Rumsfeld points out positives about Iraq:
"WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld acknowledged Monday that the insurgency in Iraq has been stronger than anticipated. But he also said the news media have focused on the war's growing body count rather than progress that has been achieved.
'To be responsible, one needs to stop defining success in Iraq as the absence of terrorist attacks,' Rumsfeld said in remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He added, 'It's appropriate to note not only how many Americans have been killed - and may God bless them and their families - but what they died for or, more accurately, what they lived for.'
Continuing recent Bush administration efforts to defend war policies, Rumsfeld said Americans should be optimistic about progress that has been made politically and militarily in Iraq, as that country prepares for next week's parliamentary election.
In a change of focus, Rumsfeld also aimed some of his remarks at the media for presenting a 'jarring contrast between what the American people are reading and hearing about Iraq and the views of the Iraqi people.'
The Iraqis, he said, are more upbeat about their country, their security forces are growing, and they are on the road to democracy.
[...]
Rumsfeld acknowledged that the war has not gone according to plan, but said many things that were feared - including destruction of oil fields - have not happened.
He said the insurgency was larger than some had expected, and early efforts to counter it were hampered when infantry units were not allowed to go into northern Iraq through Turkey.
[...]
In one indication of the continuing problems, the Pentagon Monday tapped a senior retired general to take over a special task force to counter the devastating roadside bombs that kill coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.
Rumsfeld named Ret. Army Gen. Montgomery Meigs, former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, to head the program, which will expand on efforts to find solutions through new technology, better training and improved battlefield tactics.
Bush and Rumsfeld have insisted that withdrawal from Iraq will be based on conditions there, and that pulling out too soon would only bring victory to the insurgents and put the U.S. at greater risk.
The administration has said Iraqi security forces are growing - one of the prerequisites to drawing down U.S. troops. But in an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer said the training of Iraqi forces has been troubled in recent months because some security units are being used to go after political rivals.
Some Democrats renewed calls for Rumsfeld to be removed from his post."
"WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld acknowledged Monday that the insurgency in Iraq has been stronger than anticipated. But he also said the news media have focused on the war's growing body count rather than progress that has been achieved.
'To be responsible, one needs to stop defining success in Iraq as the absence of terrorist attacks,' Rumsfeld said in remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He added, 'It's appropriate to note not only how many Americans have been killed - and may God bless them and their families - but what they died for or, more accurately, what they lived for.'
Continuing recent Bush administration efforts to defend war policies, Rumsfeld said Americans should be optimistic about progress that has been made politically and militarily in Iraq, as that country prepares for next week's parliamentary election.
In a change of focus, Rumsfeld also aimed some of his remarks at the media for presenting a 'jarring contrast between what the American people are reading and hearing about Iraq and the views of the Iraqi people.'
The Iraqis, he said, are more upbeat about their country, their security forces are growing, and they are on the road to democracy.
[...]
Rumsfeld acknowledged that the war has not gone according to plan, but said many things that were feared - including destruction of oil fields - have not happened.
He said the insurgency was larger than some had expected, and early efforts to counter it were hampered when infantry units were not allowed to go into northern Iraq through Turkey.
[...]
In one indication of the continuing problems, the Pentagon Monday tapped a senior retired general to take over a special task force to counter the devastating roadside bombs that kill coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.
Rumsfeld named Ret. Army Gen. Montgomery Meigs, former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, to head the program, which will expand on efforts to find solutions through new technology, better training and improved battlefield tactics.
Bush and Rumsfeld have insisted that withdrawal from Iraq will be based on conditions there, and that pulling out too soon would only bring victory to the insurgents and put the U.S. at greater risk.
The administration has said Iraqi security forces are growing - one of the prerequisites to drawing down U.S. troops. But in an interview Monday with The Associated Press, Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer said the training of Iraqi forces has been troubled in recent months because some security units are being used to go after political rivals.
Some Democrats renewed calls for Rumsfeld to be removed from his post."
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