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Nation in brief

State Department deputy steps down

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 20, 2006

WASHINGTON - Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, the department's No. 2 official, is resigning, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced Monday.

Rice praised Zoellick's "tireless work ethic" and said he had served as her "alter ego" in the department. She did not announce a replacement.

"Our nation is stronger and safer because of your work," Rice said at the State Department.

Zoellick told reporters later that he had informed Rice and the White House months ago he was thinking of leaving. After six intensive years as U.S. trade chief and then as Rice's deputy, "I determined to make a change."

Zoellick said he delayed his departure to help make preparations for the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington in April and to help negotiate a peace agreement for the Darfur region of Sudan last month.

Zoellick, 52, said he would join the Wall Street investment house Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

"I'm pleased to have built a first-rate team, offer counsel on a number of initiatives and back up the secretary," said Zoellick, who gave no reason for his departure. "I've accomplished what I set out to do, and it's time to step down."

Police group wants inquiry into McKinney

WASHINGTON - Police labor officials, angry over a federal grand jury's refusal to indict Rep. Cynthia McKinney for assaulting a police officer, said Monday they want the House ethics committee to review her conduct.

They said the grand jury's decision sent the message that "it's okay to hit a police officer."

Andrew Maybo, chairman of the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee, said the Fraternal Order of Police would send a letter later this week to the ethics committee suggesting that McKinney's behavior violated an item in the chamber's ethics manual that calls for members to "conduct (themselves) at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives."

Cheney sees success in stopping terror attacks

WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that aggressive U.S. action is responsible for preventing terror attacks since the Sept. 11 strikes.

"Nobody can promise that we won't be hit," Cheney said. But he credited an offense against terrorists abroad, improved intelligence and preventive steps at home for thwarting or discouraging attacks on U.S. soil.

Cheney said the biggest terrorism threat now is the possibility of an al-Qaida cell getting a nuclear weapon or biological agent.

Cheney defended his comment last year that the Iraqi insurgency was "in its final throes." He said he was referring to a series of events, including elections and the drafting and acceptance of an Iraqi constitution, that he believes history will show to be pivotal.

Pentagon: Homosexuals have mental disorder

WASHINGTON - A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.

The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities, and in a section on defects lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.

Critics said the reference adds to a culture that has created uncertainty and insecurity around the treatment of homosexual service members, leading to harassment.

[Last modified June 20, 2006, 07:09:50]