WASHINGTON — A day after stopping short of an apology, President Bush said Thursday that he was sorry for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, and he defended Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld against calls for his resignation.
The administration's efforts to repair damage from the prison scandal faced another challenge Thursday when the International Committee of the Red Cross revealed that it had uncovered abuses of Iraqi inmates in U.S. custody as early as last summer and had alerted American authorities in detailed reports.
Critics have accused administration officials -- particularly Rumsfeld -- of acting too slowly to address the abuses they said they first learned about in January. At hearings before two congressional committees today, Rumsfeld will probably be confronted with the Red Cross' statements that U.S. officials knew about the abuses much earlier.
Bush's apology Thursday came a week after photographs of naked and abused Iraqi prisoners produced waves of anger around the world and drew condemnation of the U.S.-led occupation in Iraq. It was a stronger expression of regret than his remarks a day earlier when he told Arabic-language television channels that the "matter ... reflects badly on my country."
Bush's condemnation of the abuse Wednesday was accompanied by news reports that he had scolded Rumsfeld for not telling him about the photos earlier.
Bush, standing beside Jordan's King Abdullah II in the White House Rose Garden, said Thursday that he had been "sickened" by the photos of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqis, who were stripped and bound in positions forcing them to have close physical contact.
"I told him I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners, and the humiliation suffered by their families," Bush said, leaning into his lectern as Abdullah scowled. "I told him I was equally sorry that people who have been seeing those pictures didn't understand the true nature and heart of America. I assured him Americans, like me, didn't appreciate what we saw, that it made us sick to our stomachs."
The president insisted that he was sticking with Rumsfeld as his Defense secretary.
"Secretary Rumsfeld is a really good secretary of defense," Bush said. "Secretary Rumsfeld has served our nation well. Secretary Rumsfeld has been the secretary during two wars.... He's an important part of my Cabinet, and he'll stay in my Cabinet."
