Another terror attack in Iraq. With fury from the Islamic world at its height due to American abuse to Iraqi prisoners, there was another car bomb blast around the “Green Zone,” where residences for allied forces are located, killing one American and six Iraqis and injuring 13 people. Outraged Civic Group Demand Scrapping of Troop Dispach Plan Abusing Iraqi POWs is a War Crime Korean Troop Deployment to Iraq Likely Delayed

In an interview with NPR, Rumsfeld was asked if the U.S. had plans to remove troops from Korea or other hot spots in order to put additional forces in Iraq. The defense secretary answered that the U.S. would look for the troops to send to Iraq in the most appropriate places. He also made it clear that deterrence wouldn't be weakened in any part of the world.

Rumsfeld was then asked if the additional men would come specifically from Korea, to which he answered that he hadn't said where those troops would come from. If the U.S. takes troops from one region in the world, he said, some people would be taken back, believing that deterrence has been weakened. The U.S., however, would take other measures to ensure that deterrence in the particular region was not weakened, he said.

About this, Ban Ki-moon said during a regular briefing Thursday that, "The issue of deploying USFK abroad is a matter, naturally, to be discussed between the U.S. and Korea. Up till now, there have yet to be any discussions on this issue." He said, "The U.S. defense department said it has plans to ship additional troops to Iraq in order to keep troops levels there at 138,000... In his interview with NPR, Secretary Rumsfeld, concerning whether he would redeploy troops from other regions abroad to Iraq, answered that the aim is not to harm deterrence in any relevant region."

(Lee Ha-won, may2@chosun.com )