0
WASHINGTON, March 20: Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday he regretted that US troops had not been able to enter northern Iraq through Turkey during the 2003 invasion, saying this had enabled the anti-US fighters to flourish. In a television interview with Fox News, on the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Mr Rumsfeld was asked if there was any aspect of the campaign he regretted.
?Given the level of the insurgency today, two years later, clearly if we had been able to get the 4th Infantry Division in from the north, in through Turkey, more of the Iraqi, Saddam Hussein, Baathist regime would have been captured or killed,? Mr Rumsfeld answered.
?The insurgency today would be less,? he said, adding that the resulting thrust of the US invasion through southern Iraq had enabled many insurgents to evade capture in the north.
?What happened was, we had to come in from the south, our 4th Infantry Division was blocked in the north, as a result by the time Baghdad was taken, a large fraction of the Iraqi military and intelligence services just dissipated into the communities,? the US defence chief said.
Turkey had turned down Washington?s requests for American forces to be able to attack Iraq from Turkish territory.
The diplomatic tensions between the two NATO allies over Washington?s desire to use Turkey as a launch pad for penetrating northern Iraq chilled further after the Turkish parliament, dominated by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), refused the US permission to open a northern front in Iraq through southeastern Turkey.
Asked about the intensity of the resistance, Mr Rumsfeld said it was ongoing, but had weakened. ?The insurgency is continuing. It is at a lower level than previously, but at a higher level than had been expected, to be sure.?
?My impression is that as the Iraqi security forces continue to develop ? we?re now at over 145,000 Iraqi security forces ? they will take increasing responsiblity and that you will see more and more of the insurgency dealt with by Iraqis, and as a result I think it will diminish over time,? Rumsfeld told Fox.
?Given the level of the insurgency today, two years later, clearly if we had been able to get the 4th Infantry Division in from the north, in through Turkey, more of the Iraqi, Saddam Hussein, Baathist regime would have been captured or killed,? Mr Rumsfeld answered.
?The insurgency today would be less,? he said, adding that the resulting thrust of the US invasion through southern Iraq had enabled many insurgents to evade capture in the north.
?What happened was, we had to come in from the south, our 4th Infantry Division was blocked in the north, as a result by the time Baghdad was taken, a large fraction of the Iraqi military and intelligence services just dissipated into the communities,? the US defence chief said.
Turkey had turned down Washington?s requests for American forces to be able to attack Iraq from Turkish territory.
The diplomatic tensions between the two NATO allies over Washington?s desire to use Turkey as a launch pad for penetrating northern Iraq chilled further after the Turkish parliament, dominated by the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), refused the US permission to open a northern front in Iraq through southeastern Turkey.
Asked about the intensity of the resistance, Mr Rumsfeld said it was ongoing, but had weakened. ?The insurgency is continuing. It is at a lower level than previously, but at a higher level than had been expected, to be sure.?
?My impression is that as the Iraqi security forces continue to develop ? we?re now at over 145,000 Iraqi security forces ? they will take increasing responsiblity and that you will see more and more of the insurgency dealt with by Iraqis, and as a result I think it will diminish over time,? Rumsfeld told Fox.
