*EPF401 12/23/2004
U.S., Coalition Must "Do What It Takes" in Iraq, Rumsfeld Says
(Secretary cautions that violence will not end with elections) (510)

Washington -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, responding to news of the bombing at a U.S. Army base in Mosul, said the United States and its coalition partners must "do what it takes" in Iraq.

Twenty-two people were killed in the December 21 explosion at Forward Operating Base Marez, including 18 Americans and three Iraqis. Seventy-two were wounded, of whom 29 were quickly treated and released.

"We cannot allow those who chop off people's heads to take control of a country from which they could plot and organize and indoctrinate people against everything that they don't espouse," Rumsfeld said December 22 at a Pentagon press briefing.

Rumsfeld said the insurgents' use of intimidation is "an important part of the equation," and it is effective. Intimidation, he said, can prevent people from providing intelligence to coalition forces, or prevent Iraqis from running for elective office, or even prevent them from voting.

Even after the elections on January 30, 2005, Rumsfeld said, it would be a mistake to expect Iraq to be peaceful. The insurgents "have a lot to lose. ... [T]hey're going to do everything they can to see that that opportunity they have succeeds. And we've got to do everything to see that they fail.

It is the goal of the United States and the coalition to have the Iraqi people take responsibility for their own security, Rumsfeld said. Therefore, he said, the principal job is to have the Iraqis develop a persistent security presence, "so that there is a penalty for the kind of behavior one sees with a suicide bomber or a random rocket or mortar." He sees the mission in terms of creating an environment that's hospitable for the Iraqis to step forward" and take charge, he said.

Emphasizing the importance of persevering through Iraqi elections and beyond, Rumsfeld said that "as long as an important region of the world is condemned to tyranny and violence ... with little hope for a better future, terrorists will have a deep pool from which to draw recruits and to attack free people across the globe.

The secretary also answered a question about the recent failure of a missile defense system test, and whether the agency will be able to field a limited operational system before the end of 2004. He described the effort as providing "an initial capability," and said that even after the recent test failure, it might be feasible to go from a test mode to an operational mode fairly quickly if some threat were looming. "My impression is it wouldn't take long to get there," Rumsfeld said. He added that the department does not see a threat, so it does not feel pressured. "Our task in the immediate period is to get it right and to keep working on it," he said.

The briefing transcript is available on the Internet at: http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2004/tr20041222-secdef1861.html

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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