In Surprise Visit to Baghdad, Rumsfeld Prods Iraqi Leaders

By ERIC SCHMITT, The New York Times, Published: July 27, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 27 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged Iraqi political leaders today to settle their differences and agree on a new constitution quickly, and to exert more influence with Syria and Iran to force them to end support for the insurgency here.
Speaking to reporters en route to an unannounced visit here, Mr. Rumsfeld laid out a remarkably blunt prescription for what Iraqi leaders must do in the coming weeks and months to ensure that a stable, secure and popularly elected government survives, and to allow American troops to begin to withdraw.
Mr. Rumsfeld declined to say when conditions would permit that drawdown to start. But the top American commander here, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., reaffirmed to reporters his statement in March that the Pentagon will be able to make "some fairly substantial reductions" in troops by next spring if the political process remains on track and Iraqi forces assume more responsibility for securing their country.