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Rumsfeld fields questions from wives of U.S. soldiers

Aug-27-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By ROBERT BURNS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - In a lively but polite give-and-take, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fielded questions Saturday from wives and other family members of Alaska-based soldiers whose combat tours in Iraq were abruptly extended just as they prepared to return home this month.

"It is something we don't want to do," Rumsfeld told several hundred family members who gathered in a gymnasium at nearby Fort Wainwright, home of the 172nd Stryker Brigade. The unit's deployment to Iraq was extended by up to four months to bolster U.S. firepower in the Baghdad area.

"But in this case we had to," he added, referring to the decision made in July to extend the 172nd.

Asked whether the Army was preparing another brigade to take over for the 172nd in case the improvements in Baghdad are not achieved by December, Rumsfeld said he could make no promises.

"I wish I had a magic wand and the power to say yes. I don't," he said. "I will do everything in the world I can do to see that they are not extended beyond the 120 days."

Reporters, including five who traveled with Rumsfeld from Washington, D.C., were not permitted to cover his meeting with the family members, which lasted about an hour. But a wife who made a video tape of the event showed it to reporters afterward.

Related Article:

Rumsfeld in Alaska, to meet with soldiers' families - Reuters


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