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Rumsfeld Visits Troops at Mosul Base
MOSUL, Iraq — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (search) arrived here before dawn Friday amid tight security at an air base in northern Iraq where an insurgent's attack on a military dining hall killed 14 U.S. troops and eight other people earlier this week. Hoping to raise holiday spirits and demonstrate compassion for soldiers' sacrifices, Rumsfeld landed in darkness and walked immediately from his plane to a combat surgical hospital where many of the bombing victims were treated. The most seriously wounded already have been transferred to a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Rumsfeld's aides went to unusual lengths to keep his visit a secret prior to his arrival, with only a few reporters and one TV crew accompanying him on an overnight flight from Washington. In an interview aboard the C-17 cargo plane that brought him to Mosul (search), Rumsfeld said he'd been planning to visit U.S. troops here long before the deadly attack Tuesday, believed to have been carried out by a suicide bomber. "The focus of the trip is to thank the troops and wish them a Merry Christmas," he said. Posted by: Sherry 2004-12-23 |
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