US President George W. Bush and congressional Democrats locked horns on Tuesday on whether Americans are safe from terrorism, part of a calculated effort by both parties to capitalize on the coming anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and gain the upper hand in this year's election debate over national security.
The White House released an updated version of its national security strategy, concluding that "America is safer, but we are not yet safe." Bush, speaking to military officers, delivered the second in a series of speeches on global terror. And yesterday he planned to deliver a third in the East Room of the White House, where he will propose new legislation on bringing terror detainees to trial.
The bill is in response to a Supreme Court ruling that deemed unconstitutional the military commissions that Bush originally proposed. Late on Tuesday, presidential aides were briefing lawmakers about the proposal. The plan is part of a broader effort to seize the initiative on politically delicate issues regarding the handling of terror suspects, including new rules for interrogation techniques.
On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats released their own report, which asserts that Americans are less safe now than they were five years ago, and brought out Wesley Clark, the retired general and 2004 presidential candidate, to trumpet it. In an interview, Clark said he was trying to help Democrats "articulate a strong and successful national security position, so that people can understand that Democrats can and will succeed in protecting the nation."
The dueling appearances laid bare a central fact about the changing politics of Sept. 11: Five years ago there was a period of bipartisanship, which has evolved into a bitter partisan brawl over the course Bush has pursued since then, especially in invading Iraq. This week's politicking would have been unthinkable four years ago, but both sides openly embraced it on Tuesday.
Within hours of Bush's speech, the Democratic Senate leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, and the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Charles Schumer of New York, were holed up in the Capitol, plotting strategy for the remainder of the week.
"We are not going to let the Republicans occupy the high ground on this issue," Schumer said, "particularly when we believe the American people are not happy with the policies in Iraq or in general on terrorism."
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
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