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07 April 2004

Situation in Iraq Not Out of Control, Rumsfeld Says

Defense Department Report, April 7: Iraq Operational Update

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the current situation in Iraq is not out of control, and coalition forces will not allow oppressors and terrorists to block the path to a democratic and self-governing Iraq.

At a Pentagon briefing April 7, Rumsfeld said there are only a small number of people causing the current wave of violence in a limited area of the country.

"This is an important moment in Iraq's history. The future of the Iraqi people is certainly at stake. So the stakes are high. They're high for Iraq, they're high for the region and indeed they're high for the world," Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld said the terrorists and opponents of Iraqi freedom and its new government feel extremely threatened because the Iraqi people's progress toward self-government leaves them with no future. He added that U.S. forces will stay in Iraq until the security mission is completed.

"There's nothing like an army or large elements of people trying to change the situation. You have a small number of terrorists and militias coupled with some protests," Rumsfeld said. "You have a mixture of (a) small number of terrorists, a small number of militias, coupled with some demonstrations and some lawlessness. It's a serious problem, and the problem's being worked."

Rumsfeld and Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that if military commanders in Iraq ask for more combat troops they will get them. The United States currently has 135,000 troops stationed in Iraq.

However, they added that some troops currently in Iraq, but due to rotate out shortly, may be held over to help enhance security during the current surge in violence.

"We have military plans to systematically address the situations we are currently facing," Rumsfeld said. "Those plans are now being implemented."

Myers said there is nothing new about where the violence of the last several days is taking place in Iraq. "They're primarily working in areas that they've always worked," he said.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)