US/EU/IRAQ: US Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday it would take months to root out resistance by remnants of the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, with or without additional coalition troops.
Mr Rumsfeld, who spoke at the start of a four-day tour in Europe, blamed the attacks that have claimed mounting US casualties on former Iraqi security forces, including the paramilitary Fedayeen Saddam.
"I would say the remnants of the Iraqi regime - the Fedayeen Saddam and Baathists and very likely the special Republican Guard - are still there.
"They are the ones that are periodically attacking coalition forces, sometimes successfully," Mr Rumsfeld said at a joint press conference here with Portuguese Defence Minister Mr Paulo Portas.
"Do I think that's going to disappear in the next month or two or three? No. Will it disappear when two or three divisions of coalition forces arrive in the country? No.
"It will take time to root out the remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime and we intend to do it," Mr Rumsfeld said.
The United States has been trying to persuade other countries to provide troops for post-war Iraq and is in discussion with 41 states, but only eight have committed troops so far, Mr Rumsfeld said earlier.
The soonest they could arrive would be September, he said, but declined to say how many.
The US has 146,000 troops in the country, alongside only about 14,000 troops from other countries, mainly Britain.
Rumsfeld said the mix of US forces in Iraq is being altered to create a more visible military presence on the ground in the face of the attacks.
He has insisted that his trip to Europe was not aimed at drumming up more international troops for Iraq.
Mr Rumsfeld is due to fly to Brussels today for a meeting of NATO defence ministers, following meetings in Munich.
US officials have previously taken pains to describe the recent guerrilla-type raids in Iraq as the work of criminals, terrorists or renegade remnants of Saddam's now-banned Baath party.
But Mr Rumsfeld said on Monday that the failure to capture or otherwise account for Saddam himself may be fostering the guerrilla-style attacks on US forces there.
"To the extent it's not proven that he is not alive, there are people who might fear he could come back," he said.
"It might give heart to the Baathists who may want to hope they can take back that country, which they are not going to succeed in doing."