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Nation & World News Bush orders senior officials to ‘stop the leaks' The president asserts his authority amid reports of intense infighting among top administration advisers By Joseph L. Galloway and James Kuhnhenn Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) WASHINGTON — Concerned about the appearance of disarray and feuding within his administration as well as growing resistance to his poli cies in Iraq, President Bush — living up to his recent declaration that he's in charge — told his top officials to "stop the leaks" to the media, or else. News of Bush's order leaked al most immediately. Bush told his senior aides on Tues day that he "didn't want to see any stories" quoting unnamed adminis tration officials in the media any more, and if he did, there would be consequences, a senior administra tion official who asked that his name not be used told Knight Ridder. An escalating turf war involving Defense Secretary Donald H. Rums feld, National Security Adviser Con doleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell has generated an un usually bountiful crop of leaks in re cent months, and one result is a crim inal investigation of anonymous officials in the White 1 louse who are alleged to have leaked the name of a Central Intelligence Agency covert of ficer to reporters. The infighting, backstabbing and maneuvering on major foreign policy issues such as North Korea, Syria, Iran and postwar Iraq have escalated to a level that veterans of government haven't seen in years. At one point, the senior official said, Bush himself asked how bad it was. "This isn't as bad as (George) Shultz vs. (Caspar) Weinberger, is it?" he asked, referring to a legendary Reagan administration rivalry be tween the heads, respectively, of the State and Defense departments. One top official nodded in reply and said it was "way worse." The infighting has strained Bush's patience. On Monday, reacting to reports of internal conflict among his top advis ers, the president told one regional broadcaster: "The person who's in charge is me." Bush's attempt to assert himself ex tends beyond the executive branch of the government. Late Tuesday, in a brief, brusque arm-twisting session with nine senators, the president made it clear that he wasn't there to answer questions or debate the mer its of his $87 billion Iraq and Afghanistan aid package, lie de manded that the aid to Iraq should be in the form of grants, not loans, as some of the senators have urged. Present at the session in the Roo sevelt Room of the White I louse were Republicans Olympia Snowe and Su san Collins, both of Maine; Saxby Chambliss of Georgia; Sam Brown back of Kansas; Lindsay Graham of South Carolina; Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and John McCain of Arizona. Democrats included Maria Cantwell of Washington and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. At one point, as he discussed the question of providing some of the money as a loan, Bush slammed his hand down on the table and said. "This is bad policy." When Collins tried to ask a question, the president replied: "I'm not here to debate it." One participant told Knight Bid der that some of the senators, partic ularly those who've never been on the "wrong" side of an issue with Bush, were "surprised by his direct ness." It was very clear that the presi dent was not there to engage in any give and take, the participant said. Nevertheless, Bush failed to sway any of the pro-loan senators, in sharp contrast to the president's lobbying of House members last week. One key 1 louse member who had pushed a loan plan, Zack Wamp, a Republican from Ten nessee, backed away from that idea after meeting with Bush. "If his eyes had been lasers, mine would have burned out," Wamp commented at the time. "What's most revealing is the extent of frustration taking hold," said histo rian Robert Dallek of Boston Universi ty, the author of acclaimed biographies of Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy. "It's really reminiscent of Johnson and Vietnam. Members of tire Senate ... and the media were giving him grief, it sounds like Bush is falling into that pattern. 1 le's blaming the me dia, much like Johnson did." (c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Knight Ridder Newspapers correspondent William Douglas contributed to this report. Use or fan’s name creates media ethics quandary Media outlets debate issue ' of newsworthiness versus protection of the fan's safety in Game 6 incident By Ed Sherman Chicago Tribune (KRT) CHICAGO — The tale of the unfor tunate fan in Game 6 provided a case study in media ethics Wednesday. News organizations wrestled over the news value of disclosing the fan's I name and hometown. Would reveal ing his identity put him in danger con sidering the volatility of the situation? The fan tempered some of the de bate when he issued a public state ment expressing his remorse late Wednesday afternoon. Even then, some media outlets still didn't im mediately use his name. The notable exception in the name game was the Sun-Times. Late Wednesday morning, the Sun-Times posted a story on its Web site revealing the fan's name, where he lived and worked, and where he grew up. Editor Michael Cooke had "no comment" for the Tribune, but he did explain his de cision to Editor & Publisher. "It is the biggest news story in town and this is Chicago," Cooke said. "We talked about it for a little while and came down on the side of publishing it. It was not 100 to 0, but the decision was made and on we go." Even with the Sun-Times' disclo sure, the majority of other news or ganizations still opted to do their re ports for most of the day without revealing the man s name and place of residence. "If you were anywhere near the ball park Tuesday, you know what kind of anger existed there," WMAQ-Ch. 5 general manager Larry Wert said. "We don't want to facilitate a fan misdirect ing his anger at this individual." Tom Peterson, news director for WGN-AM 720, also advocated caution. "I don't want to be the guy to put his name out there," Peterson said. Rich Gordon, a professor at North western's Medill School of Journalism, said he had no problem with media outlets trying to get interviews with the fan to hear his perspective. 1 le ques tioned using his name, however, "just for the sake of using his name." "Given the risk, I'd need to have a compelling reason to name him," Gordon said. "I haven't come up with one." (c) 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. 1 ... Need a job? The ASUO Elections Board - may be for you! ■ • ■ ■ Learn about the democratic process and help organize student elections. Applications available outside Suite 4 EMU 014984 QUESTIONS? Contact Stephanie Day at 346-0629. The ASUO is an affirmative action/equai opportunity/ Americans with Disabilites Act employer (AA/EOE/ADA) DEADLINE: Applications must be returned to the ASUO Administrative Assistant by 5 pm Wed., October 22nd. Oregon Daily Emerald. A campus tradition - over 100 years of publication.
