Rumsfeld: Iraq Guerrillas Threat to U.S.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday that guerrillas in Iraq have remained a deadly threat to the technologically superior Americans by studying the way U.S. troops fight. The final test, he said, will be, “Who’s going to outlast the other?” “The remnants of the regime are going to school on us,” Rumsfeld told reporters while flying to Tokyo on a six-day Asian trip. After U.S. tactical changes, “They watch what takes place, and then they make adjustments,” he said of the shadowy Iraqi opposition. “The test is who’s going to outlast the other, and the answer is we’re going to outlast them,” the defense secretary said. In Washington, President Bush said the United States may begin transferring power back to the Iraqi people soon, but American troops will remain in Iraq until the country is free and peaceful. “We will stay there until the job is done,” the president said. However, Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview with a Nashville, Tenn., television station, said the number of U.S. troops is likely to be reduced as Iraq builds up its own forces. Full Story