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Iraq gets blunt talk from Rumsfeld
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged Iraqi political leaders Wednesday to settle their differences and agree on a new constitution quickly, and to exert more influence on Syria and Iran to force them to end support for the insurgency here. Speaking to reporters en route to an unannounced visit here, Rumsfeld laid out a remarkably blunt prescription for what Iraqi leaders must do in the coming weeks and months to ensure that a stable, secure and popularly elected government survives, and to allow American troops to begin to withdraw. Rumsfeld declined to say when conditions would permit that drawdown to start. But the top American commander here, General George Casey Jr., reaffirmed to reporters his statement in March that the Pentagon would be able to make "some fairly substantial reductions" in troops by next spring if the political process remained on track and Iraqi forces assumed more responsibility for securing their country.After meeting with Rumsfeld, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said there was no firm timetable for any American withdrawal, but he noted that Iraqis "desire speed in that regard." He said that as Iraqi forces improved, they would replace American troops around the country. Security was just one of the broad themes that Rumsfeld outlined first to reporters traveling with him and then to Jaafari and other top Iraqi officials, said a senior Pentagon aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the meeting with the Iraqis was private. First and foremost, Rumsfeld told reporters, was the need to stick to a political timetable that calls for Iraqi officials to write a constitution by Aug. 15. "We don't want any delays," Rumsfeld said. "They're simply going to have to make the compromises necessary and get on with it." He added, "That's what politics is about." Any delay in the process would be "very harmful to the momentum that's necessary," he said. "We have troops on the ground. People get killed." Rumsfeld renewed his criticism that Syria and Iran are harboring financiers and organizers of the insurgency, or are failing to clamp down on fighters infiltrating into Iraq from their territory. But he also urged Iraqi leaders to be more aggressive to stop what he called "harmful" behavior by Iraq's two neighboring rivals. "They need to demonstrate that they're a big country, they're a wealthy country, that they'll be around a long time, and they don't really like it," said Rumsfeld, adding that he would leave specific actions up to the Iraqis. Posted by: Fred 2005-07-28 |
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