|
16 minutes ago |
|
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, responding to mounting criticism even from fellow Republicans, said on Wednesday he was "truly saddened" anyone could think he was not laboring to protect U.S. combat troops.
|
||||||||||||||||
An uncharacteristically subdued Rumsfeld addressed his critics with an unprompted statement at the start of a Pentagon (news - web sites) briefing, and said he stayed awake a night worrying about America's fighting men and women.
Asked whether the recent criticism had affected his ability to do his job, Rumsfeld said: "You get up in the morning and you think about what our troops are doing. And I must say, if they can do what they're doing, I can do what I'm doing."
Critics pounced on Rumsfeld in recent weeks after he told a soldier who asked about a lack of armored vehicles for troops in Iraq (news - web sites) that "you go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want," and admitted his letters to families of troops killed in Iraq had been signed by a machine.
Some leading Senate Republicans, including John McCain of Arizona, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Susan Collins of Maine, have questioned Rumsfeld's performance.
President Bush (news - web sites), who last month asked Rumsfeld to continue serving in his second term, on Monday gave him a vote of confidence. Bush said Rumsfeld had a "rough and gruff" demeanor, but was a "caring fellow" with a good heart who is doing a fine job.
More than 1,300 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, including 13 soldiers who died in an apparent suicide bombing inside a dining hall in a base near Mosul on Tuesday.
Congressional critics have faulted Rumsfeld for what they call poor planning for dealing with Iraq after Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s ouster, failing to anticipate the bloody insurgency, providing too few troops to win the peace, and failing to ensure that U.S. troops have enough body armor and armored vehicles.
"I am truly saddened by the thought that anyone could have the impression that I, or others here (at the Pentagon), are doing anything other than working urgently to see that the lives of the fighting men and women are protected and are cared for in every way humanly possible," Rumsfeld, minus his trademark swagger, told reporters.
'I FEEL TO MY CORE'
"When I meet with the wounded, with their families, or with the families of those who have been lost, their grief is something I feel to my core," Rumsfeld added.
Rumsfeld also acknowledged the toughness of an insurgency that arose after Saddam's ouster.
"The enemy is effective," Rumsfeld said. "The enemy's got a brain. The enemy alters its tactics. As things happen on the ground, they see what we do to respond to it. They then change their tactic."
Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said protecting troops on the battlefield as "job one."
The soldier who questioned Rumsfeld in Kuwait complained that because the Pentagon was not providing sufficient numbers of armored vehicles, U.S. troops had to scavenger in landfills for scrap metal to fortify their vehicles.
Some families have bought and shipped body armor and other equipment to soldiers who said they lacked it.
"We are working very hard to ensure what the commanders want they get as quickly as we can produce it, field it, get it there, make it there, or whatever," Myers said. "So I think families need to be assured that we will give them the best that we can humanly produce for them to protect their loved ones."
Do you Yahoo!?
Send a seasonal email greeting and help others. Do good.
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
