ABOARD THE USS JOHN F KENNEDY: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met 18 of his counterparts on an aircraft carrier in the Gulf yesterday to reassure them on US strategy for Iraq after saying more troops may be sent in for the January elections. The meeting on board Kennedy drew ministers from new Nato member countries from eastern and central Europe and former Soviet republics that have contributed troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as their counterparts from Iraq, Bahrain and Qatar. Rumsfeld flew to the Kennedy from Bahrain shortly after arriving from Washington. He said Washington was trying to find countries to provide troops.
The ministers also heard General George Casey, the US commander in Iraq, in a video teleconference from Baghdad laying out his plan for retaking control of Iraq's violence-torn provinces that includes Baghdad and Al Anbar. |