WORLD / America
Rumsfeld pays farewell trip to Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-10 09:14
Washington -- US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was visiting Iraq,
a Pentagon spokesman said, a day after an emotional farewell at the
Pentagon.
"He's there to express his appreciation to the troops and to thank both
the troops and their families for the sacrifices they are making," said
Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a Defense Department spokesman, on
Saturday.
It was Rumsfeld's 15th trip to Iraq since the war began; he was last
there in July.
Rumsfeld's trip follows an Friday's Pentagon farewell, where the defense
secretary defended his record on Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said Friday that the worst day of his nearly six years as secretary of
defense occurred when he learned of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse.
Rumsfeld's Pentagon appearance Friday and his trip to Iraq, where he was
Saturday, were among the few public appearances he has made since
President George W. Bush announced on November 8 that he was replacing
the defense secretary. His last full day will be December 17.
Rumsfeld's farewell tour follows a grim picture of the Iraq war that was
presented this week by a bipartisan commission headed by former Secretary
of State James Baker and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton.
The Iraq Study Group said its prescription for change is needed quickly
to turn around a "grave and deteriorating" situation.
The commission called for direct engagement with Iran and Syria as part
of a new diplomatic initiative and a pullback of all American combat
brigades by early 2008, barring unexpected developments, to shift the US
mission to training and advising.
The report took direct aim at Rumsfeld. Saying there has been a long
tradition of partnership between the military and civilian leaders, the
group said the "tradition has frayed" and must be repaired. It urged the
new defense secretary, former CIA director Robert Gates, to "make every
effort" to encourage military officers to offer independent advice.
President Bush's national security team is debating whether additional
troops are needed to secure Baghdad _ a short-term force increase that
could be made up of all Americans, a combination of US and Iraqi forces,
or all Iraqis, a senior administration official said Saturday.
Other options being debated for inclusion in what the president has said
will be his "new way forward" include a revamped approach to procuring
the help of other nations in calming Iraq; scaling back the military
mission to focus almost exclusively on hunting al-Qaida terrorists; and a
new strategy of outreach to all of Iraq's factions, whose disputes are
fueling some of the worst bloodshed since the war began, said the
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the disclosure of
internal discussions had not been authorized.
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