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Violence in Iraq as Rumsfeld gives troops pep talk

Deadly attacks kill 12, including U.S. soldier

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Twelve people -- including Iraqi police and soldiers, ministry employees, civilians and a U.S. soldier -- were killed in several insurgent attacks in Iraq on Saturday, police and military officials said.

The violence came as U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld served up meals and a pep talk to U.S. troops well to the north in Mosul.

"You and our country will prevail," he said.

The U.S. military said a soldier with the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade died Saturday of wounds from a rocket-propelled grenade attack near Hawija.

The fatality brings the number of U.S. troops who have died in the Iraq war to 2,164.

In Baquba, three police officers were killed when a bomb on a parked motorcycle went off, the U.S. military said. The officers died as they responded to a checkpoint gunfight that left three other officers wounded.

A fourth police officer and five civilians were hurt in the blast.

Eight die in Baghdad

Five scattered attacks claimed eight lives Saturday morning in Baghdad. Three Health Ministry employees, two civilians, a security guard and two Iraqi soldiers were the victims.

Dozens of miles from the insurgent violence, Rumsfeld told the troops to shrug off any misgivings about the U.S.-led mission in Iraq.

"There have always been those who have suggested the cause could not be successful, that the cause would be lost," he said. "And in fact it was the people who persevered that proved them wrong."

Rumsfeld told the soldiers that "the great sweep of human history is for freedom, and we're on the side of freedom. And you and our country will prevail."

Leaders make holiday visits to Iraq

Along with other coalition leaders and officials, Rumsfeld chose to visit Iraq during the Christmas season, using the opportunity to motivate the troops. The British and Polish prime ministers this week also made visits to their countries' troops in Iraq.

Rumsfeld praised the Iraqi embrace of the post-Saddam Hussein era. He praised the participation of millions in last week's elections, the growth of businesses and institutions such as schools, and the development of a new Iraqi military.

U.S. troops assisted in creating such an environment, he said, helping "to liberate 25 million human beings, people that did not have hope before."

But Rumsfeld warned that the troops are in for "a long war against terrorists and violent extremists, and it will be a long war, no doubt about it."

Conflict 'a test of wills'

He called the conflict "a test of wills" and predicted victory. He said previous generations of Americans have also prevailed against U.S. adversaries.

The previous day, Rumsfeld announced before troops in Falluja that President Bush has authorized a reduction in U.S. combat troops in Iraq.

U.S. combat brigades in Iraq will be reduced from 17 to 15, he said.

The U.S. military has said one brigade -- the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division -- will not be deployed to Iraq as scheduled. A second brigade scheduled to deploy to Iraq -- the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division -- will remain in Kuwait as a "call forward" force for support if necessary.

About 3,500 soldiers are in each brigade, the military said.

Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, issued a joint statement praising the move.

"This adjustment is an indication of the remarkable progress Iraq is making," the statement said. "It clearly demonstrates the dramatic increase in capabilities of the Iraqi security forces. This move would not have been possible without the dedication, bravery and sacrifice of your Iraqi security forces."

Casey said Friday that the Iraqi forces, which number about 200,000, are continuing to grow and gain independence.

Voting complaints probed

Meanwhile, Iraqi and U.N. electoral officials are examining allegations of fraud in the December 15 parliamentary elections, a U.S. diplomat said Friday.

Results of the parliamentary vote have prompted great consternation among Sunni Arabs and secular Shiites, prompting street protests in several cities, including Baghdad, Tikrit, Ramadi, Samarra and Mosul, according to the Iraq Accord Front, the top Sunni Arab political coalition.

The Accord Front and other Sunni Arab and Shiite groupings dispute the partial results that favor the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite-led, Islamic-oriented coalition that holds sway in Iraq's transitional ruling coalition.

Protesters -- criticizing the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) -- called for a revote under the purview of the United Nations. They said they will urge the boycotting of a new parliamentary government if this isn't done.

News footage showed the chanting demonstrators holding banners and posters of the Iraq Accord Front.

Robert Ford, a political adviser at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, said Friday that the IECI and a U.N. team of advisers are looking into the election complaints.

Ford said the investigation would delay announcing results but added that "it's more important that the results be credible."

Other developments

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey said Saturday that the release this week of 22 Iraqi detainees came because they "no longer posed a security threat ... and, therefore, [we] had no legal basis to hold them any longer." Lt. Col. Barry Johnson told CNN that eight of them are among the same high-value detainees whose releases were publicized earlier this week.

Six suspected insurgents were captured and an ammunition cache seized in Muslakha, the U.S. military said Saturday.

The main U.S. base in Baquba came under rocket and mortar attack Saturday but there were no casualties, the U.S. military said.

A court convicted a Dutch chemicals merchant of war crimes Friday for having provided Saddam Hussein's regime with chemicals used in the mass murder of Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s. Frans van Anraat, 63, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. (Full story)

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