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More Iraqi forces key to securing Iraq: Rumsfeld
Baghdad, Sept 04: The United States wants to quickly add former Iraqi soldiers to the new Iraqi security forces, US Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld said today.
Baghdad, Sept 04: The United States wants to quickly
add former Iraqi soldiers to the new Iraqi security forces, US
Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld said today.
Rumsfeld arrived here to see firsthand the conditions
and to talk to military and civilian leaders of the US-led
occupation.
Shortly after landing at Baghdad International
Airport, Rumsfeld shook hands with troops and briefly visited
wounded soldiers in a hospital tent. Rumsfeld shook the hand
of chief warrant officer 3 Robert Meyerhoff, who was wounded
in the right leg in an ambush on a convoy in Baghdad.
Rumsfeld planned to meet later Thursday with L Paul Bremer, the civilian administrator in Iraq. Rumsfeld said military commanders do not see the need for more US troops in Iraq, but said that more Iraqis need to be trained to help provide security.
US officials are considering allowing enlisted soldiers and junior officers from the former Iraqi military to join the US trained Iraqi security forces, the Defense Secretary said. "This is their country. They are going to have to provide security," he had said earlier aboard an Air Force plane that stopped for a refueling stop in Ireland en route to the Middle East.
Rumsfeld gave few details on what conditions the United States would want for an increased UN role in Iraq that is being pursued by Secretary of State Colin Powell.
More important than an expanded international peacekeeping force are the 50,000 to 60,000 Iraqis currently "involved in security activities," he told reporters.
Bureau Report
Rumsfeld planned to meet later Thursday with L Paul Bremer, the civilian administrator in Iraq. Rumsfeld said military commanders do not see the need for more US troops in Iraq, but said that more Iraqis need to be trained to help provide security.
US officials are considering allowing enlisted soldiers and junior officers from the former Iraqi military to join the US trained Iraqi security forces, the Defense Secretary said. "This is their country. They are going to have to provide security," he had said earlier aboard an Air Force plane that stopped for a refueling stop in Ireland en route to the Middle East.
Rumsfeld gave few details on what conditions the United States would want for an increased UN role in Iraq that is being pursued by Secretary of State Colin Powell.
More important than an expanded international peacekeeping force are the 50,000 to 60,000 Iraqis currently "involved in security activities," he told reporters.
Bureau Report