Sharpton calls Bush L.A. gang leader

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Democratic presidential candidate the Rev. Al Sharpton yesterday compared President Bush to a Los Angeles gang leader and demanded that he apologize to the American military and their families for challenging dissident Iraqis to "bring them on."

"I'm in Los Angeles. For the president to say, 'Bring it on,' almost like daring and provoking Iraqis to kill American soldiers," Mr. Sharpton said, "he sounds more like a gang leader in South-Central L.A. than one that is trying to institute a policy of democracy and reconstruction in the world."

The challenge, on a day in which another U.S. soldier was killed by a terrorist ambush, came in response to Mr. Bush's angry comments Wednesday that attacks by forces loyal to Saddam Hussein will not run the U.S. military presence out of Iraq.

"There are some who feel like that if they attack us, that we may decide to leave prematurely," Mr. Bush said.

"They don't understand what they're talking about. ... There are some who feel like that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is: Bring them on. We've got the force necessary to deal with the security situation," Mr. Bush said.

During a wide-ranging interview on his presidential campaign on CBS's "Face the Nation," Mr. Sharpton said, "I think that kind of rhetoric speaks to street brawling rather than international relations.

"I think what we must do is show the world we want to be partners in progress, not bullies in warfare," Mr. Sharpton said.

The White House press office could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Mr. Sharpton also defended listing Communist dictator Fidel Castro as a good leader in his book "Al on America," along with Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Ronald Reagan.