Rumsfeld Bolsters Troops in Visit to Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Bearing gifts of praise and encouragement, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld paid a Christmas Eve visit to some of the most dangerous areas of Iraq and told U.S. troops he believes they will defeat the insurgency that still threatens the country.

"When it looks bleak, when one worries about how it’s going to come out, when one reads and hears the naysayers and the doubters who say it can’t be done, and that we’re in a quagmire here," one should recall that there have been such doubters "throughout every conflict in the history of the world," he said.

In a 12-hour mission, Rumsfeld hopscotched across Iraq – consoling wounded soldiers in Mosul, telling the infantry in Tikrit that democracy requires perseverance, and bucking up battle-weary Marines in Fallujah. After a bruising month at home, Rumsfeld clearly relished his surprise visits with hundreds of Americans at war far from their families over the holidays.

He ended his day in Baghdad, meeting with top American commanders and holding talks with the president of the interim Iraqi government, Ghazi al-Yawar, who told Rumsfeld that he shared the Bush administration’s optimism about establishing a stable Iraqi democracy.

"We want to think big," al-Yawar said. "We know the situation is tough, but I have no doubt in my mind that we will succeed. It’s just a matter of time." He said the Iraqis are eager to see that "all those sacrifices" of American and Iraqi casualties "should start bearing fruit." More than 1,300 Americans have been killed in Iraq.

Rumsfeld greeted soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division in Tikrit and Marines at their main base outside the city of Fallujah, the scene of intense combat last month. Three Marines were killed in Fallujah just hours before the defense secretary arrived.

The defense secretary zipped across the country in a Black Hawk helicopter flying at treetop level and escorted by Apache attack helicopters. He arrived first in Mosul in pre-dawn darkness, visiting with soldiers wounded in Tuesday’s apparent suicide attack on a mess tent.

Rumsfeld leaned over (Sgt. Chris) Scott, who was lying in bed under a military blanket, to help him place the Purple Heart over his right breast to pose for photographs.

Unlike his question-and-answer session with National Guard soldiers in Kuwait earlier this month, where a Tennessee guardsman asked why the Army had not provided sufficient armor for his unit’s vehicles before heading into Iraq, Rumsfeld fielded friendly questions Friday. One soldier raised his hand to say that despite well-publicized complaints of some troops over having to stay in the military beyond their enlistment or retirement dates, others accepted the hardship.

At each stop, Rumsfeld spent more time than he usually does to mingle with individual soldiers and have his picture taken with them. He ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with the troops.

"What’s in there?" he asked about a military issue sandwich before accepting it and sitting down to eat with the troops. At a later food stop in Baghdad, he seemed more certain of his selection: He requested a slice of ham.

At Camp Fallujah, outside the restive city about 35 miles west of Baghdad, Rumsfeld told about 250 Marines, "What you’re doing is noble work." They met in a plaster-coated brick building used as a dining hall.

In Tikrit, standing under a bright sun on a brisk morning, Rumsfeld emphasized a theme that he repeated at each stop: Although the United States wants to help Iraq, ultimately it is up to the Iraqis to make their country work.

"There will be here an Iraqi solution – not an American solution," he said.

The Pentagon shrouded Rumsfeld’s trip in unusual secrecy out of concern for security.

The stealth trip came on the heels of several difficult weeks for the defense chief. Several high-profile Republicans have publicly criticized him, and he faced another firestorm this week because he was not personally signing condolence letters to the families of dead soldiers, as the president does. Critics fault him for poor postwar planning and for a steadily growing list of problems, from failure to strangle the insurgency to prisoner abuses in Iraq and Guantanamo.

Rumsfeld’s shoot-from-the-hip style drew a popular following during the successful military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, but postwar problems in Iraq have soured his standing with Americans. Half now say he should resign even though President Bush just signed him on for his second-term Cabinet.

Before leaving the country, Rumsfeld had a Christmas Eve dinner with troops at a base outside Baghdad. For the occasion, he donned a plastic apron and helped serve food to the troops.

As the troops ate, Rumsfeld told them it would be dangerous to underestimate the power of the Iraqi insurgency, saying, "I don’t want in any way to paint a picture that is pretty."

Rumsfeld said he could not predict that the level of violence would abate after Iraq’s scheduled Jan. 30 elections, but he said the conflict now amounts to a test of will. "They (the insurgents) are determined, but so are we," he said.

Service members lined up to shake his hand. "Thank you," he told one helmeted man, patting him on the shoulder. "I’m glad to be here, proud to be here."

Surrounded by a sea of green camouflage helmets, Rumsfeld seemed to be enjoying himself. He posed repeatedly for photographs with groups of uniformed men and women.

"I am very grateful and privileged to look in your eyes and have the chance to say thank you," he told one group.

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