Bush 'making mistakes' on anthrax crisis

George W Bush is coming under fire from his own party for his handling of the anthrax crisis.

Senior Republicans have accused Mr Bush of making a series of mistakes on the issue.

Surgeon-general Dr David Sandler says the biggest blunder was not giving postal workers antibiotics immediately.

He added: "The fact of the matter is that we were wrong."

Health secretary Tommy Thompson and his newly-appointed director of homeland security Tom Ridge are also taking their share of the blame.

Mr Bush has attracted criticism for his refusal to say if he had been tested for anthrax after it was discovered in a mail office used by the White House.

A senior Republican said it was "a totally stupid decision that will only make people nervous" and added: "You either don't say anything or you say you've been tested."

The White House has consistently backed Mr Thompson, who described the first case of anthrax as "isolated" and ruled out bio-terrorism, then was forced to change his assessment as the scale of the attacks became clear.

Dr Barry Bloom, Dean of Harvard University's school of public health, told reporters: "The most glaring failure in response to this outbreak has been the failure of communication."

Director of homeland security Tom Ridge's job is to co-ordinate federal agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Health. The two agencies have accused each other of not sharing information about the anthrax attacks.