"US blames Turkey for Iraq chaos
March 22, 2005
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The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has blamed the inability to gain permission to invade Iraq through Turkey for the power of the insurgency that the US now faces.
Mr Rumsfeld said in television appearances marking the second anniversary of the invasion that Iraqi military and intelligence forces in the north of the country melted away to form the insurgency that is now battling US and Iraqi troops.
At least 1520 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war, according to an Associated Press count.
Asked on Sunday what he considered to be the greatest mistake of the war, Mr Rumsfeld told ABC: 'Had we been successful in getting the 4th Infantry Division to come in through Turkey ... I believe that a considerably smaller number of the Baathists and the regime elements would have escaped."
More:US blames Turkey for Iraq chaos - After Saddam - www.smh.com.au
