Rumsfeld en Route to Middle East
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is en route to the Middle East. Details of his itinerary are being kept secret, but Defense officials say Rumsfeld will visit Iraq and Afghanistan. Patty Davis is at the Pentagon with more -- Patty.</s>PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kelli, the reason why U.S. military officials are not giving out the details of Rumsfeld's itinerary, they say security concerns. That region still volatile with that war now winding down. But we do know, as you said that the Defense Secretary will visit Afghanistan and Iraq. He visited Iraq to thank troops, we're told, also to thank U.S. military commanders there. He will also meet with leaders in the Persian Gulf to talk about the future of U.S. military presence in that region, now that Iraq is basically no longer a threat. Now the Defense Secretary stressed that his trip is no victory lap.</s>DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: One ought not to think of this as a victory tour. It isn't. We've got a lot of hard work left. People are still being shot at, and in some cases, killed, wounded. And the task before us in Iraq is clearly a -- one that's going to a lot of attention, a lot of focus, and a lot of effort over a period of time.</s>DAVIS: And hazards do continue for U.S. troops in Iraq. Yesterday, U.S. Central Command is now saying one U.S. soldier killed, another injured when two Bradley fighting vehicles overturned and come up to a checkpoint that had recently come under fire in Tikrit. Now that's Saddam Hussein's hometown. Those Bradley fighting vehicles -- one of them rolled over -- two of them rolled over. One soldier killed, another injured. That checkpoint, as I said, had recently come under fire there. They were there to assist with the other soldiers at that checkpoint. And CENTCOM says it is investigating that incident -- Kelli.</s>ARENA: Patty, a sobering reminder that hostilities are far from over there. Thank you for that report. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com