The US Defence Secretary has acknowledged that Iraq is no safer today than it was immediately after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein more than two years ago.
When asked in a BBC television interview if Iraq was a safer place since the end of Saddam's rule, Donald Rumsfeld replied: 'Well, statistically no. But clearly it has been getting better as we've gone along.'
Describing the period after the end of the conflict, Mr Rumsfeld said: 'The insurgency then built over a period of time, and it has had its ups and downs.'
He added that 'a lot of bad things that could have happened have not happened'.
Mr Rumsfeld also accused Syria and Iran of being partly to blame for the levels of violence in the country.
In particular, he said, Syria was not doing enough to prevent insurgents crossing its border into Iraq.
