Karen Hughes - America is just misunderstood Kill somebody get 45 days in jail

[deep]

Can Karen Hughes help US image abroad?

Bush has nominated a trusted message maven as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy.
By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON – Karen Hughes's new Washington assignment - to improve America's image abroad - may be the ultimate test of loyalty to a president who seems to value that trait almost above all else.

Reaction around town to Ms. Hughes's nomination as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy centered on one theme: its improbability. Hughes, after all, has been President Bush's closest confidante and communications guru since his days as Texas governor - but focused largely on domestic issues. If Karl Rove, the other pillar of Bush's political brain trust, aims more at promoting a conservative agenda, Hughes is the one known for nudging the president back toward the center, by promoting such themes as "compassionate conservatism."


The White House sought in its Monday announcement to highlight Hughes's foreign experience, such as accompanying Bush on foreign trips and working to promote women's rights in Afghanistan, but no one is pretending that foreign affairs is her forte. And two years after a US- dominated coalition invaded Iraq, hurting America's image throughout much of the world, Hughes will face a tougher audience than any in Texas or the bluest of blue Democratic states.

US soldier gets 45 days in jail

08:43:16

WASHINGTON, March 15 -- A US Army lieutenant was sentenced Tuesday to 45 days in jail and a pay cut of 12,000 dollars for forcing two Iraqi civilians off a bridge, killing one of them.

Army 1st Lt. Jack Saville pleaded guilty at a court at Fort Hood, Texas, to assault for ordering subordinates to push Zaidoun Fadel Hassoun, 19 and his cousin, Marwan Fadel Hassoun, into the Tigris River from a bridge on Jan. 3, 2004 in Iraq. He was also convicted of lesser assault in a separate incident in December 2003.

US Army prosecutors said Zaidoun was found dead after falling from the bridge near Samarra, 60 miles (about 96 kilometers) northof Baghdad, and Marwan left the river without injuries. The two Iraqis were detained for violating a curfew.

Saville could have faced nearly two years in prison based on a plea agreement with prosecutors. He got 45 days instead and was ordered to forfeit 2,000 dollars of his military salary per month for six months.

Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins, the co-defendant in the Tigris River incident, was sentenced to six months in prison. Defense attorneys contended that the prosecutors could not prove a homicide, saying there was no body, no death and no crime.

 

[melon]

The same old names keep popping up. Aren't there any other Republicans out there? This sounds like a broken record after a while. I thought she retired "to spend more time with her family"? I guess she got sick of that family quite quickly.

(Not that I believe for one moment she actually did anything "to spend more time with her family." She was just quietly shuffled to projects within the Texas GOP.)

Melon

 

[verte76]

This is a bad joke, only it's not funny.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I can't remember who wrote it, but I remember something I read once that referred to her as George Bush's diaper changer

 

[najeena]

A person's suitability for important posts doesn't seem to matter to this President. Apparently, as long as they're willing to lick his cowboy boots, they're good to go.