Rumsfeld Warns Pullout Dangerous

While some lawmakers press for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made no promises on Sunday and said commanders' assessments will determine the pace of any military drawdown.

About 160,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq as the country approaches elections Dec. 15. The Pentagon has said it plans to scale back troop strength to its pre-election baseline of 138,000, depending on conditions.

Rumsfeld said the U.S.-led coalition continues to make progress in training Iraqi security forces, which he placed at 212,000. He said criticism of the Iraqis will hurt their morale.

"Put yourself in the shoes of the Iraqi people, who've risked their lives to run for public office and to go out and vote to ratify a constitution and who are getting prepared to have an election in less than a month under that new constitution," Rumsfeld said on CBS's Face the Nation.

Rumsfeld added that pulling out now would put America in greater danger.

"I say that for this reason: Picture turning over Iraq to Zarqawi, the person who beheads people, the person who is out killing
innocent men and women and--Iraqis, men, women and children--turning that country, with its oil, with its water, with its population, into a haven for terrorists."

Rumsfeld disputed reports that fewer than 1,000 Iraqis were capable of fighting the insurgency without coalition assistance, saying the lower number was "a red herring."

In September, Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told senators that only one Iraqi army battalion appeared capable of fighting without U.S. help.

Rep. John Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat and decorated Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, last week urged the withdrawal of all U.S. troops within six months because the U.S. cannot accomplish anything further militarily. His statement touched off a bitter debate between Republicans and Democrats.

Rumsfeld suggested that talk of withdrawal tells insurgents that all they have to do is wait out the U.S.

U.S. troops, he said, believe they are making progress in a noble cause in which the U.S. will prevail.