Rumsfeld Surprises The Troops In Iraq
Outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is on a surprise visit to Iraq, CBS News has learned. With only 9 days left in his tenure at the Pentagon, a spokesman said he is using the trip to say farewell to the troops serving overseas.
CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that Rumsfeld left for Iraq right after a town hall meeting at the Pentagon on Friday.
"He's there to express his appreciation to the troops and to thank both the troops and their families for the sacrifices they are making," said Air Force Lt. Col. Todd Vician, a Defense Department spokesman.
Rumsfeld's Pentagon appearance Friday and his trip to Iraq, where he was Saturday, were among the few public appearances he has made since President George W. Bush announced on Nov. 8 that he was replacing the defense secretary. His last full day will be Dec. 17.
Rumsfeld's farewell tour follows a grim picture of the Iraq war that was presented this week by a bipartisan commission headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton.
Read: CBS News national security correspondent David Martin's 'Rumsfeld Retrospective'
The Iraq Study Group said its prescription for change is needed quickly to turn around a "grave and deteriorating" situation.
The commission called for direct engagement with Iran and Syria as part of a new diplomatic initiative and a pullback of all American combat brigades by early 2008, barring unexpected developments, to shift the U.S. mission to training and advising.
With troops from each military service and a few civilian Pentagon employees seated behind him on stage in the Pentagon's main auditorium, Rumsfeld spoke to an audience of several hundred people on Friday. With a big smile, he strode into the room to a cascade of applause and a few approving yelps.
He said that the worst day of his nearly six years as secretary of defense occurred when he learned of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse.
He spoke at length about his hopes that the United States not let Iraq and Afghanistan collapse.
"We have every chance in the world of succeeding in both those countries, but only if we have the patience and only if we have the staying power," he said. Asked about the bipartisan Iraq Study Group's recommendations for a change in approach to the Iraq war, Rumsfeld said none of the suggestions were new.
He said the Pentagon had sent its advice to the White House on possible new approaches in Iraq.
He also said he might write a book about his tenure at the Pentagon, and he predicted that his successor, Robert Gates, would do a good job. He declined to say what advice he had offered Gates, who was confirmed by the Senate this week.
Rumsfeld choked up briefly while recalling a woman in Alaska giving him a bracelet last August as a reminder of the sacrifices by soldiers of the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade, whose year-long tour in Iraq was extended by four months to help try to quell sectarian violence in Baghdad. Showing it on his wrist, Rumsfeld recalled that he told the woman he would wear the green bracelet until the 172nd came home.