US President George W. Bush declared that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a menace "and we're going to deal with him," and said Osama bin Laden -- a man he once wanted dead or alive -- has been reduced to a marginal figure in the war on terrorism.
"He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it and met his match," Bush said of the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks. "I truly am not that concerned about him."
In his first full-blown news conference in five months, the US leader produced strong rhetoric on the war and America's enemies. Bush said he is leaving "all options on the table" as the Pentagon reworks its nuclear weapons policy to deter any attack on the US -- including from non-nuclear states such as Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria.
Critics say the Pentagon's plans to produce less-powerful nuclear weapons make it more likely that the US will eventually launch a nuclear attack. But Bush said a modern nuclear arsenal is "a way to say to people who would harm America: `Don't do it.' ... that there is a consequence."
"The president must have all options available to make that deterrent have meaning," he said.
Bush's eyes grew red and moist as he talked about slain US servicemen in Afghanistan. "I feel responsible" when troops are harmed, he said. "I'm not very good about concealing my emotions."
In a slap at one of the closest US allies, Bush criticized Israel for escalating military action against Palestinians. "It's not helpful what the Israelis have recently done," he said.
Still, the president said Israel has a right to protect itself and expressed optimism that US envoy Anthony Zinni would be able to reduce violence during his Middle East trip.
Bush drew a sharp distinction between his war on terrorism and the Middle East conflict: "Unlike our war against al-Qaeda, there is a series of agreements in place that will lead to peace."
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
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