As the prisoner abuse scandal intensifies, many Democrats on Capitol Hill are calling on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign, but one senator is prepared to ask for the head of someone even higher than President Bush.
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said earlier this week the president must demonstrate he understands the “nature of the damage” caused by the abuses by “determining who is responsible, no matter how far up the chain of command this goes.”
Once those people are identified, Biden said, Bush must “demand the resignations for whoever is involved in this policy, and that includes Lord God Almighty himself. It includes anybody involved.”
Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, Sen Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., are among lawmakers on record calling for Rumsfeld to resign.
Rep. Charles Rangel is prepared to introduce impeachment proceedings if Rumsfeld does not resign.
An ABC News-Washington Post poll conducted before Rumsfeld’s testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday, however, showed 69 percent think the secretary should maintain his position. Twenty percent say he should resign.
Most Democrats also don’t think Rumsfeld should step down.
A majority of Americans, nevertheless, 54 percent, believe punishment should be administered up the chain of command to officers who allowed a breakdown of training and discipline.
The poll did not ask whether God should be held accountable.
