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A tragic day for America: Rumsfeld

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington Nov. 2. The U.S. Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has said that the downing of a U.S. helicopter in Iraq killing at least 15 soldiers is a "tragedy" but has refused to acknowledge the latest strike as any kind of growing resolve against occupation forces.

The top Pentagon civilian official had on several talk shows been not only giving his views on the ground situation in Iraq but also defending the overall thrusts of American policy on that country.

"It's clearly a tragic day for America . . . In a long hard war, we're going to have tragic days. But they are necessary. They're part of a war that's difficult and complicated," Mr. Rumsfeld said.

The President, George W. Bush, is at his Crawford Ranch in Texas and was informed about the attack by his staff. The White House has said that Mr. Bush is receiving updates. The attack on the Chinook helicopter by a missile has been characterised here as the deadliest single strike on American troops since the start of the war.

Americans' disapproval

The news of the shooting down of the helicopter in Iraq comes when a latest poll of ABC News-Washington Post is showing that for the first time Americans are disapproving of the fashion in which Mr. Bush is handling Iraq.

A majority of 51 per cent of Americans disapprove of Mr. Bush's Iraq policy while 47 per cent support it; and 62 per cent of those polled — a new high — have said that the casualties rate is unacceptable.

What should be a further eye-opener to the White House is that 54 per cent of Americans believe that the war in Iraq is worth fighting for — down from 70 per cent in April.

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