IRAQ: The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, went to Tikrit yesterday and got a mixed reaction . . . from his own troops.
If they had the chance, US soldiers at a base in Iraq would have had one question yesterday for the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld: when are we going home?
But Mr Rumsfeld cancelled a speech he was due to give troops at their base at the palace of deposed Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, in his hometown of Tikrit.
"I don't give a damn about Rumsfeld. All I give a damn about is going home," Specialist Rue Gretton said, humping packs of water bottles on his shoulders from a truck.
"The only thing his visit meant for us was we had to clean up a lot of mess to make the place look pretty. And he didn't even look at it anyway," Gretton said after soldiers swept the dusty streets around the complex of lakes and mansions.
They also erected a stage and set out chairs for a speech that Mr Rumsfeld cancelled due to a tight schedule. Instead, the Pentagon chief briefly thanked soldiers after a meeting with military leaders.
"It was good for morale," said Maj Josslyn Alberle, a spokeswoman for the Fourth Infantry Division headquartered at the palace.
Sgt Green (40), who asked not to be identified by her first name, did not think so.
"If I got to talk to Rumsfeld I'd tell him to give us a return date. We've been here six months, and the rumour is we'll be here until at least March. This is totally, totally uncalled for," she said.
Mr Rumsfeld has been criticised for sending too few troops to Iraq, leaving them stretched thin on extended deployments trying to help rebuild the country and fight a guerrilla war.
When the Armed Forces Network showed earlier footage of Rumsfeld saying that fresh US troops were unnecessary in Iraq, soldiers at the base threw their hands in the air and shouted "No way" at the television.
"I ain't happy. No way am I happy seeing that," said Specialist Devon Pierce, whose wife was due to give birth to his first son in two weeks.
"This tour is hard, real hard. It's too much. It should be six months."
Other soldiers said they could not complain openly about their long deployment for fear of being disciplined.
Earlier this year, military leaders warned their troops they should not show disrespect for Mr Rumsfeld after a rash of criticism from soldiers in Iraq appeared in the media.
Guerrillas regularly attack the palace complex with mortars and rockets. But soldiers acknowledged that with air-conditioned rooms and burgers and hot dogs in the mess hall they had it easier than many of the more than 150,000 US troops in Iraq.
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Britain will send 120 extra troops to Iraq to bolster security in the war-torn country, the Ministry of Defence said last night.
The deployment is not connected to the review by the Defence Secretary Mr Geoff Hoon of troop levels in Iraq and has been in the pipeline since August.