WASHINGTON – Vice President Cheney shot back at Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who has accused the Bush administration of playing “a ping-pong game with American lives” by sending more U.S. troops into Iraq.
“Let’s say I believe firmly in Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican,” Cheney said. “But it’s very hard sometimes to adhere to that where Chuck Hagel is involved.”
Cheney made the comments in an interview with Newsweek, published Sunday.
Cheney also said he doesn’t spend any time worrying about how the public and the media view him. When pressed to react to personal criticism from people with whom he has worked before, Cheney said: “Well, I’m vice president and they’re not.”
California: Fallen sailors identified
Military officials Sunday released the identities of four sailors killed when a Navy helicopter crashed in the ocean off the San Diego coast. Lt. j.g. Laura J. Mankey of West Hills died in Friday’s crash, according to a Navy statement. Also killed were Lt. Adam A. Dyer, 28, of Lafayette, La.; Petty Officer 1st Class Cory J. Helman, 27, of New Richmond, Wis.; and Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher M. Will, 29, of Warren, Mich. Their bodies have yet to be found. They were members of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23, assigned to Naval Air Station North Island.
Victim of mountain lion gets worse
A Northern California hiker attacked by a mountain lion last week was airlifted from an Arcata hospital to a San Francisco research hospital Sunday, where he will likely undergo more surgery. An Arcata hospital spokesman said doctors wanted to send 70-year-old Jim Hamm to another facility after they performed emergency surgery on his scalp and changed his condition from fair to serious. A mountain lion attacked Hamm on Wednesday at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The lion scalped him, mauled his face, ripped off part of his lips and inflicted other puncture wounds and scratches.
Man found dead in plane wheel well
A man was found dead in the wheel well of a British Airways airplane at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday, airport officials said. The Boeing 747-400 had arrived in Los Angeles from London Heathrow airport. Extreme cold and lack of oxygen in the wheel wells make the odds of survival slim. Stowaways have also fallen from the wheel wells or been crushed by the landing gear.
DDT in fish decades after dumping
Fish caught off Los Angeles County’s coast still contain high levels of banned DDT decades after a manufacturer dumped tons of the pesticide into sewers, creating a toxic plume on the ocean bottom. Of 1,200 fish caught off the county coast, white croaker off San Pedro and the Palos Verdes Peninsula were the most highly contaminated, according to the federal survey. Montrose Chemical Co. manufactured DDT from 1947 to 1971, releasing about 2,000 tons of the pesticide into sewers that flowed to the ocean.
Michigan: 24-vehicle pileup
Whiteout conditions on a freeway Sunday caused an accident involving 20 cars and four trucks and prompted authorities to close part of Interstate 69, about 50 miles north of Detroit, police said. There were no fatalities, but motorists had numerous injuries, said an emergency management spokesman.
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