Bush - U.S. keeps all options open to defend nation

Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Wednesday his administration has "all options on the table" as the Pentagon reworks its nuclear weapons policy to deter any attack on America -- including from non-nuclear states such as Iraq and Iran.

"The reason one has a nuclear arsenal is to serve as a deterrence," Bush said at a news conference.

"We've got all options on the table because we want to make it very clear to nations that you will not threaten the United States or use weapons of mass destruction against us or our allies or friends."

Bush said he views the nuclear arsenal as a deterrent -- "as a way to say to people who would harm America: 'Don't do it."'

In the White House briefing room, Bush also addressed his administration's embarrassment over the Immigration and Naturalization Service's belated dispatch of student visa approvals for two of the terrorists who slammed hijacked jets into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

After reading about the visa notices, which turned up six months after the attacks, Bush said he was "stunned and not happy. ... I was plenty hot."

He called the episode a "wake-up call for people who run the INS," an agency he said "needs to be reformed."

On the Middle East, where attacks and retaliation have increased, Bush offered his most direct criticism yet of crackdowns on Palestinians by Ariel Sharon's government.

"Frankly, it is not helpful what the Israelis have recently done," Bush said. "I understand somebody trying to defend themselves ... but the recent actions are not helpful."

He urged both Israelis and Palestinians to "work hard to create conditions for a potential settlement" when U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni returns to the region.

"The need for us to get involved in the Middle East is to save lives," he said.

With Vice President Dick Cheney in the region this week trying to rally Arab support for a tougher stance against Iraq, Bush said he would not pursue a go-it-alone strategy. "One of the things I've said to our friends is that we will consult. ... In regard to Iraq, we're doing just that."

Bush played down the importance of the United States capturing or killing Osama bin Laden, suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Deep in my heart I know the man's on the run -- if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not? We haven't heard from him in a long time. The idea of focusing on one person really indicates to me that people don't understand the scope of the mission. Terrorism is bigger than one person and he's a person who's now been marginalized," Bush said.

"I don't know where he is. I just don't spend that much time on it. ... I can assure you I am not going to blink."

Bush called the news conference with about three hours notice.

In an opening statement, he scored the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee, which is poised to reject one of his nominees for the federal appeals court. Bush said partisan delays on his judicial nominees have created a "vacancy crisis" in the judicial branch.

"Too often judicial confirmations are being turned into ideological battles that delay justice and hurt our democracy," he said.

In a vote scheduled for Thursday, the panel's Democratic majority is expected to defeat U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pickering a conservative whose civil rights record Democrats have criticized.

The president defended his administration's refusal to give Congress records of Cheney's energy task force's consultations with energy company executives who contributed to the Bush campaign -- including embattled Enron officials.

"I'm not going to let Congress erode the power of the executive branch. We're not going to give them to 'em. These are privileged conversations," Bush said.