DoD News: DoD News Briefing with Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Casey f= rom the Pentagon

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U.S. Department of Defense=
Office of the Ass= istant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Tra= nscript

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Presenter: Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Commander, Multinational Force = Iraq= , Gen. George Cas= ey

June 22, = 2006

DoD News Briefing with Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Casey from the Pentagon

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Rumsfeld Admits Chemical Weapons Found In Iraq; More to be Discovered....<= /b>

       &n= bsp;   SEC. RUMSFELD: Good afternoon, folks. You may have noticed t= hat General Casey's here with me, and I am very pleased that he's here. General George Casey is, of course, the commanding general of the Multinational For= ce in Iraq. He's going to be able to provide an update on what's taking place over there, our efforts to help the new Iraqi government gain control and assume control over their country's security.

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  =             Q      Mr. Secret= ary, there's been a lot made on Capitol Hill about the chemical weapons that were found and may be quite old. B= ut do you have a real concern of these weapons from Saddam's past perhaps having an impact on U.S. troops who are on the ground in Iraq right now? =

  =             SEC. RUMSFELD: Certainly. What's been= announced is accurate, that there have been hundreds of canisters or weapons of vario= us types found that either currently have sarin in= them or had sarin in them. And = sarin's dangerous. And it's dangerous= to our forces and it's a concern. So, obviously, to the extent we can locate these and destroy them, it's importa= nt that we do so. They are dangerous. And anyone, I'm su= re, General Casey or anyone else in that country, would be concerned if they go= t in the wrong hands. They are weapons of mass destruction. They're harmful to human beings.= And they have been found. And they had not been reported by Saddam Hussein as he inaccurately alleged that he had reported all of his weapons. And they are still being found = and discovered.

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