6A the university daily kansan
news
tuesday,may 11,2004
Daschle speaks on prisoner scandal
Courtesy of KRT Campus
Current Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) spoke to reporters about the Senate's activities and about reopening office buildings closed for anthrax investigation on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2011, when he was Senate Majority Leader.
The Associated Press
MANHATTAN — American soldiers' abuse of Iraqi prisoners has been an "incalculable disaster" raising larger issues than whether Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resign, the U.S. Senate's top Democrat said yesterday.
yesterday.
Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said the entire American military command beared some responsibility for the abuse. He declined, however, to call for Rumsfeld's resignation, saying that decision must be left to the secretary.
Taking a question from an audience member following his speech, Daschle said of a potential resignation by Rumsfeld: "That in my view is not a proportionate response to the devastation created by the prisoner abuse.
secretary.
Daschle made his comments after a speech at Kansas State University, in which he decried what he called the ugliiness in American politics, and as President Bush issued a strong endorsement of Rumsfeld in Washington.
"Something more systemic is going on here and has to be addressed in a far more comprehensive way than simply the resignation of one official."
In Washington, the Bush administration prepared for the anticipated release of more photo and video images of prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, near Baghdad.
near daughter.
"It has been an incalculable disaster, not only undermining our image — our reputation around the world — but most likely putting our men in Iraq, our men and woman in Iraq, in an even more perilous position," Daschle said.
He added: "I think it would be a terrific failure if all we did was use those junior-ranking soldiers directly responsible for the abuse as scapegoats for a larger problem."
But Daschle also emphasized that he believes "99.9 percent" of
American troops are serving honorably, and he defended their presence in Iraq.
present in hat.
"I really believe what we are trying to do is give them the opportunity to experience freedom individually," he said in answer to another audience question. "I really believe that from the bottom of my heart. I believe inherently that we're trying to do the right thing."
the righting. However, during his speech, Daschle said he was troubled that Bush administration critics were sometimes accused of helping the nation's enemies.
"This ugly business of impugning other people's patriotism because they see things differently or want to try to reach a good-faith compromise must stop," he said.
stop, he said. The South Dakotan, who has been Senate Democratic leader for nine years, said campaigns were especially ugly in 2002 and that the ugliness continued.
"Today, enormous new challenges confront each and every one of us," he said. "We will not meet those challenges or seize those opportunities if we indulge in the brutal politics of division, if we attempt to silence those who have other ideas."
have other ties.
Daschle spoke to several hundred people at Kansas State as part of the Landon Lecture series. The series is named for former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 1936, when Franklin D. Roosevelt won the second of his four terms.
Daschle noted that Landon's daughter, former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker, while a proud Republican, worked with Democrats in 1996 to pass health insurance legislation.
alice regulator. "There are things that matter more than political parties," Daschle said. "There are lines we should not cross regardless of the advantage we think it may give our party at times."
He continued: "Demonizing those with whom we disagree politically does not serve the interests of democracy. It does
not resolve differences."
As examples of the meanness in politics, Daschle noted that two Democratic senators, South Dakota's Tim Johnson and Georgia's Max Cleland, were compared in television ads during the 2002 campaign to terrorist Osama bin Laden. Cleland, a decorated veteran who lost three of his limbs in Vietnam, was defeated in his bid for re-election.
too. He cited a recent ad on the Web site www.moveon.org that compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler.
Daschle said the political left was responsible for some attacks
Adam Hynes.
"America has real enemies in the world," he said. "Creating false enemies among us to score political points does not make us safer, it makes us more vulnerable. And trying to bully and intimidate others into silence or compliance does not lead to progress. It leads to increased polarization and eventually paralysis.
School rededicates 148-year-old bell
The Associated Press
LAWRENCE — A bell that hung in a Lawrence church in the era of Missouri-Kansas border violence leading up to the Civil War has been moved to a higher-visibility location at Lawrence High School, its home for more than 40 years.
About 60 people turned out Sunday for a ceremony rededicating the 1,600-pound bell, now inside a glass display case in the high school commons area. Members of the class of 2004 made it a project to research the history of the bell and call more attention to it.
attention. "Hopefully, the community will enjoy the gift as much of the school," said senior Karen Bentley, who rang the bell after its unveiling.
The bell was made in Boston
in 1856 to be hung at the Unitarian Church in Lawrence, which was the center for abolitionist thought in the area. It was paid for with donations from church members and Boston officials. The fund-raising effort picked up after news about Lawrence being attacked by pro-slavery border ruffians reached the Boston area.
Boston held
The bell was sold to the Lawrence school district in the 1890s and placed in the tower of a new high school, but eventually ended up in storage. It was moved to Lawrence High School in 1961, but was kept in what history and government teacher Paul Stew described as a "dark hole in the wall."
"Not a whole lot of people knew what it was or where it was," said senior class president Nathan Lindsey.
U.S. authorities bust child prostitution ring
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — State and federal charges accusing 19 people of crimes including child prostitution, sex trafficking of children and pimping were announced yesterday by the U.S. attorney's office.
Pimps allegedly transported girls as young as 13 to cities in Texas, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Arkansas for prostitution, said U.S. Attorney Robert McCambell.
McCambell said pimps recruited young girls, many of whom were runaways, and then controlled them through violence, threats and intimidation.
Although McCambell would not elaborate on the details of the evidence,he said much of the prostitution took place at truck stops in and around Oklahoma
CityMcCambell said in the last several months at least 13 underage girls who worked as prostitutes have been located and reunited with their families.
The charges were the result of a yearlong investigation involving state and local law enforcement agencies and the FBI.
Sam Macaluso, an FBI agent in Oklahoma City, said initial reports began surfacing about a year ago from informants involved with Oklahoma City's street gangs.
Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane said the culmination of arrests and warrants was one of the most significant actions taken against prostitution in central Oklahoma in the last 20 years. He added that the investigation was ongoing and that additional arrests are expected.
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