WASHINGTON, Sept 17: With the US military fighting a deadly guerilla war in Iraq, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday the United States must not let the world think it will retreat from a fight “every time we got our nose bloodied”.

Mr Rumsfeld told military and government officials at the Pentagon’s National Defence University that he stressed to President George Bush before accepting the top Pentagon job nearly three years ago that the United States must always steer a firm military course.

“I said I was personally of the opinion that it was unhelpful for our country if the world believed that every time we got our nose bloodied we tucked in and came home,” he said in response to questions following a speech.

“You know the old story in Chicago: If you act like a door mat, people are gonna wipe their feet on you.”

Mr Rumsfeld, under fire from critics who say the Pentagon did not plan properly for the difficult aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq, did not mention the country when he was asked a question about civilian control over the military.

But the secretary’s response evoked America’s bitter defeat and retreat from the Vietnam War and the rapid withdrawal of US peacekeepers from Somalia .

BITTER VIETNAM EXPERIENCE: The Vietnam experience left many in the US military reluctant to commit the troops to anything less than overwhelming victory in combat.