Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=3/25/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=PENTAGON / IRAQ (L)

NUMBER=2-301294

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

INTRO: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the war in Iraq is much closer to the beginning than the end. As V-O-A correspondent Meredith Buel reports from the Pentagon, Mr. Rumsfeld says the conflict could become more dangerous in the coming days as coalition troops approach Baghdad.

TEXT: Secretary Rumsfeld sought to minimize expectations of a swift end to the war, even as coalition forces continue closing in on Baghdad.

Mr. Rumsfeld says the defeat of the Iraqi government is certain, but that it is still not known how many "days or weeks" it will take to end the war.

He accused Iraq of brutality and acts of treachery on the battlefield and violating the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war.

He called such acts the behavior of desperate men.

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This campaign could well grow more dangerous in the coming days and weeks as coalition forces close on Baghdad and the regime is faced with its certain death. But the outcome is assured.

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Mr. Rumsfeld says there is sketchy intelligence information that once coalition soldiers get close to the Iraqi capitol there is an increased chance Saddam Hussein's troops will use chemical weapons.

/// RUMSFELD ACT #2 ///

There has been intelligence scraps, who knows how accurate they are, chatter in the system that suggest that the closer that coalition forces get to Baghdad and Tikrit the greater the likelihood. Some command and control arrangements have been put in place. Whether it will happen or not remains to be seen.

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Secretary Rumsfeld says at least three-thousand-five-hundred Iraqi soldiers have surrendered.

Mr. Rumsfeld says humanitarian aid, including food, water and medicine, are already being delivered and port facilities will soon be available to bring in much more. (Signed)

NEB/MB/KBK/RH