March 9, 2006 U.S. to Rely on Iraqi Forces to Quell Civil War, Rumsfeld Says By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON, March 9 — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told senators today that the United States would count on Iraqi security forces to quell an all-out civil war in their country, but that America's paramount goal is to prevent such a conflict in the first place.
Mr. Rumsfeld testified at a sometimes tense hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, whose ranking Democrat, Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, questioned him closely about the administration's request for more money.
"In recent days, Iraq has only narrowly missed descending into an all-out civil war, and top administration officials acknowledged that the threat of civil war is still very real," Mr. Byrd said. "The Congress and the public have a right to know the administration's plans for Iraq before scores of additional billions of dollars, billions of dollars, are spent in that war." <...> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/09/international/middleeast/09cnd-military.html?pagewanted=print