Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, May 26, 2004, Page 4, Image 4

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Kerry blames Bush for increasing gas prices
The presidential candidate
says Bush broke his 2000
promise to keep prices low
By Frank James
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
PORTLAND, Ore. — Though Sen.
John Kerry planned to focus his ap
pearance Tuesday on the issue of high
gasoline prices, a question from the
audience provoked a sharp comment
on the Bush administration's Iraq pol
icy.
"It is an unbelievable statement
about the failure of the diplomacy of
this president and this administra
tion" that Europe and the Arab coun
tries have sat on their hands, even
though they are more threatened by
the prospect of Iraq as a failed state
than the U.S., Kerry said.
"That tells you everything about the
arrogance and ineptness of this ad
ministration that needs to be
changed," said Kerry, the Massachu
setts senator who is the presumptive
Democratic presidential nominee.
For many weeks, Kerry has been re
luctant to forcefully attack the Bush
administration at every turn for its ac
tions in Iraq.
The approach has been largely one
of allowing the bad news from Iraq —
the continued violence and the abuse
of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib
prison — to serve as its criticism of the
Republican administration.
On the way to Portland aboard his
new campaign plane, for instance, re
porters asked Kerry if he had watched
the president's speech. Kerry said he
had watched half of it.
Asked to comment on the presi
dent's proposal to raze the notorious
prison, Kerry demurred, throwing up
his hands and saying he would have a
response later. The campaign said Ker
ry will outline his ideas on national
security, including Iraq, later this
week.
Kerry has instead tried to keep the
emphasis on domestic issues such as
health care and education.
His event Tuesday at the Portland
school bus depot fit the pattern. It was
billed as a chance for Kerry to critique
the Bush administration for not doing
enough to control rising gas prices.
The Kerry campaign views the gas
price issue as a major Bush adminis
tration vulnerability, since it feeds
into a widely held perception of a
White House too cozy with the oil in
dustry. Both the president and Vice
President Dick Cheney were em
ployed in the energy industry, and the
president's family has a long-time re
lationship with the Saudi royal family.
"George Bush and his friends talk
about the death tax, '' Kerry told the
bus depot audience, referring to long
standing Republican opposition to
the estate tax.
"What about... the Saudi-George
Bush gasoline tax that we're now pay
ing because OPEC wasn't pressured to
lower the prices by producing more?"
Kerry asked, referring to the Organiza
tion of Petroleum Exporting Coun
tries. "They could've produced more
before now. And America is paying an
enormous penalty because of that
and all of our economy gets hurt be
cause of that."
As he has done recently, Kerry ac
cused the president of breaking a
promise from the 2000 campaign in
which Bush said he would jawbone
the Saudis, the world's largest oil pro
ducers, to lower prices during times of
high oil costs. Kerry said he, by con
trast, would use his powers of persua
sion with the Saudis to force prices
down.
Kerry also used the event to push
for energy independence. He has
called for $ 10 billion in incentives to
encourage the auto industry to make
fuel efficient advanced technology ve
hicles. He also has said he would of
fer consumers tax credits of up to
$4,000 to make purchasing such ve
hicles more attractive.
The Bush campaign parried Kerry's
criticism by accusing Kerry of
hypocrisy.
"John Kerr/s campaign attacks on
gas prices ignore the reality of Kerry's
long record of supporting higher gas
prices and blocking the president's
comprehensive energy plan," said a
statement by Steve Schmidt, a Bush
campaign spokesman.
Kerry aides said Tuesday that the
campaign would decide soon
whether the senator would delay his
acceptance of the presidential nomi
nation past the Democratic National
Convention in July.
Last week, the campaign disclosed .
that it was considering such a delay so
that it wouldn't have to stretch its $75 ^
million in public financing five weeks
longer than the Bush-Cheney cam
paign.
That notion has been criticized by
Republicans and some Democrats.
Critics have said it amounted to play
ing games with the nomination and
could hurt coverage of the convention
or potential revenues in Boston, the
site of the convention.
(c) 2004, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
Bush’s plans for sovereignty
fail to meet Iraqi expectations
Iraq officials question the
amount of control afforded
the country's government
after the June 30 handover
By Liz Sly and Deborah Horan
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqis expressed
skepticism Tuesday about the viability
of President Bush's plan for transferring
sovereignty to a new Iraqi government,
saying its promises fell short of their ex
pectations.
"It's not the foil sovereignty we've
been promised on more than one oc
casion," said Ibrahim al-)aafari, a mem
ber of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing
Council, who has been mentioned as a
possible candidate for the presidency of
the interim government due to take
over responsibility June 30.
"Full sovereignty means everything
in Iraq will be administered by Iraqis
including the military, security and the
economy," said laafari, who heads the
Islamic Dawa Party.
In a speech Monday night, Bush out
lined his blueprint for a new, free and
independent Iraq, promising that the
government to take over responsibility
from the U.S.-led Coalition Provision
al Authority will enjoy "full sovereign
ty"
Following up on his address, Bush
spoke by phone Tuesday morning with
French President Jacques Chirac, a critic
of U.S. policy in Iraq.
White House spokesman Scott Mc
Clellan said Bush and Chirac came to
"It's not the full
sovereignty we've been
promised on more than
one occasion."
Ibrahim akJaafari
Member, Iraq’s Governing Council
"broad agreement" on a draft resolu
tion presented to the U.N. Security
Council that lays out a framework for
the transfer of sovereignty to an interim
administration June 30. That would be
followed by democratic elections for a
national assembly or legislature by Jan
uary 2005.
The national assembly will be re
sponsible for drafting a new constitu
tion and appointing a transitional gov
ernment that will rule until fresh
elections are held under the new con
stitution.
McClellan said the administration
would draft a letter to the U.N. Security
Council that will spell out in detail the
coalition's "relationship" with the in
terim government, although it was un
clear when the letter would be made
public.
It also is not clear how much author
ity the Iraqi government will have over
the U.S. forces expected to remain in
Iraq, how long troops will stay and who
will be in the new government.
"We found it less than our expecta
tions," the president of Iraq's Govern
ing Council, Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer
said after a meeting of council
members to discuss the IJ.N. resolu
tion.
On the streets of Baghdad, Iraqis said
they doubted any Iraqi government
could be truly independent until U.S.
forces leave.
"They will never bring democracy
and they will never achieve safety," said
Hashem Ritha, a building contractor.
"There will always be fighting if they are
here"
It also seems unlikely that the U.N.'s
special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, will be
able to meet Bush's target of producing
a list of candidates for the interim ad
ministration in the next few days.
"Mr. Brahimi has said it would be a
good thing if we were finished by the
end of the month," U.N. spokesman
Ahmad Fawzi said. 'That could mean
the last few days of this month or early
next month."
In addition to greater U.N. involve
ment the U.S. is calling for NATO to as
sume a major role in the country's re
construction.
But Germany's ambassador to the
U.S. said in Chicago on Tuesday that
sending NATO troops to support the
U.S. military would be a mistake for the
alliance because "if NATO came in, it
would be seen as strictly an instrument
in the hands of the hated occupier, the
United States."
(c) 2004, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services. Tribune staff reporter John
McCormick contributed to this report
from Youngstown, Ohio, and Tribune
chief business correspondent David
Greising contributed from Chicago.
Oregon Daily Emerald
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