Rumsfeld says no 'cease fire' in Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Thursday there was "not a chance" that the United States would agree to an arrangement that would halt the war and allow Saddam Hussein to survive.\n"It doesn't matter who proposes it, there's not going to be one," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing.\nHe said that governments that are discussing such a deal "provide hope and comfort" to Saddam's regime "and give them ammunition that they can then try to use to retain the loyalty of their forces."\nRumsfeld said it was too late for Saddam to seek exile.\n"If you're asking if we're still encouraging him to leave, the answer is no," he said.\nBut while the secretary said it was too late for Saddam or his top aides to save themselves, it was not beyond that point for members of Iraqi's military, and he urged them to stage an uprising.\n"Iraqi officers and soldiers can still survive and help to rebuild a free Iraq, if they do the right thing," Rumsfeld said.\n"They must now decide whether they want to share the fate of Saddam Hussein or whether they'll save themselves, turn on that condemned dictator and help the forces of Iraq's liberation," he said.\nRumsfeld said there are contacts between the United States and some Iraqi military leaders. "There's still contact, and you never know" when the contacts might bear fruit, he said.\nAir Force Gen. Richard Myers, giving an update on the U.S.-led campaign, said U.S. forces were "on the outskirts of Baghdad right now."\nHe refused to comment on reports that coalition forces had launched an assault on Baghdad International Airport, about ten miles outside the city.\nAsked about the widespread power outage in the Iraqi capital, Myers said the United States had "not targeted the power grid in Baghdad."\nAsked if he and other U.S. commanders knew why much of the city was in the dark, Myers said, "at this point we do not."\nRumsfeld was asked by a reporter about efforts by some countries _ such as France and Russia _ to try to craft a deal to end the war short of the overthrow of Saddam and his regime.\n"There is not a chance that there's going to be a deal," he said.\nRumsfeld said that talk of such an arrangement would unrealistically feed the optimism of those around Saddam, "with hope that one more time, maybe he'll survive, one more time he'll be there for another decade or so."\nRumsfeld renewed a warning to Syria against being a conduit for military equipment destined for Iraq. "We have seen that Syria continues to conduct itself the way it was prior to the time I said what I said," Rumsfeld said.\nHe first issued the warning last week, saying that military equipment -- including night-vision goggles -- was coming across the Syrian border with Iraq to help resupply Iraqi forces. U.S. officials have accused Russian companies of manufacturing some of the equipment at issue.\nRumsfeld accused Saddam of forming Iraqi "death squads" which he said were killing Iraqi civilians.\n"Iraq is running out of real soldiers. All that will be left are war criminals," he said.\nAsked about the relatively light resistance that allied forces have encountered as they close in on Baghdad, Rumsfeld said, "Some forces have retreated into the cities, others have just left and gone home. Still others are still there and fighting and have been reinforced."\nU.S. troops have advanced quickly to the doorstep of Baghdad, leaving their commanders with the choice of continuing the charge into the capital or waiting for reinforcements and giving Iraqis a chance to overthrow the regime themselves.\nEarlier, U.S. forces raided a presidential palace about 55 miles north of Baghdad. Special forces infiltrated some Iraqi command posts in the Baghdad area during the night and also secured some bridges and dams to forestall possible sabotage, according to the U.S. Central Command.\nThe advance set the stage for either a final push on the capital or the capitulation of Saddam's best and most loyal fighters. Some Pentagon officials said Wednesday the American forces likely would pause on the outskirts of the capital to allow pressure to build on the Iraqi regime, perhaps enough so it would fall without the chaotic and bloody urban fighting Iraqi officials say they are planning.\nA pause also would allow more reinforcements to enter Iraq. The 4th Infantry Division, which has some of the Army's most advanced tanks and equipment, is arriving in Kuwait and could field a brigade-sized task force of a few thousand soldiers as early as Monday or Tuesday, the official said.\nBut top civilian leaders said they weren't counting on Saddam's capitulation. "It doesn't seem likely," said Rumsfeld's spokeswoman, Victoria Clarke.\nStill, the Pentagon sought to lower expectations that the Iraqi capital could be taken quickly or easily.\n"We are planning for a very difficult fight ahead in Baghdad," Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal told a Pentagon news conference. "We are not expecting to drive into Baghdad suddenly and seize it."\nIf American forces do battle to take Baghdad, whether after a pause or not, the strategy is likely to include cordoning off the city and targeting key sites for attack, a military official said.\nThe Americans would try to avoid the street-by-street battles that Iraq wants to set as traps by focusing on such key areas rather than trying to take over the entire city, the official said.