Rumsfeld compares US policy on Iraq to Churchill

The US defence secretary has compared the White House’s policy on Saddam Hussein to Winston Churchill’s warnings about Adolf Hitler before the Second World War.

“It was not until each country got attacked that they said: "Maybe Winston Churchill was right. Maybe that lone voice expressing concern about what was happening was right,” Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.

The defence secretary told 3,000 marines at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, that Iraq was a “vicious, dictatorial” regime.

But he declined to add further to what he called the “frenzy” of speculation over possible US plans to remove Saddam by force.

“There is discussion, a debate, a dialogue taking place in our country and the world, as it properly should,” he said.

“We do need to take some time and think these things through and consider them. These are important decisions.”

Rumsfeld suggested that waning support from US allies for an invasion would not lessen the resolve of President George Bush’s administration.

“It is less important to have unanimity than it is to be making the right decision and doing the right thing, even though at the outset it may seem lonesome,” he said. “Leadership in the right direction finds followers and supporters.”

Rumsfeld stopped short of the stern language heard on Monday from Vice President Dick Cheney, who called Iraq a “mortal threat” that would only grow stronger if Washington failed to act.