Daily Republican-Register from Mount Carmel, Illinois • 6

Pag 6- Dally RcpubtkuHttgistci; Mt. Canntl. IL-Wed Jum 29. 2005 Bush declares Iraq worth American sacrifices, rejects timetable for withdrawing troops ground and in need of major mid-course corrections," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Staying the President Bush lence.

Bush's repeated acknowledgment of the likely deaths and difficulties to come was less than a month after Vice President Dick Cheney proclaimed the Iraq insurgency "in the last throes." Still, the president's overriding message was to proclaim progress and predict victory. Despite their violent campaign, the terrorists, he said, are no "closer td achieving their strategic objectives." And. he said: "The American people do not falter under threat, and we will not allow our future to be determined by car bombers and sins." Bush has faced calls for a withdrawal of the 135,000 US. troops in Iraq, on the one hand, or, on the other, an increase in forces to intensify the battle against the enemy But he said a timetable would be "a serious mistake" that could demoralize Iraqis and American troops and embolden the enemy reflect the somber nature of the speech only breaking into applause, when Bush vowed that the United States "will stay in the fight until the fight is won." Bush said he understands the public concerns about a war that has killed over 1,740 Americans and 12,000 Iraqi civilians and cost $200 billion. "Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed," he said.

"Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real" It was a tricky balancing act, believed necessary by White House advisers who have seen dozens of deadly insurgent attacks each day eat into Americans' support for the war and for the president and increase discomfort among even Republicans on Capitol Hill. Democrats and other critics said the country needed to hear more specifics about how to reach success in Iraq. "The president's Iraq policy is adrift, disconnected from the reality on the By Jennifer Loven Associated Press Writer FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) President Bush on Tuesday rejected suggestions that he set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq or send in more troops, counseling patience for Americans who question the war's painful costs. "Is the sacrifice worth it? It is worth it and it is vital to the security of our country," Bush told a nation increasingly doubtful about the toll of the 27-month-old war.

Bush spoke in an evening address for a half-hour from an Army base that has 9,300 troops in Iraq, hoping to convince the public that his strategy for victory needs only time not any changes to be successful. He offered no shift in course "We have a clear path forward," he said. "As the Iraqis stand -up, we will stand down." The audience of 750 soldiers and airmen in dress uniform listened mostly quietly" as they were asked to do to course, as the president advocates, is neither sustainable nor likely to lead to the success we all Recalling the Sept 11, 2001, attacks a half-dozen times and suggesting a link with the Iraq war. Bush said the United States faces an enemy that has made Iraq the central front in the war on terror. Fighters have been captured from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other nations.

Bush said. He described the insur? gents in raw terms, calling them "ruthless killers" who commit "savage acts of vio U.S. military helicopter crashes in Afghanistan; fate of passengers unknown By Daniel Cooney Associated Press Writer KABUL. Afghanistan (AP) A US. Chinook helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan was likely shot down by hostile fire, and the fate of American service members aboard was unclear, the US.

military said Wednesday The, Taliban claimed it attacked the aircraft The troops were on a mission against al-Qaida fighters when the helicopter went down Tuesday in a mountainous region near Asadabad, in Kunar province. "Initial reports indicate the crash may have been caused by hostile fire. The status of the service members is unknown at this time," a US. military statement said. The coalition and Afghan troops "quickly moved into position around the crash to block any enemy movement toward or away from the site" and coalition support aircraft were overhead, the statement said.

The helicopter was carrying forces into the area as part of Operation Red Wing, against al-Qaida militants, the military said. "Coalition troops on the ground in this area came in contact with enemy forces and requested additional forces to be inserted into this operation," US. military spokesman Col. James Yonts told a news conference. "That is why there was an aircraft, that is how it arrived on the battlefield." Yonts said the helicopter took indirect or direct fire from the ground.

"Whether or not that caused it to crash, we do not know yet," he said. The US. military knew from its contacts with local leaders and residents that "terrorist organizations" were operating In the area of the crash, Yonts said. "That did not come as a surprise to us, this area has been known to harbor those terrorist organizations or personnel," he said. Provincial Gov.

Asadullah Wafa told The Associated Press the Taliban downed the aircraft with a rocket. He gave no other details. Purported Taliban spokesman Mullah Latif Hakimi telephoned the AP before news of the crash was released and said the rebels shot the helicopter down. PEOPLE-INTHE-NEWS Richard Scrushy wins acquittal, first high- profile chief executive to escape conviction lar cases, said prosecutors were wrong to try the case in By Jay Reeves Associated Press Writer BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) By walking out of a courtroom a free man, Richard Scrushy became the first high-profile chief executive to escape conviction since a wave of corporate scandals followed Enron Corp.

's collapse nearly four years ago. The HealthSouth Corp. founder was cleared of all federal charges Tuesday by jurors unconvinced by prosecutors' arguments that he played a leading role in a $2.7 billion accounting scheme. "You've got to have compassion, folks, because you don't know who's next," Scrushy said after leaving court to cheers from his supporters. "You don't know who's going to be attacked next." Scrushy 's acquittal contrasts with recent convictions verdict," said U.S.

Attorney Alice Martin, who plans to ask the 11th US. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate obstruction of justice and perjury charges that were earlier thrown out. Scrushy was the first CEO accused of violating the Sar-banes-Oxley corporate reporting law, but the jury acquitted him of that and 35 other charges including conspiracy, fraud, false reporting and money laundering. He was Alabama's best-known business leader at HealthSouth's height, an imperial CEO who dictated everything from T-shirt designs to seating in the executive dining room. He had a penchant for big boats, vintage cars and waterfront mansions.

Joel Androphy, an attorney who specializes in white-col of several former prominent CEOs for their roles in various frauds, including Tyco International's former chief L. Dennis Kozlowski, former WorldCom boss Bernard Ebbers and Adelphia Communications Corp. founder John Rigas. From where jurors sat, though, there was plenty of reasonable doubt to shoot down government claims that Scrushy directed a systematic earnings overstatement at the rehabilitation chain he founded and ran for 19 years. "The smoking gun wasn't pointing toward Mr.

crushy," said Juror 538. Scrushy still faces civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission which some experts say are more likely to be successful for the government. "I'm disappointed in the Birmingham rather than in New York where Kozlowski, Ebbers and Rigas were tried or some other place a jury coulu be more objective. Prosecutors have defended their decision to put the trial in Birmingham, saying it was appropriate as the home base of HealthSouth and where 15 former executives of the company had pleaded guilty to crimes in the fraud. Larry Soderquist, director of the Corporate and Securities Law Institute at Vander-bilt University, was among trial observers who felt the jury's racial makeup seven blacks and five whites was a factor because Scrushy assumed a more visible role at black churches, in the months after bis indictment iv -V NORFOLK, Neb.

(AP) The estate of comedian-TV host Johnny Carson has donated $5 million to Faith Regional Health The donation will be used to fund an endowment for the Carson Cancer Center to ensure that services remain available to people in northeast Nebraska, said Faith Regional Chief Executive Officer Bob Driewer. Carson's gift is the largest the hospital has ever received, Driewer said Tuesday. The center was named in memory of Carson's parents, and according to the hospital Web site, Carson made the largest financial donation to the initial building fund. A hospital spokeswoman said she could not say how much Carson or his estate had donated over the years. Carson, known as the king of late-night television, died in January.

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She said her suspicions were based on his behavior when she went to his house looking for those answers last week, and Paul van der Sloot, who's training to be a judge on the Dutch Caribbean island, could not stop perspiring. "I've never sat across from an individual in a well-ventilated room who was sweating so profusely. His wife had to use napkins to wipe his forehead, and the sweat drops falling on the table" as they sat under a fan. But his wife, Anita van der Sloot, insisted on her family's innocence in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press She also expressed frustration with police claiming that they were focusing on the van der Sloots only because they were stymied in their efforts. "Why is the finger being pointed at Joran? Because he's the son of a judge?" she asked.

"But there is no proof he did anything, investigators have lost control (of the case) and don't' know what to do anymore." Van der Sloot said her family has been devastated since Holloway disappeared in the early hours of May 30. "Our lives, and the life of a young teenager, have been destroyed," she said. "For us, the most important thing is" Natalee and my son." On Sunday, police released Paul van der Sloot after a judge' ruled there was riot sufficient cause to continue holding him." He had been arrested Thursday in the disappearance of 18-" year-old Natalee Holloway, who reportedly last was seen on beach in the early hours of May 30. "I was absolutely devastated. I didn't expect that to happen "1 Holloway Twitty said.

The judge on Sunday also ordered police to free a partx boat disc jockey held for nearly a week in the case. His connection was unclear, though the boat "Tattoo" on which he "worked, docked near the Holiday Inn where the missing teenager was staying. Three people remain in jail: 17-year-old Joran van der $loot, and his two Surinamese friends, brothers Deepak Kalpoe 2Li and Satish Kalpoe, 18. None has been charged. The two releases have raised questions about the progress of the investigation and, Holloway Twitty said, have left her feel', ing bereft of comfort and the assurances she has received that: the investigation was moving forward.

"I felt like letting him go ripped out of me all the assurances I had that we were she said: She also has said that if investigators don't make progress-soon, she may start to believe that they are trying to cover up something. Still, she remained determined to stay on the island "to see -what happens" Prime Minister Nelson Oduber said he filed a formal request Tuesday with the Netherlands to send in a new contingent of Dutch Marines to help in the search for Natalee, based on a recommendation from the volunteer rescue group Texas EquuSe- arch, which it could use the extra helpi Spokesman Adiran det Linde of the Dutch Defense Ministry! said around 70 Dutch Marines among several hundred based on; the island had assisted in three search mission. Huny, time is running out to enjoy fantastic Family Fun! 1-877 Go Family yvvw.holidayworld.com lynfimited Soft Drinksl mm i InrtirataH annlv tn fianoral AHmiccinn tirlratc niirrhacoH at main I gate only. Save $2.00 on Guest-Under-547Senior Admission every day. Save $2.00 on General Admission on Saturdays in July August.

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