Rumsfeld: No Tillman coverup
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a U.S. House panel Wednesday there was no coverup of Pat Tillman's death by friendly fire in Afghanistan.
Tillman, who left a lucrative professional football career to become a U.S. Army Ranger after Sept. 11, 2001, was killed in Afghanistan in 2004.
The Pentagon originally said Tillman was killed in a firefight with Afghan insurgents but a subsequent Army investigation showed he was killed by U.S. forces.
There was some controversy caused by general's memo questioning whether Tillman's "friendly fire" death at the hands of fellow Rangers was an accident.
In testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rumsfeld acknowledged the delay in reporting the real facts surrounding the death, but said a series of investigations indicated the initial report "was badly handled, and errors were made, but in no instance has any evidence of a coverup ... been presented or put forward. I know of nothing that suggests that.
"I know that I would not engage in a coverup," Rumsfeld added. "I know that no one in the White House suggested such a thing to me."
Rumsfeld stepped down as secretary of defense last year.
Rice: Mideast arms package an investment
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Saudi Arabia's foreign minister in Jeddah on Wednesday a $20 billion Middle East arms sale was an investment.
At a joint news conference, Rice said the bulk of the recently announced package was going to Saudi Arabia, an ally for about six decades.
"It is to secure the peace," she said of the deal, which includes missile defenses, early warning and air capabilities; maritime capabilities and weaponry to counter unconventional threats, the American Forces Press Service reported.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking alongside Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faysal, said the Middle Eastern buyers would be trusted to use the systems as they saw fit.
"Those assistance programs are tailored to the needs of each of those countries and their perceptions of their own security requirements," Gates said.
Faysal acknowledged by saying his country was a peaceful one.
"So it is not strange that it is trying to acquire a posture of defense that will protect the interests and safety of the people of Saudi Arabia," the prince said.
Iraq war could cost more than $1 trillion
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- The Congressional Budget Office said the war in Iraq could end up costing U.S. taxpayers more than $1 trillion.
The forecast includes the cost of keeping some U.S. forces in Iraq for several years and of providing long-term care and financial support for wounded soldiers and benefits for the families of those killed, the Boston Globe reported.
"We are now spending on these activities more than 10 percent of all the government's annually appropriated funds," Robert A. Sunshine, the assistant director for budget analysis, said Tuesday.
The government has allocated $500 billion for combat operations and reconstruction.
In 2003, the Bush administration gave far lower estimates for the war, assuming a quick military operation and restoration of Iraq's oil industry to pay for rebuilding. A White House budget analyst was fired for predicting that the war could cost $200 billion.
Sunni party quits recessed Iraqi coalition
BAGHDAD, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A Sunni Muslim political party backed out of the Iraqi governing coalition on Wednesday as the parliament went into a monthlong summer recess.
The Sunni Accordance Front warned of the boycott of its five Cabinet ministers and 44 parliamentarians weeks ago unless Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki heeded requests to include more Sunnis in various security roles and banned militia members from working in police and security positions, a New York Times correspondent reported.
The 275-seat parliament is sprinkled with Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish members, and began a summer recess on Wednesday. They are to reconvene Sept. 4.
The report said Maliki also faces dissent within his own party and is coming under increased U.S. pressure to fulfill political and tactical targets.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces are to submit a report to Congress on the situation in Iraq, which has been hobbled by daily sectarian violence, in mid September.
Senators propose U.S. primary overhaul
WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Three U.S. senators proposed legislation aimed at revamping the primary system used by the two main U.S. political parties to select candidates for president.
Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., are pushing the Regional Presidential Primary and Caucus Act as a response to this year's race by states to push primary dates to earlier points in 2008, The Hill reported Wednesday.
The act would group states beginning with the 2012 elections into four regions that would vote in different months, the Washington newspaper said.
A document outlining the plan said it would "encourage the greatest number of good candidates to enter the race, allow voters an opportunity to hear all candidates' ideas (and) ensure more Americans a chance to cast a meaningful vote."
"Primaries were not intended to be an arms race," Klobuchar, the lead sponsor of the bill, told The Hill. "We seek to give order to this chaotic, messy and unrepresentative process. This schedule gives power and influence back to the voters in every state."
