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Rumsfeld: U.S. to Stay the Course in Iraq

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld calls Sunday's deaths of 16 servicemen in the downing of a U.S. helicopter "tragic," but says "in a long hard war, we are going to have tragic days as this." U.S. military officials believe the transport helicopter was likely downed by a shoulder-fired missile. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports.

Copyright 2003 NPR

Eric Westervelt is a San Francisco-based correspondent for NPR's National Desk. He has reported on major events for the network from wars and revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa to historic wildfires and terrorist attacks in the U.S.
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