Raymond,
Rumsfeld Says No U.S. Plan for Long-Term Bases in Iraq
nytimes.com
By COMBINED WIRE REPORTS
efense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today that the U.S. has no plans for a permanent military presence in Iraq.
"I have never heard the subject of a permanent base in Iraq discussed," he said, emphatically denying a report in Saturday's New York Times that the U.S. was looking to set up a permanent military presence at four air bases in the country.
"The likelihood of it seems to be so low that it's never been discussed in my presence to my knowledge... it's not like we need a new place," he said.
Iraqi citizens are showing more signs of cooperation with U.S.-led coalition forces, Rumsfeld said, but he added that it is premature to say if there is new evidence of weapons of mass destruction.
Iraqis are showing increasing trust with coalition forces by pointing out large weapons caches and identifying agents of Saddam Hussein's toppled government, Rumsfeld said at a press briefing.
The defense secretary said U.S. government officials are looking for new evidence of Iraq's programs to develop biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, and said their findings would be made known "in good time."
"I've believed all along that we're not likely to stumble over anything," he said of the search for weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein's government did "a superb job of hiding things" through years of U.N. inspections, he said. |
