"As long as the juridical situation has not changed, the German government has no plans to take part in a military intervention in Iraq," Struck insisted

BAGHDAD, September 4 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Baghdad Thursday, September 4, on an unannounced visit to discuss calls for more non-American troops in Iraq but there was opposition from France and Germany to a multinational peacekeeping force.

The French and Germans said the U.S.-proposed U.N. resolution on a multinational force in Iraq did not fulfill conditions laid down by the United Nations, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In Strasbourg, French and German defense ministers criticized the draft U.N. resolution shortly after President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had said the U.S. proposal failed to go far enough in insuring a transfer of authority to an Iraqi government.

The draft resolution calls for a multinational security force -- implicitly under U.S. command -- and endorses the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council, but that does not fulfill the conditions proposed by U.N. chief Kofi Annan to give more responsibility to the world body, German Defense Minister Peter Struck and his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie agreed.

"As long as the juridical situation has not changed, the German government has no plans to take part in a military intervention in Iraq," Struck insisted.

After talks in the eastern city of Dresden with Schroeder, Chirac said: "Really, it appears some way from the principal goal which is the transfer of authority to an Iraqi government as soon as possible."

Not American

En route to Baghdad, Rumsfeld underlined the need for more troops in war-ravaged Iraq, but maintained they would not be American.

"The important thing is to move to a big Iraqi force," he told reporters accompanying him to Baghdad, his second trip and one that comes amid growing U.S. alarm over mounting resistance attacks and a spiraling death toll.

The American defense secretary said he met with intelligence officials earlier on the surge of attacks, but that they are not sure of the motives of the attackers or their numbers.

"They have imperfect visibility into it," he said. "They are uncomfortable at the moment with what we don't know."

The Central Intelligence Agency and the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) were working on how to create an Iraqi intelligence capability, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted him as saying.

"The question is how do you do it, who do you use, with what kind of process," Rumsfeld said.

A decision has been made to recruit former Iraqi soldiers from the rank of lieutenant colonel and below for the new army, the core of an accelerated effort to shift the burden for security from the U.S.-led force, Rumsfeld and other officials said.

The goal ultimately is to create a 40,000-member army from the remnants of the Iraqi military, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Within a year we want to have 12,000" in the army, the official said.

As many as 60,000 Iraqis already have been recruited into the security forces, mainly the police but also new civil defense militias, a force to protect infrastructure, border guards and the army, he said.

Rumsfeld was scheduled to meet here with Paul Bremer, the U.S. overseer, and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of the estimated 130,000-140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

The trip came as the United States said it would seek a U.N. mandate for a U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq in an attempt to encourage more countries to provide troops and assistance.

Earlier, Rumsfeld acknowledged the need for more forces to stabilize Iraq, but insisted Iraqis and international forces should be used to beef up security, not more American troops.

"Should the total number go up for security? Yes, I think so." Rumsfeld told reporters traveling with him.

"But I think its going to be on the Iraqi side, and on the international side more than the U.S. side. We already have a very large number there," he said.

Asked how many international troops were needed, he said, "I don't know maybe another division."

An administration official, however, said the goal was three more international divisions.

U.S. officials are hoping Turkey, India and Pakistan will each lead a division.

"They ultimately are going to have to provide the security for that country rather than flooding it with American forces," he said.

Rumsfeld rebuffed questions about how much control the United States was prepared to cede over the military operations, saying that discussions at the United Nations were only beginning.

But he rejected suggestions that the decision to seek a U.N. mandate marked a shift in the U.S. position.

"We're not going it alone. We've got 29 countries involved," he argued.

President George W. Bush has come under intensifying domestic pressure to stem the slide in Iraq with more troops and a larger role for the United Nations, which he has resisted until now.

Rumsfeld denied he was standing in the way of a larger U.S. force, saying he was simply following the professional advice of his commanders that the estimated U.S. troops now in the country are sufficient.

"Some think they are wrong. I think they are right," he said. "I am not resisting anything."

Even if commanders were to ask for more, the U.S. Army is strapped for troops after two wars in two years and the potential of an even more devastating conflict in the Korean peninsula.

A Polish-led international division assumed command from U.S. Marines Wednesday, September 3,  in an area of southern Iraq.

But without a U.N. mandate, Washington has had trouble finding troops for the other divisions that commanders say they need to ease the burden on U.S. forces.