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The failure of the US-led coalition to prove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is dead may be fueling continued violence and resistance in the country, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday.
"There are people who may fear that he could come back," Rumsfeld said. "If they fear he could come back, they might be somewhat slower in an interrogation to say what they know."
Rumsfeld added that the uncertainty also might "give heart" to some from Saddam's Baathist Party "that they can take back that country."
Asked if there is an organized resistance directed by Saddam or inspired by the belief he's still alive, Rumsfeld said, "It's hard to tell."
He spoke to reporters as he flew to Portugal, beginning his longest tour in Europe since the war in Iraq.
Rumsfeld said he has no doubt that intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction will prove correct, despite the failure to find such weapons during more than two months of searching.
He blamed continued violence in the region north of Baghdad on Saddam loyalists who survived because there were relatively few battles there. The most intense battles of the war were fought south of Baghdad.
US forces will continue to try to put Saddam's supporters "out of business," Rumsfeld said.
The Bush administration has been working to get other nations to contribute to a peacekeeping force for Iraq. Rumsfeld said the first forces should be ready in September, with additional forces arriving soon after, but gave no specifics.
On Tuesday, Rumsfeld was scheduled to thank Portuguese officials for supporting the war in Iraq. He was invited to Lisbon by his Portuguese counterpart, Paulo Portas, who is trying to figure out how he can re-equip the outdated Portuguese armed forces despite a recession.
Portugal is pursuing Iraqi reconstruction contracts. It is also lobbying for a NATO regional command headquarters to be installed at Oeiras, outside Lisbon, and its European Union commissioner Antonio Vitorino is in the running for the NATO Secretary General post when it becomes vacant later this year.
Portugal is trying to negotiate the purchase of six new Hercules C-130J transport planes from US company Lockheed Martin and three frigates from either the United States, France or the Netherlands.
Though Portugal did not provide military help for the Iraq war, it plans to send about 100 police officers there to help with security and humanitarian aid distribution.
In siding with the United States on the war, Portugal put itself at odds with two of its largest trading partners, France and Germany.
On Wednesday, Rumsfeld is to meet with Albanian officials, who also supported the campaign to disarm Saddam.
(China Daily June 10, 2003)
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