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Edited on Tue Dec-06-05 01:36 PM by TayTay
US Democratic presidential candidate calls for Rumsfeld's resignation XINHUA NEWS AGENCY 09-26-2003
WASHINGTON, Sept 26, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- US Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean Friday called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, accusing him of adopting a "pattern of deception" in dealing with the Iraq issue.
"This pattern of deception is but one major reason that this administration deserves to be fired by the American people," said the former Vermont governor, who also cited the "abject failure" in postwar Iraq.
Dean announced that he would start a national drive on the Internet to seek the resignations of Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz.
Dean, who was against the war in Iraq, is the second Democratic presidential candidate urging the resignation of Rumsfeld. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry on Thursday urged Rumsfeld to step down, citing his "arrogant, inappropriate way" to handle the Iraq issue.
Copyright 2003 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY.
Also the Boston Herald 9/27/03
Kerry, Dean want scalps of Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz Boston Herald, All, Sec. News, p 6 09-27-2003 By ANDREW MIGA
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidates Sen. John F. Kerry and Howard Dean yesterday demanded the resignations of the two chief architects of the U.S.-led Iraq war, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and his deputy Paul Wolfowitz.
"These people . . . have proceeded in an arrogant, inappropriate way that has frankly put America at jeopardy," Kerry said on CNN. "These are young Americans who are now in greater jeopardy in Iraq than they had to be."
The harsh words are the latest in a growing drumbeat of Democratic criticism over Iraq aimed at President Bush, whose favorability ratings have slipped in recent weeks.
Dean, citing "an abject failure of planning" for postwar Iraq, launched a national petition drive calling for Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz to step down.
"The American people expect and deserve truth from their leaders . . . but we have seen something very different from this administration," Dean said.
Kerry reserved his sharpest criticism for Rumsfeld. "He did not do the planning," Kerry said. "He rushed to this war. He has not listened to the military personnel. Our military is weaker today. They're overextended."
But Republican National Committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson said the GOP is not taking the calls for the Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz resignations "too seriously.
"Howard Dean and John Kerry are playing a game of political copycat, " she said.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, meanwhile, charged that Bush's failure to present a realistic Iraq reconstruction plan was an "insult" to U.S. troops putting their lives on the line.
"The tragedy is that our troops are paying with their lives because their commander in chief let them down," Kennedy (D-Mass.) said in a floor speech that sets a combative tone for the Senate debate next week on Iraq.
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