US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld unexpectedly landed on Iraq on May 13 accompanied by US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers. By the time the reporter delivered the report, meeting on Iraq-related issues had started between Rumsfeld's team and senior generals and other officers.

Rumsfeld visited Iraq after US President George W. Bush's sudden inspection of the Pentagon, which has currently been severely censured for the scandal of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers stationed in Iraq. Rumsfeld himself sustained increasing pressure for this abuse case and voices demanding his resignation was getting louder. On May 12, some US Congressmen, behind closed door at the Capitol Hill, viewed photos and video showing US soldiers' atrocities, some of which showed the disgusting treatment of Iraqi women by US soldiers. They held that these photos and videos, if made public, would evoke still stronger reactions.

Sources here say that Rumsfeld' s sudden visit to Iraq is aimed primarily to show his all-out efforts in handling the abuse case to prevent the situation from further development, though he denied that his trip "was designed to put out a fire". He told reporters that he hoped to acquaint himself with the actual situation regarding the supervision and management of the Iraqi prisoners. He claimed that the US government was much concerned about the treatment of prisoners and hoped that US soldiers would behavior correctly.

Rumsfeld's surprise visit also aims to boost the morale of US soldiers in Iraq. The influence caused to US troops by the prisoner abuse issue and Iraqi people's increasing anti-US sentiment have put greater pressure on US troops, thus immensely dampening the soldiers' martial spirit. Rumsfeld said, besides learning something about the situation from responsible persons in charge of daily management of the prison, he will also meet US commanders there and extend his thanks to those who have given a good account of themselves.

To strengthen military deployment on the frontier is the third purpose of Rumsfeld's visit. For some time, US armies have sustained the heaviest blow ever since the overthrow of the Saddam regime. Up to now, over 700 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and military expenditure is flowing away like water, which has aroused strong dissatisfaction at home. There have been mounting criticisms of Rumsfeld's "rash action, lack of thoughtful plan and consideration of consequences". Therefore Rumsfeld went personally to the front on an inspection tour to discuss matters with officers in Iraq concerning future operational principles, especially how to prevent al-Qaeda's infiltration and attack on Iraq. According to US military departments, Bin Laden's assistant has engineered suicidal bombing in Iraq.

However, this senior US government official who has incurred strong dissatisfaction in Arab countries because of prisoner abuse but went ahead "against the storm", probably will court still greater resentment because things run contrary to his wishes.

By People's Daily Online