Bush meets with India's 'CEOs of tomorow'
HYDERABAD, India, March 3 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush Friday acknowledged globalization has hurt some American workers but told Indian business students "we won't fear competition."
In his sit-down session with students at the India Business School at Hyderabad, the president defended globalization and outsourcing and rejected the idea of a protectionist United States.
"We won't fear competition, we welcome competition, but we won't fear the future," the president said in his final day in India.
"People do lose jobs as a result of globalization, and it's painful for those who lose jobs. But, the fundamental question is, how does a government or society react to that?
"It's basically one of two ways. One is to say, losing jobs is painful, therefore, let's throw up protectionist walls. And the other is to say, losing jobs is painful, so let's make sure people are educated so they can find -- fill the jobs of the 21st century."
Bush also toured an Indian agricultural college, looked over ongoing projects and the "great research" behind them.
India-U.S. deal a tough sale in Congress
WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush predicted he will have trouble getting an Indian nuclear agreement through the U.S. Congress because of bipartisan opposition.
Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday announced the agreement in which India will receive technical help and fuel for its nuclear program while the Asian nation will split its military and civilian nuclear programs and allow civilian reactors to be inspected by international teams.
Bush at the time said neither he nor Singh would have an easy time advancing the deal. Opponents quickly said the India-U.S. agreement suggests a double standard for countries like Iran and North Korea compared to India.
Administration officials, The New York Times reported, say they can overcome the concerns because of India's importance as the world' largest democracy and its strategic location near China.
However, U.S. home front opposition pairs conservative Republicans, who say the Iranians will see the India deal as a reason to expand their nuclear program, and liberal Democrats, who claim the White House has emasculated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Times said.
Report: al-Qaida plans 'Big Bang'
WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- U.S. officials say al-Qaida in Iraq is planning a spectacular terrorist attack in Iraq, CBS News reported.
CBS said the organization was planning an attack one source called the "Big Bang" -- an attack against either a single high-profile target or multiple targets simultaneously in Iraq.
In much the same way as last week's bombing of a historic mosque in Samarra, Iraq, provoked passionate violence, al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi seems to expect another spectacular incident would push Iraq further toward civil war -- or perhaps even over the brink, CBS reported.
Pentagon officials are worried that a spectacular terrorist attack will undermine Bush administration claims that progress is being made in Iraq -- leading to further erosion of public support for the war in the United States, the network reported.
Ex-FEMA chief says Chertoff should go
WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- The former head of the U.S. emergency response agency says Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff should be fired for his handling of Hurricane Katrina.
Michael Brown, in an interview with CNN, accused Chertoff of lacking disaster management knowledge.
Brown resigned from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in September amid intense criticism of his performance after Katrina, the Aug. 29 storm that left more than 1,300 dead in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Brown blamed the poor federal response on the dysfunctional structure of the Department of Homeland Security, which became FEMA's parent agency when Homeland Security was established in 2003.
"It appears to me that, you know, when Chertoff does things like tells me that I've got to go to Baton Rouge and plop my butt down on a seat in Baton Rouge and run a disaster from there, I think that shows naiveté about how disasters are run," Brown told CNN.
Asked whether Chertoff should be dismissed, Brown said, "Well, I think so."
Poll shows strong opposition to ports deal
LOS ANGELES, March 3 (UPI) -- By greater than a 3-1 ratio, Americans are against the proposed hand over of the management of some U.S. ports to Arab control, a poll indicated Friday.
The plan, currently under administration review, faces broad opposition by substantial margins of Democrats, independents and Republicans, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.
Rocked by resistance to the port transaction and discontent over Iraq, U.S. President George Bush's approval rating fell to 38 percent among respondents, lowest level recorded for him in a Los Angeles Times poll. His disapproval rating rose to 58 percent. As a possible political threat to the November midterm elections, the percentage of respondents who said they strongly disapproved of his performance on a wide range of issues greatly exceeded the share who strongly approved.
The poll surveyed 1,273 adults nationwide from Saturday through Wednesday. The survey has a margin of sampling error of 3 percentage points.
