Home>News Center>World
         
 

Rumsfeld says U.S. will not close Gitmo
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-18 09:09

NEW YORK - The Pentagon will not close its Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorist suspects, despite U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call to shut it down, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday.

"He's just flat wrong," Rumsfeld said in response to a question about the controversial prison during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations. "We shouldn't close Guantanamo. We have several hundred terrorists — bad people, people that if let back out on the field would try to kill Americans. That's just a fact."

United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld reacts to a comment from the audience at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York February 17, 2006.
United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld reacts to a comment from the audience at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York February 17, 2006. [Reuters]
He said closing it would amount to pretending there is no problem with a terrorist threat to U.S. interests.

Rumsfeld also took a swipe at Annan, saying, "He's never been to Guantanamo Bay," whereas representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross "stayed there, lived there 24 hours a day" to observe conditions.

"That place is being run as well as any detention facility can be run," he added, his voice rising. "It's absolutely beyond comprehension," he said, that calls for closing Guantanamo Bay can be based on allegations of mistreatment and torture by the prisoners, whom Rumsfeld said are trained to lie.

A U.N. report issued earlier this week said some of the treatment of prisoners amounted to torture.

There are about 500 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Many have been held for nearly four years. Most were captured on the battlefields of Afghanistan in late 2001 after U.S. forces invaded in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Rumsfeld also asserted that U.S. forces in Iraq are making progress on the security front, but he said there inevitably will be setbacks as the Iraqis struggle to assume control of their country.

"Our goal has to be to reduce our forces down, and to do it at a pace where we recognized that we're going to — I almost said 'make a mistake.' It will look like a mistake. It's a judgment call. We're going to have to pull out of some pieces of real estate and turn over things to Iraqis, and they're going to drop the ball. Let's face it.

"And we're going to have to step in, go back in and fix it and then turn it back over again, and it's going to be three steps forward and one step back. It isn't going to be perfect, it isn't going to be pretty," he said.

Rumsfeld said U.S. forces already have closed or turned over to the Iraqis 30 military bases. He offered no projections of future U.S. troop withdrawals. Last December the Pentagon said the number of U.S. troops in Iraq would drop from about 138,000 to about 130,000 by March.

Rumsfeld also said al-Qaida and other Islamic extremist groups have poisoned the Muslim public's view of the United States through deft use of the Internet and other modern communications methods that the American government has failed to master.

"Our enemies have skillfully adapted to fighting wars in today's media age, but for the most part we — our country, our government — has not adapted," he said.

He quoted Ayman al-Zawahri, the chief lieutenant of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, as saying that their terrorist network is in a media battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims. Rumsfeld agreed, saying that the battle for public opinion is at least as important as the battles on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The extremist groups are able to act quickly on the information front, with relatively few people, while the U.S. government bureaucracy has yet to keep up in an age of e-mail, blogs and instant messaging, he said.

"We in the government have barely even begun to compete in reaching their audiences," Rumsfeld said.

He said the military needs to focus more on adapting to the changes in global media.

"In some cases, military public affairs officials have had little communications training and little, if any, grounding in the importance of timing and rapid response, and the realities of digital and broadcast media," he said.



Hundreds feared dead in massive Filipino mudslide
New photos of Abu Ghraib abuse surface
South Korean FM to run for top post of UN
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

China seeks to finalize energy contracts with Iran

 

   
 

Philippines landslide deaths may top 1,500

 

   
 

Bodies of murdered engineers flown home

 

   
 

Weather blamed for Jilin coal fume poisoning

 

   
 

Pakistani President to visit China after killings

 

   
 

Cyberspace regulator meets the press

 

   
  Landslide slams village, 1,500 missing
   
  Japanese PM urged to avoid shrine visit
   
  Bird flu tightens hold on Europe
   
  Iran says no uranium enrichment yet, ready to talk
   
  Israel to seal gaza after Hamas takes over
   
  Reports: China, Iran near huge oil deal
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 秋霞鲁丝片无码av| 2018在线观看| 男人j进入女人p狂躁免费观看| 国产青青草视频| 九色综合九色综合色鬼| 洗澡被王总干好舒服小说| 国产午夜福利在线观看视频| www.伊人久久| 日韩视频中文字幕精品偷拍| 六十路依然风韵犹存| 欧美日韩亚洲成色二本道三区| 性高朝久久久久久久| 亚洲丶国产丶欧美一区二区三区| 热re99久久精品国99热| 国产又粗又猛又大的视频| xxxxx性欧美hd另类| 2018国产大陆天天弄| 日本大片免a费观看在线| 亚洲精品人成无码中文毛片| 精品国产午夜福利在线观看| 国产欧美日韩综合精品一区二区| 一本加勒比hezyo东京re高清| 日本口工全彩无遮拦漫画大| 乱e伦有声小说| 欧洲美熟女乱又伦免费视频| 免费人成在线观看网站品爱网| 色88久久久久高潮综合影院| 国产卡一卡二卡三卡四| 色婷婷综合久久久| 国产精品国产三级国产AV主播| 91啪国产在线| 国产高潮视频在线观看| 中国老熟妇xxxxx| 日本最新免费网站| 亚洲成A人片在线观看无码| 精品精品国产高清a毛片| 国产成人精品综合在线观看| 菠萝蜜亏亏带痛声的视频| 国产精品日韩欧美一区二区三区 | 欧美色欧美亚洲高清在线视频 | 国产精品无打码在线播放|