Rumsfeld visits 'bleak' Iraq

2004-12-24 09:44

Mosul - US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit to US troops at Mosul, northern Iraq early on Friday, three days after a suicide bombing at the US base left 22 dead, including 14 US soldiers.

Rumsfeld told reporters who accompanied him on the aircraft his unannounced visit had been timed to coincide with Christmas, and was not connected to Tuesday's attack, one of the deadliest against the Americans in Iraq since the end of the war which toppled former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"Needless to say the purpose of this trip is to thank the troops and wish them a merry Christmas," Rumsfeld told reporters. "We knew we were going to come for Christmas."

Rumsfeld arrived in Mosul at around 05:30, visiting a military hospital situated about 2km from the dining hall tent, where the huge explosion occurred as staff were sitting down for lunch Tuesday.

Rumsfeld paid tribute to hospital staff and exchanged seasonal greetings before sitting down with soldiers for breakfast.

He then visited the headquarters of the first brigade of the US army's 25th infantry division, based in one of Saddam's former palaces.

After addressing the gathered 240 soldiers, he engaged in a sometimes jovial question and answer session, responding to soldiers' questions about the length of their stints, and relations with the media.

How do we win the war with the media?

"How do we win the war with the media?" asked one soldier.

"That does not sound like a question planted by the press... It happens sometimes," joked a smiling Rumsfeld, in an apparent reference to an incident in Kuwait when a soldier asked a question after being primed by a journalist.

Rumsfeld accused the press of reporting mainly bad news most of the time from Iraq, charging that the local media "report vicious inaccuracies in a consistent and persistent manner."

Another 72 people were injured in Tuesday's blast, including 51 US soldiers.

Most of the injured have since been evacuated to an American military hospital in Germany, or rejoined their units.

Rumsfeld, whose visit was not announced for security reasons, insisted to reporters that the trip had been planned several weeks ago.

The secrecy imposed by the Pentagon on the visit, was similar only to that surrounding President George W Bush's surprise Thanksgiving 2003 visit to troops in the country.

Washington-based journalists were invited by the Pentagon to send a reporter on a trip only some 14 hours before the departure early on Thursday, and they were kept guessing about which official would be making the trip or what the destination was.

On Thursday, Brigadier-General Carter Ham, the commander of the Mosul facility, told CNN the suicide bomber behind Tuesday's attack was likely wearing an Iraqi Army uniform.

Ham said an investigation was underway but "I think it is probably a well co-ordinated action, rather than the actions of one particular individual."

- AFP