fray for the 2004 presidential nomination, he was, at best, a dark-horse candidate. "A year out, who cares?" Dean said at the time. "What I care about is where I am in Iowa the night before the caucuses." On the threshold of the Jan. 19 Iowa caucus, Tuesday's endorsement by Al Gore gives the front-running Dean campaign another burst of momentum as the clock ticks down to the crucial face-offs between the nine Democratic candidates. It must be remembered that Gore still carries a lot of political clout within his party. He was the standard-bearer four years ago and won the popular vote by a half-million votes in 2000, but lost an election that ultimately was decided by a 5-4 vote in the Supreme Court. Because Gore represents the flamboyantly liberal wing of the party and Dean is such a fiscal conservative and social liberal, it's odd to see this union of political disparity. The former vice president also muddied up the waters a bit when he passionately echoed Dean's position on Persian Gulf War II. In his statement, Gore referred to the war as a "catastrophic mistake" by the Bush administration. Politically, it was an unwise move for the Democrats. In 1968 and 1972, when Vietnam was the issue, the hawks prevailed. The biggest problem with Gore's endorsement, however, will come from the humiliating betrayal of his former running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who is barely still in the hunt, and party bigwigs the former vice president alienated four years ago. What could happen here is a major chasm separating the party. It would be no surprise to see several candidates drop out either shortly before or immediately after the Iowa caucus and form a bloc to oppose Dean. The "outs," of course, will include Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Lieberman. The "ins" include Rep. Dick Gephardt, who is running a strong race in Iowa, and Sen. John Kerry, who has made this campaign a personal crusade against Dean. The two odd fellows here are Gen. Wesley Clark and The Rev. Al Sharpton, who still wield power. Clark's strange response to Gore's announcement was that he has a number of the ex-vice president's former staff members working his campaign. Could he be hinting at a vice presidential nod from Dean? Sharpton, on the other hand, could push hard for a spot on the ticket should Gephardt get the nod. This, of course, could splinter the party as voters tire of the internecine bashing. For the Democrats to succeed, they must tone down the personal attacks and stick to the issues. If not, the GOP will have a stranglehold on the White House for four more years thespectrum.com

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (509997)	12/15/2003 8:15:48 AM
From: JakeStraw	Respond to of 769670

Saddam's Capture Gives Bush Huge Boost By TERENCE HUNT AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) -- Saddam Hussein's capture lifted a huge political weight from President Bush after months of rising casualties and growing doubts about his handling of Iraq. Around the world, it sent a thundering message of America's resolve to prevail in the war against terrorism. The pictures told the stark story of the victor and the vanquished: A triumphant Bush proclaimed the end of a "dark and painful era" in Iraq, while a haggard-looking Saddam was being examined by a doctor who probed his mouth with a tongue depressor. For months, Saddam's ability to remain at large despite one of the world's biggest manhunts had been a blow to U.S. prestige and claims of progress in Iraq. "As long as he was out there running around, it made us look like we were more bark than bite," said Rick Barton, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The persistent violence and growing death toll of American soldiers had opened the way for criticism that Bush lacked a postwar strategy for restoring stability in Iraq. Americans wearied of scenes of suicide bombings and flag-covered coffins at funerals, and the polls showed the nation was evenly split on approval of Bush's handling of Iraq. But with Saddam's capture, the critics were silenced, at least for the moment, and Bush was expected to get a big boost in the polls as he moves into a re-election year. "The Democrats can't touch him at the moment," said Columbia University historian Henry Graff. "He said he was going to get him. He got him. What more do you want? Now if we can lower the level of violence over there, he's going to look good." Bush, in an address to the nation, cautioned that there would be more bloodshed. "The capture of Saddam Hussein does not mean the end of violence in Iraq," Bush said. "We will face terrorists who would rather go on killing the innocent than accept the rise of liberty in the heart of the Middle East." A central question will be how much control Saddam exerted over Baathist loyalists believed responsible for the daily attacks. The way he was captured, alone at the bottom of a pit at a farmhouse, did not leave the impression of a man in charge. Democratic presidential candidates, divided between pro- and anti-war positions, found consensus by saying it was a great day for U.S. soldiers, the people of Iraq and the world - omitting praise for the president. "This is a huge victory for Bush. It's clear by getting Saddam early, bringing him to trial, the president can send out a message that he's winning the war on terror," said Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore's 2000 campaign. Bush's allies expect that Democrats to regroup and go after the president another way. "Politicians are pretty smart," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said on "Fox News Sunday." "They'll go out and try to pick another issue. They'll look at any incident that happens in the next week and maybe even diminish the capture of Saddam Hussein." More suicide bombings and more coffins could put Bush back on the defensive. "Nobody can predict what's going to happen over the next month," Frist said, "so there'll be plenty of fodder for them to go after." Saddam's capture was a particularly sweet moment for the Bush family, father and son presidents who confronted the Iraqi leader in two wars and wound up being criticized for letting him get away. The two Bushes were together at the White House on Friday but went their separate ways over the weekend. Even some of Bush's harshest critics overseas were forced to offer congratulations, most notably the leaders of France and Germany who had opposed the war and had refused requests for troops and money for Iraq's reconstruction. "It's a major event that should strongly contribute to democracy and stability in Iraq and allow the Iraqis to master their destiny," said French President Jacques Chirac. For awhile, at least, Saddam's capture should ease global criticism of the United States. "It's clearly going to be helpful because it does deal with this growing impression of being somewhat ineffectual that had been developing over the last several months," said Barton. "It re-establishes that the United States is a capable player, capable of taking care of somebody like Saddam Hussein." But the question will soon arise: what does it mean in terms of public safety and the quality of life in Iraq. "You've still got to prove it every day in a place like Iraq," Barton said. Bush pledged that the United States was up to that challenge. "We've come to this moment through patience and resolve and focused action," the president said Sunday in his address from the Cabinet Room. "Our security is assured by our perseverance and by our sure belief in the success of liberty," Bush said. "And customwire.ap.org

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (509997)	12/15/2003 8:18:18 AM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Stocks Rally Across Asia and Europe By DIRK BEVERIDGE AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) -- Stocks rallied across Asia then opened higher in Europe on Monday as traders bet Saddam Hussein's capture could mark a turning point in the Iraq conflict. The arrest of the former Iraqi dictator by U.S. troops "was definitely an unexpected Christmas present" for stock investors worldwide, said Tsuyoshi Nomaguchi, an equity strategist at the Daiwa Securities brokerage in Tokyo. Tokyo's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 issues surged by 321.11 points, or 3.2 percent, to finish at 10,490.77. "It could be the beginning of the end of the war," said UBS Securities equity strategist Shoji Hirawaka, as images of Saddam the prisoner, bearded and disheveled but recognizable, flashed around the world on televisions and in newspapers. European markets rose from the outset, with blue chips up by 1 percent in London, 1.5 percent in Frankfurt and 1.3 percent in Paris. Stock markets were nearly all higher across the Asia-Pacific region, though Hong Kong shares retreated slightly into negative territory at the close, down 0.6 percent after the Hang Seng Index briefly hit its top level of the year - 12,740.50 points. "Uncertainties evaporated after Hussein's capture," said Jo Yong-Chan, an analyst at Daishin Securities in Seoul, where prices closed with a gain of 2 percent. "War-related stocks are falling and construction stocks are soaring." Shares in Australia rose 1.1 percent on the day, while New Zealand prices added almost 1 percent by the close. "The market's lovin' it," said Peter Cuthbertson, a private client adviser at Austock Brokers in Melbourne. The U.S. dollar edged higher against the Japanese yen in Tokyo, while gold prices plunged. Gold was down by US$2.90 an ounce late Monday in Hong Kong, from Friday's close US$407.45. Analysts had predicted Saddam's capture would ignite a stock market rally but they were unsure how much staying power it would have. Although it erases one big uncertainty about Iraq, it is unclear whether it will bring an end to the frequent attacks being carried out against troops from the U.S.-led coalition. Still, traders speculated that Wall Street would surge when U.S. trading gets under way on Monday. Many key stock markets had already been rising in recent days on an improved economic outlook, and indications of a more stable Iraq certainly wouldn't hurt. New York's Dow Jones industrial average pushed above 10,000 points last week for the first time in 18 months. customwire.ap.org