럼즈펠드 장관 관련 외신 원문

(Recasts with comments on Iraq deployment)

By Charles Aldinger

ANDERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Guam, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Defence

Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told U.S. forces in the Pacific on

Friday there was no plan for an early withdrawal from Iraq, but

Iraqis would get more power more quickly than initially

thought.

"There is no decision to pull out early, indeed quite the

contrary," Rumsfeld said when asked by troops stationed on the

Pacific island outpost of Guam about reports of a premature

withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

"We will stay there as long as necessary to see that that

country is put on a path" to democracy, he said.

Rumsfeld said the initial plan had been for a transfer of

sovereignty after a new Iraqi constitution had been ratified

and elections held.

But the process was likely to take about two years and the

Iraqi Governing Council and U.S. administrator Paul Bremer

would try to find a way of transferring some responsibility

before that.

"It does not mean that we would physically leave the

country any sooner," Rumsfeld said.

"What it means is that the Iraqis would begin to take on a

greater portion of responsibility for governing themselves

sooner than the original thought was with respect to first a

constitution, then national elections because of the time

involved."

Washington announced on Thursday that General John Abizaid,

the man leading U.S. military efforts in Iraq, was to move his

headquarters back to Qatar to be closer to an increasingly

violent insurgency by Iraqi resistance forces.

U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said it was

important to find a way to accelerate a transfer of authority

to the Iraqi people. And President George W. Bush said: "We

believe they have the capacity to run their own country" and

that he wanted to "encourage the Iraqis to assume more

responsibility".

TOUGH, DANGEROUS

Rumsfeld said on Friday U.S. troops were doing a good job

in Iraq, but it was "a tough, dangerous business".

"There is no question that we have a way to go to find

success -- and I would describe success as transferring

responsibilities of that government to the Iraqi people and

transferring responsibilities for the security of that country

to the Iraqi people and that's the process we are in."

Rumsfeld was in Guam on his way to a week-long tour of

South Korea and Japan, the first time he has visited America's

closest allies in Asia since taking over as defence secretary

about three years ago.

He was to hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro

Koizumi later on Friday as Japan showed signs of going back on

a promise to send troops to Iraq.

Japan said on Thursday its planned dispatch of non-combat

forces to Iraq was not possible under existing conditions.

Japan's Kyodo news agency also reported that South Korea

has ordered its 700 medical and engineering troops working out

of a U.S. base in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya to halt

operations until security was fully guaranteed in the area.

The events followed Wednesday's killing of 18 Italians in a

suicide bomb attack on a military police base in Nassiriya.

Rumsfeld was also scheduled to discuss the U.S. military

presence in Japan and South Korea as well as negotiations to

end North Korea's nuclear programme.