Rumsfeld avoids fury of homesick troops

IF they had the chance, US soldiers at a base in Iraq would have had one question for US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: ‘When are we going home?’

But he cancelled a speech he was due to give yesterday to them at their base at the palace of 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 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 Major Josslyn Alberle, a spokeswoman for the Fourth Infantry Division headquartered at the palace. Sergeant Green, 40, 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.

Green, who asked not to be identified by her first name, complained she would miss seeing her 16-year-old through her whole school year.

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. He has urged allies to supply some 15,000 additional troops and hopes training Iraqi forces will ease the burden on US troops.