Rumsfeld says Iraqis must take quickly control of security

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said on Friday that the Iraqi government must take control of security in the country "sooner rather than later."

"The biggest mistake would be to not pass things over to the Iraqis, create a dependency on their part, instead of developing strength and capacity and competence," Rumsfeld told reporters.

"It's their country, they're going to have to govern it, they' re going to have to provide security for it, and they're going to have to do it sooner rather than later," he said.

Gen. George Casey, top U.S. commander in Iraq, and other U.S. officials are working with the Iraqi government to develop projections as to when they think they can pass off various pieces of responsibility, the defense secretary said. But he gave no detail.

The White House and the Pentagon have been talking about gradually turning control of Iraq from U.S. forces to Iraqi authorities due to the surge of violence and growing death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

More than 2,700 American soldiers have been killed since the Iraq war broke out in March 2003.

As Nov. 7 mid-term elections is coming, U.S. President George W. Bush is under growing pressure from lawmakers of the ruling Republic Party and the opposition Democratic Party to alter his Iraqi policies.

Bush will meet military commanders on Saturday to discuss the situation in Iraq, Rumsfeld said.

Source: Xinhua