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  Bush to Meet With Rumsfeld on Iraq Abuse
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ContributorGerald Farinas 
Last EditedGerald Farinas  May 10, 2004 11:04am
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MediaNews Service - Associated Press
News DateMonday, May 10, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionBush to Meet With Rumsfeld on Iraq Abuse
The Honolulu Advertiser

President Bush is standing by embattled Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld as he goes to the Defense Department on Monday for what officials said was a previously scheduled briefing that takes on new significance because of the torture and sexual humiliation of prisoners uncovered at the Abu Ghraib prison. Senior members of his war council were to be there: Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell; CIA Director George Tenet; Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs; Gen. John Abizaid, top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Bush (who sees indications of waning public confidence in his senior military ranks and declining credibility abroad) and Rumsfled brace for the anticipated release of more pictures and video images showing Iraqi prisoners being abused by American soldiers. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Bush has been briefed about undisclosed photos that Rumsfeld said depict acts "that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman." McClellan said Bush was "very well aware of what's in those images." McClellan said the Pentagon was looking into whether the pictures should be released.

Bush has said he wants Rumsfeld to "stay in my Cabinet." But a chorus of criticism from Capitol Hill has at least one Republican wondering whether Rumsfeld, and perhaps Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers, might have to step down. Meanwhile, a newspaper that reports on the U.S. military said in an editorial that responsibility for the scandal lies at the highest levels of the Pentagon, including Rumsfeld and Myers. Both men are guilty of "professional negligence," the Army Times editorial said. "This was not just a failure of leadership at the local commander level," the editorial said. "This was a failure that ran straight to the top."
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