Bush hails U.S. troops
FORT HOOD, Texas, April 12 (UPI) -- President Bush hailed U.S. troops Tuesday for service in Iraq and said although progress has been achieved, the mission was not yet finished.
"There's a lot of hard work ahead. The Iraqi people face brutal and determined enemies. But Iraqis are also determined, and they have the will to defeat the insurgency," Bush said.
"We will help them achieve this objective, so Iraqis can secure their own nation, and then our troops will come home with the honor they have earned."
Bush made the remarks at Fort Hood, Texas, the largest Army base in the country and home base for key units in the Iraq conflict.
Bush noted it was two years since the fall of Baghdad and the tearing down of the statue of Saddam Hussein, which "will be recorded alongside the fall of the Berlin Wall as one of the great moments in the history of liberty."
U.S. forces had served honorably, helping to bring freedom to a cowed people, he said, and "as freedom spreads in the Middle East and beyond, the American people will be safer and the world more secure."
"I want to thank you for extending freedom to millions, and I want to thank you for making America proud."
New intel chief tight lipped on his powers
WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- The man tapped to be the nation's first national intelligence director says it is too soon to say how he will use the new powers congress gave him.
"The position for which I am now nominated is a new position in a new era," said John Negroponte, who is leaving his post as ambassador to Iraq to become the first incumbent in the post created by last year's intelligence reform act.
"That being the case, I am not now prepared to describe in detail exactly how I plan to carry out the job," he told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Tuesday, adding he needs time to study the issue of his authorities and make recommendations to the president.
Negroponte was pressed by lawmakers irritated at the lack of detail.
"I must say I'm a bit taken back by the vagueness of your answer," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "I'm rather surprised by it, because it would seem to me that by now ... you must have some concept of what needs to be done."
The committee is holding two days of hearings to confirm Negroponte and the nominee as his deputy, Gen. Michael Hayden of the National Security Agency.
Both men have passed muster before Senate committees before and are expected to be confirmed by the end of the week.
4 child hostages freed in Germany
ENNEPETAL, Germany, April 12 (UPI) -- Four girls forced off a public bus and held at knifepoint by a man in Ennepetal, Germany, were released unharmed Tuesday after police overpowered their captor.
The man armed with two knives held the girls, ages 11 to 15, at knifepoint for about five hours, Sky News reported.
The suspect described as an Iranian in his 50s, boarded a public bus around midday, whipped out knives and proclaimed: "I have a problem with the German government, I'm taking the children as hostages," witnesses told Sky News.
He took 10 children off the bus, but only took the four girls to a nearby house.
Police waited out the situation for several hours, then stormed the house and overpowered the man. He is now in police custody.
U.S. wants timely Lebanon vote
WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department Tuesday called on Lebanese leaders to hold elections as scheduled.
"The Lebanese need to organize elections on time and allow the people of Lebanon to express their views," spokesman Richard Boucher said.
An impasse over Cabinet seats has resulted in pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami failing to come up with a new government. Karami, who resigned following the assassination of popular former premier Rafik Hariri in February, was reinstated. He has failed, however, to unite the country's pro- and anti-Syrian groups in forming a government.
Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon, is now in the process of withdrawing all its troops from the country in line with international demands and treaty obligation.
The international community is worried a delay in forming a government will lead to a delay in general elections, now scheduled for next month.
