Outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld made a surprise trip to Iraq, just days after a bipartisan commission called the situation there «grave and deteriorating» and said the administration's policy wasn't working. «For the past six years, I have had the opportunity and, I would say the privilege, to serve with the greatest military on the face of the Earth,» Rumsfeld, 74, said in a speech on Saturday to more than 1,200 soldiers and Marines at Al-Assad, an air base in Anbar province, the large area of western Iraq that is an insurgent stronghold, according to a report of the Associated Press. «I leave understanding that the true strength of the United States military is not in Washington, it's not in the Pentagon, it's not in the weapons. It's in the hearts of the men and women who serve. It's your patriotism, it's your professionalism and indeed your determination,» he was quoted by the U.S. Department of Defense as saying. «We feel great urgency to protect the American people from another 9/11 or a 9/11 times two or three. At the same time, we need to have the patience to see this task through to success. The consequences of failure are unacceptable,» said Rumsfeld. «The enemy must be defeated.» He also met with U.S. forces in Balad, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Baghdad, the defense department said. At least 2,930 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, many in and around Baghdad, and in hard-hit Anbar cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi. In Baghdad, the U.S. military said Sunday that it couldn't immediately confirm Rumsfeld's visit or say how long he would remain in the country. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it had no information since the military had handled the trip. The Pentagon refused to say whether Rumsfeld was still in Iraq or where he planned to travel next. It was Rumsfeld's 15th trip to Iraq since the war began; he was last here in July.
