WASHINGTON,
May 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - As his Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld faces growing pressures to resign over the
U.S. military abuse of Iraqi detainees, U.S. President George W. Bush
apologized for the scandal for the first time.
"I
was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners and the
humiliation suffered by their families," Bush said Thursday, May
6, shedding his customary reluctance to apologize or acknowledge
mistakes.
"I
told him (Abdullah) I was equally sorry that people who have been
seeing those pictures didn't understand the true nature and heart of
America," Bush said after talks with Jordanian King Abdullah II,
according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Bush’s
apology came as several U.S. lawmakers called Thursday for the
resignation of Rumsfeld, saying that the Iraq prison abuse scandal
showed gross malfeasance at the very highest levels of the Pentagon.
Several
members of Congress opted not to wait for Rumsfeld's appearance on
Capitol Hill Friday, May 7, at which he is due to answer questions
about the abuse, before insisting he has to go.
Many
members are incensed that they were not informed ahead of time of the
severity of the abuse cases that came to light last January in Iraq,
when six soldiers have been charged in the case, and six officers and
noncommissioned have received career-ending reprimands.
There
were signs that some Republican lawmakers were closing ranks around
Rumsfeld.
Democrats
were also incensed by the scandal.
"Donald
Rumsfeld needs to resign as Secretary of Defense, and if he does not
do so, President Bush should fire him," said Massachusetts
Representative James McGovern from the floor of the House, where
lawmakers Thursday debated a resolution condemning the abuse of Iraqi
detainees by their U.S. jail keepers.
"I
believe the conditions that led to abuse were created at the very
top," the Massachusetts Democrat said.
|
|
|
Rumsfeld is to appear before Congress Friday (AFP)
|
"No
other action, no other words, would send as strong a signal to the
world that the United States is serious about fixing what is wrong in
Iraq," he added.
The
top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, agreed
that Rumsfeld should go.
"He
should resign," the California Democrat said Thursday, accusing
Rumsfeld of having taken part in a "cover-up" to keep
revelations of the abuse from becoming public.
The
Washington Post Friday quoted aides
saying that while Rumsfeld had known of the photographs since January,
when they came to the attention of U.S. commanders in Iraq, he had not
seen them and was not aware that CBS was about to air them until just
hours before they were broadcast.
‘Long
Gone’
The
U.S. press also increasingly chimed in against Rumsfeld as the scandal
still sends shockwaves in the country and worldwide.
The
St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper in a Thursday editorial
called his tenure at the Defense Department "a fiasco."
"Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resign and take his top deputies with
him. That includes Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary
Douglas Feith," the newspaper wrote.
It
said Rumsfeld is responsible for an accumulation of
"miscalculations, misconceptions and missteps" at the
Pentagon.
"If
the Defense Department were a corporation, its CEO would be long
gone," the newspaper wrote.
Thomas
Friedman, a top columnist at The New York Times also
called for a Pentagon shakeup.
"This
administration needs to undertake a total overhaul of its Iraq
policy," Friedman wrote.
"That
overhaul needs to begin with President Bush firing Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld - today, not tomorrow or next month,
today".
Rumsfeld
cancelled a speech in Philadelphia Thursday to prepare for the
Congress testimony over the scandal.
General
Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also to
appear with the beleaguered Defense Secretary Friday before the Senate
Armed Services Committee.
In
a rare public expression of displeasure, Bush Thursday blamed Rumsfeld
for keeping him in the dark about graphic photographs of abuse of
Iraqi prisoners before they were
aired April 28 on CBS television.
But
the President rejected mounting calls for Rumsfeld's resignation,
giving him a measure of political cover as he goes before armed
services committees in the House and Senate to explain what happened.
"He's
an important part of my Cabinet and he'll stay in my Cabinet,"
Bush said.
