Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday that he couldn’t promise that a significant number of U.S. forces would return from Iraq by year’s end. Pressed by lawmakers, the Pentagon chief said he hoped for a large American troop withdrawal this year but could not assure them that would occur. “No. No one can,” Rumsfeld told a Senate committee. Still, he said. “It’s obviously our desire and the desire of the troops and the desire of the Iraqi people.” Full Story