Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=9-23-04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=RUMSFELD IRAQ ELECTIONS (S)

NUMBER=2-319223

BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Rumsfeld Warns Not All Of Iraq May Be Able to Hold January Election

INTRO: Just hours after Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi vowed elections would take place on schedule in January, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned voting might not be able to go ahead in areas of the country under control of insurgents. Correspondent Nick Simeone tells us more.

TEXT: Secretary Rumsfeld was on Capitol Hill Thursday just hours after the Iraqi leader addressed law makers there, testifying about U.S. military posture overseas.

But Senators almost immediately switched the subject and began questioning him about the situation in Iraq, in particular how a country where an insurgency shows no signs of abating can stick to a timetable for elections in January.

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"Let's say you tried to have an election and you could have it in three quarters or four fifths of the country but in some places you couldn't because the violence was too great. So be it. Nothing's perfect life. So you have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet."

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The U.S. military is working to train more Iraqi security forces in time for the January vote, but says it may not be until December before enough are prepared to take on areas of the country now in the hands of insurgents. (SIGNED)

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