Flaring tempers in Washington and personal political attacks are an undeniable sign. Despite the Bush administration's best efforts, debate is heating up about how long US troops should stay in Iraq.
Polls show that most Americans now disagree with President George W. Bush's handling of Iraq, and that they believe the war is not worth its toll in lives and money.
Opposition Democrats have tried to capitalize on the public mood to put the focus on Iraq in recent weeks. That provoked some vicious public sparring in Congress last week -- and rebukes by Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to opponents of US policy.
Bush used a speech on Nov. 11, the day on which the US honors its veterans, to defend the reasons for going to war.
He also criticized some Democrats for accusing the White House of manipulating intelligence to make a case for the invasion, saying it was "irresponsible" and gave comfort to the US' enemies.
That was mild compared to Cheney's subsequent attacks on the opposition party last week.
Suggestions that Bush or others in the administration purposely misled the public on prewar intelligence were "dishonest and reprehensible," he said.
"The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone -- but we're not going to sit by and let them rewrite history," Cheney said.
The next day, Representative John Murtha, a 31-year member of Congress and highly decorated former soldier, blasted the administration's Iraq policy and proposed a plan to begin with the immediate pullout of US troops.
The White House accused Murtha of endorsing "extreme liberal" positions and said it is "not the time to surrender to the terrorists." Murtha shot back, criticizing Bush and Cheney for not having worn their country's uniform in combat.
While visiting China on Sunday, Bush sought to calm the waters by calling Murtha a "fine man," while emphasizing that he strongly disagrees with his stand on US troops in Iraq.
Though civility was restored this week, the latest sparring indicates that Democrats are increasingly prepared to take on a weakened president -- and Republicans and the White House will fight back.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
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