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WT経由AP：戦闘ヘリ撃墜15米兵死亡は悲劇だが必要で状況悪化ではないとラム国防長官
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52957-2003Nov2.html
Rumsfeld Calls Day Tragic, But 'Necessary'
The Associated Press
Sunday, November 2, 2003; 10:35 AM
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday that the deadly downing of a U.S. military helicopter in Iraq was a national tragedy and that those responsible would be defeated.
"It's clearly a tragic day for America ... In a long, hard war, we're going to have tragic days," Rumsfeld said. "But they're necessary. They're part of a war that's difficult and complicated."
President Bush, who was spending the weekend at his Texas ranch, was told by his staff about the shootdown and was receiving updates as required, a White House spokesman said.
A Chinook helicopter was struck by a missile and crashed west of Baghdad, killing 15 soldiers and wounding more than 21, the U.S. command and witnesses reported. "What it was is a bad day, a bad day," Rumsfeld.
It was the deadliest single strike against American troops since the start of war.
"In a war, there are going to be days like that. And it is necessary that we recognize that," the Pentagon chief told "Fox News Sunday."
"There are going to be days where large numbers of people ... are killed. That's what war is about. Is it deteriorating in general? No, it's not," Rumsfeld said.
He said the United States has no hard evidence that ousted President Saddam Hussein is coordinating the recent deadly attacks against American troops that U.S. commanders have attributed to a burgeoning Iraqi insurgency.
"The fact that he's not been captured or killed is important," Rumsfeld told ABC's "This Week."
"His regime was so vicious and did so many horrible things to people that people are frightened. They're frightened he could come back. He's not coming back, but until he's dead or captured, there is that concern."
Rumsfeld blamed different elements for the surge in violence against the American occupation.
"We know why they're doing it," Rumsfeld said. "There are criminals in that country who will do things for money. There are foreign terrorists in that country ... who have come back in from Iran and are trying to kill people. And there are the remnants of the Baathist regime. And they want to take that country back, and they're not going to. They're not going to come close to taking that country back.
"And they are the ones who want to have the kind of a dictatorship that Saddam Hussein had."
Witnesses said they saw two missiles fired at the heavy transport copter. The missiles flashed toward the helicopter from behind, as usual with heat-seeking shoulder-fired missiles such as the Russian-made SA-7. The old Iraqi army had a large inventory of SA-7s, also known as Strelas.
"The people who are firing off these surface-to-air missiles are the same people who are killing Iraqis ... and they're going to be beaten eventually," Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld discussed the prevalence of such missiles in postwar Iraq.
"We all know that these so-called man portable surface-to-air missiles are widely available in the world and do have the ability to shoot down aircraft and helicopters, and from time to time it happens in various locations," the secretary said.
Rumsfeld said there were "enormous numbers" of such missiles still in Iraq. "Have to be more than hundreds," he said. "There are weapon caches all over that country. They were using schools, hospitals, mosques to hide weapons."
Referring to the dead and injured, he told NBC's "Meet the Press" that "what they're doing is important. What they are doing is taking the battle to the terrorists."
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