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U.S. Political Appointee Resigns Over ‘Crusader’
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U.S. Secretary of Army Thomas White |
WASHINGTON,
May 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A mid-level U.S. political
appointee resigned after being blamed for circulating unauthorized
"talking points" warning that killing the Crusader artillery
system would cost soldiers lives, the army said Friday.
Meanwhile,
the U.S. Congress passed a $400 million wartime defense bill at
roughly 2:00 a.m. Friday morning that includes funding allocations for
Crusader.
The
talking points were sent to some members of Congress a day after U.S.
Secretary of Army Thomas White was informed that the Pentagon
leadership intended to eliminate the $11-billion- program.
An
investigation by the army's inspector general found that White
directed subordinates to tell members of Congress the army still
supported the program, but that the talking points were circulated
without his knowledge or approval.
"The
talking points contained inappropriate, inaccurate and offensive
language, and did not represent the army's views," the army said,
summarizing the probe's finding.
Among
the points made was that axing the Crusader would cost soldiers lives.
U.S.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld earlier this week expressed
"confidence" in White despite their confrontation over the
new 155mm howitzer.
However,
Rumsfeld withdrew support Friday for the civilian chief of the U.S.
Army pending an investigation into the service's lobbying Congress to
reverse a decision kill the $11 billion artillery program.
The
army insists it needs the gun, but critics say is too heavy at 40 tons
to deploy rapidly to distant battlefields.
White
was informed on April 30 of the preliminary decision to kill the
weapon system in a meeting with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul
Wolfowitz.
The
army investigation said that after learning of the decision, White
"directed his subordinates to respond to inquiries about Crusader
by stating the army's continued support for the program."
"A
staff officer in OCLL [Office of Congressional Legislative Liaison]
drafted talking points that deviated significantly from the
secretary's general direction," the army said.
Brigadier
General Joe Taylor, the chief of the office, did not review the
talking points, the army said.
Kenneth
Steadman, a political appointee and Taylor's principal deputy,
"distributed this unapproved document to certain members of
Congress and their staffs without the knowledge or approval of
Secretary White or the chief of OCLL," the army said.
"The principal deputy of the OCLL acknowledged responsibility and
has submitted his resignation, which was accepted," the army
said.
Victoria
Clarke, the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, said Rumsfeld expected army
leaders to get fully behind the decision to eliminate the Crusader
program but instead was confronted with comments and "talking
points" sent to members of Congress aimed at undercutting it.
"Obviously
we take these things very, very seriously," said Victoria Clarke,
the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman. Asked whether Rumsfeld still
had full confidence in White, after his decision to withdraw support,
Clarke said, "He has confidence they will get to the bottom of
this."
"Those
who are responsible for any inappropriate behavior, if we discover
that, they will be held accountable," she said. The
confrontation over the Crusader came to a head Tuesday when Deputy
Defense Secretary Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense Pete
Aldridge met with White and gave him 30 days to come up with a plan to
terminate the Crusader and invest the money in other new technologies.
"Some
time after the deputy met with Secretary White, and communicated what
he would like to have happen, there were people making comments. There
were talking points, and fact sheets being sent around that did not
support that direction," said Clarke.
Members
of Congress from Oklahoma, the state where the new 155 mm Crusader
cannon was to be built, went into action and submitted legislation to
block any attempt to kill the program for at least another year.
Asked
whether the army had mounted a rear guard effort to save the program,
Rumsfeld told reporters Thursday it was being investigated, saying,
"I have a minimum of high regard for that kind of behavior.”
But,
for now, the new congressional bill dashed Rumsfeld’s hopes of
eliminating Crusader, clearly stating support for the program by
passing the bill 359- 58. Crusader’s fate remains undecided until
the Senate debates its position on the weapon’s system. Congress and
the Senate will then battle out a decision when the bills are voted
upon in the Full House.
The
bill’s main points are as follows, according to the Associated Press
(AP):
• Sets
aside $7.8 billion for development of a national missile defense
system.
• Allows military retirees who are at least 60 percent
disabled to collect disability benefits on top of retirement pay by
2007, at a cost of $5.8 billion.
• Accelerates
development of pilotless planes for surveillance and attack, such as
the Predator planes used extensively in Afghanistan and Global Hawk
high-altitude planes.
•
Allocates billions for a new generation of stealth jet fighters.
• Orders
an across-the-board military pay raise of at least 4.1 percent,
effective January 1, 2003.
• Gives
$3.2 billion above the Bush administration's request for buying
weapons, including an additional $1 billion to build ships, for a
total of $73.4 billion.
• Includes $1 billion more for military
construction, which under Bush's proposal was to have dropped to $4.8
billion from $6.5 billion.
• Increases by nearly 1 percent the 1.4 million
active-duty troops level, 12,650 more personnel across the four
services, the largest increase since 1986.
• Sets a limit of no more than 500 American troops
at a time in Colombia, with certain exceptions, although the Defense
Secretary could waive that cap if demanded by national interest.
• Exempts military installations from having to
designate habitat areas for endangered species if a separate natural
resources management plan were in place, and excuses military forces
for accidental kills of migratory birds during operations. Similar
requested relief from laws protecting marine mammals, clean air and
hazardous-waste cleanup went unheeded.
• Requires the Pentagon to present a plan on how to
shorten to one year the time necessary to prepare to conduct nuclear
tests.
• Blocks military funds from being used to support
a permanent international war crimes court set to come into being this
summer but opposed by the Bush Administration.
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