US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged Thursday that more US troops may have to be sent to Iraq to provide security for January elections that are threatened by a wave of insurgent violence.
Rumsfeld said he believed elections could still be held in January but he sketched out a scenario in which they might not be held in parts of the country where the violence is too great.
"Let's say you tried to have an election and you could have it in three-quarters or four-fifths of the country, but some places you couldn't, because the violence was too great," he said.
"Well, so be it," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "You have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet."
General John Abizaid, the head of the US Central Command, told reporters Wednesday after a closed door briefing to members of Congress that more troops would be needed to secure the country ahead of the elections.
The US is counting on Iraqi security forces to fill the gap, but both Abizaid and Rumsfeld admitted that the 140,000-member US force in Iraq may have to be beefed up at least temporarily.
"In the event General Abizaid decides he needs more forces to assist in the elections, like he has for example in Afghanistan, he'll ask and he'll get it," Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld, who testified only hours after Iraq Prime Minister Ayad Allawi addressed the Congress, faced sharp questioning mainly from Democrats about the growing insurgency.
"What's the plan?" asked Senator Edward Kennedy. "What's Plan B? How are we going to get people out to vote with the dramatic increase in violence in these places?"
Kennedy cited polling data contained in a July CIA estimate that found that 90 percent of Iraqis view US forces as occupiers, and about half viewed insurgent attacks as attempts to liberate the country.
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)