WASHINGTON – Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan defended his bombshell book about the Bush administration yesterday, saying he didn't speak up against the overselling of war in Iraq at the time because he, like other Americans, gave the president the benefit of the doubt.
“You're in a bubble atmosphere,” McClellan said in an interview with AP Television News. “And sometimes because of your affection for the person you're working for and your belief in that person, you sometimes lose perspective on some of the larger truths out there. It's hard to step back from that.”
In hindsight, McClellan says, he came to view the war as a mistake by a president and advisers swept up in a grand plan of seeding democracy in the Middle East by overturning Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime. McClellan says Bush and his aides became so convinced of the need for war that they ignored or downplayed intelligence that didn't fit their argument for it.
Associated Press
Military hears gripes
about ammunition
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The military is reviewing soldiers' complaints that their standard ammunition isn't powerful enough for the type of fighting required in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army's highest-ranking officer said yesterday.
But Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said it was too soon to say whether the Pentagon will switch.
Current and former soldiers interviewed by The Associated Press said the military's M855 rifle rounds are not powerful enough for close-in fighting in cities and towns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Associated Press
Bush weighs in on
Medicare/insurer rift
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration is threatening to veto any legislation that protects doctors' Medicare payments at the expense of private insurers.
Beginning July 1, reimbursement rates for doctors will drop 10.6 percent when they treat elderly and disabled patients participating in Medicare.
To keep that from happening, lawmakers are looking at finding at least $9 billion in savings from other Medicare programs over the next five years.
At the top of the list for Democrats and some Republicans: private insurers serving some 9.5 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries through Medicare Advantage. The insurers get a government subsidy that many lawmakers say is too generous.
Associated Press
New restrictions
put on rat poisons
WASHINGTON – The government imposed new restrictions yesterday on some of the biggest-selling rat poisons, citing the danger they pose to children, pets and wildlife.
Beginning in October 2009, many rat poisons sold to the public in retail outlets will have to be packaged in dispensers, called bait stations, that cannot be easily tampered with by children and pets. Loose bait such as pellets will be taken off the market for home use.
Rat poisons subject to the new ruling are marketed under the brand names d'Con, Eraze, Havoc, Hawk, Jaguar, Just One Bite, Ramik, Rampage, Real-Kill, Tom Cat and Victor.
Associated Press
