Rumsfeld arrives for surprise Iraq visit
U.S. thinks mess hall bomber wore Iraqi military uniform
 |  Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, the U.S. commander in Mosul, talks Thursday about the attack. |
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 Brig. Gen. Ham on the probe of the Mosul mess tent attack.
 Authorities believe bomber may have worn an Iraqi army vest.
 Mosul, an oil hub, is a flashpoint for ethnic fighting.
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MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived for an unannounced Christmas Eve visit early Friday with U.S. troops at a base in northern Iraq where 22 people died in a suicide bombing earlier in the week.
The secretary, who has been criticized in recent weeks for his stewardship of the Iraq war effort, arrived in Iraq amid tight security, accompanied by media after a 13-hour flight from Washington, D.C.
Rumsfeld landed before dawn at Camp Marez and visited a combat surgical hospital where victims of the bombing were treated. Many of the wounded have since been transferred to a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
Addressing reporters en route to Iraq, Rumsfeld said the purpose of his trip was to wish U.S. troops a Merry Christmas. He also said he had been making plans to visit Iraq prior to Tuesday's bombing, which killed 14 members of the U.S. military and eight others.
President Bush this week said Rumsfeld has his continued confidence. But numerous lawmakers, including several Republicans, have complained that Rumsfeld failed to adequately plan for the occupation of Iraq and equip U.S. troops to battle the insurgency as it spread. (Full story)
At a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, Rumsfeld defended himself and the progress of the war, saying he feels the grief of the families of slain U.S. troops "to my core."
Rumsfeld's trip was reminiscent of a surprise journey Bush took to Baghdad on Thanksgiving 2003. (Full story)
Torso found
On Thursday, Lt. Col. Steven Boylan told CNN a torso found at the scene of Tuesday's blast at the base in Mosul was wearing an Iraqi military uniform, and authorities believe it was the torso of the bomber.
The person may not have been a member of the Iraqi security forces, Boylan said.
Earlier, Brig. Gen Carter Ham, U.S. commander in Mosul, told CNN the attack was likely carried out by a person wearing an Iraqi military uniform and carrying a bomb in a vest.
Ham said the investigation into the deadly attack continues but it appears the bomb was detonated inside the Camp Marez mess hall.
Ham also said that providing security for the planned January 30 elections will be difficult because of existing problems with Iraqi forces.
"I have enough U.S. boots on the ground. I do not have enough Iraqi boots on the ground," he said. "The development of Iraqi security forces has not been as fast as any of us would have liked."
If the investigation concludes that a uniformed Iraqi soldier detonated the bomb, the training process could be further complicated.
The Pentagon is investigating how U.S. forces check the backgrounds of Iraqis who work at U.S. installations.
A military spokesman said Iraqi workers have to show identification to gain entry to American facilities -- but they are not always searched, nor are they always escorted once allowed to enter.
Iraqis were helping in the construction of a permanent mess hall at Camp Marez.
Suicide bombings by insurgents present a security challenge to U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the Pentagon briefing Wednesday.
Myers said Ham "has a very good plan for force protection," but he added: "We have no front lines."
Evidence at the blast site includes components normally associated with bombs. There was no physical evidence of a rocket or mortar, according to a military statement Wednesday.
In addition to the 14 soldiers, the blast Tuesday killed four U.S. civilian contractors, three Iraqi security forces and an unidentified non-American.
Pentagon officials said another 69 people, including 44 soldiers, were wounded in the attack.
Thirty-five soldiers and civilians have been transferred to a U.S. military hospital in Germany for treatment. Nearly half of them are in critical condition, said Col. Rhonda Cornum, commander of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.
Cornum said a "vast majority" of those being treated are expected to recover, and some will likely return to the United States in time for Christmas. (Full story)
Group claims responsibility
Messages on Islamist Web sites said the Iraqi militant group Jaish Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the Mosul strike, calling it a suicide attack carried out by one person. CNN could not confirm the authenticity of the claim.
The group has claimed responsibility for previous attacks, including the beheadings of a Turkish truck driver and a Kurdish official and the slayings of 12 Nepalese hostages. In its statement, it said it shot video of the attack to be released later.
Battle erupts in Falluja
On the first day residents of Falluja were allowed to return to their war-ravaged city, U.S. forces battled a group of insurgents and called in warplanes to bomb them.
A spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said troops came across insurgents holed up in a building at 10:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. ET), and half an hour later a small-arms shoot-out began. The Marines then pulled back and aircraft moved in, dropping ordnance.
There was no immediate word of casualties.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have worked throughout the week to convince Fallujans that their city is safe enough for their return. For three weeks in November the city was the site of a major U.S.-led operation to rout out insurgents.
By mid-afternoon, 500 people had been processed to enter the city, the Marine official said.
Other developments
Three Marines were killed in action in al-Anbar province, west of Baghdad, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force said. No details were immediately available. Since the war began in March 2003, more than 1,300 U.S. troops have died. A U.S. soldier was killed and two others were wounded in a roadside bomb attack in western Baghdad, a U.S. military statement said. The attack took place around 8 a.m. (midnight ET), according to the Combined Press Information Center. Hungary has withdrawn all 300 of its troops from Iraq, the Hungarian Defense Ministry said Thursday. Much of the equipment the Hungarian troops were using, including armored cars, was left behind, but will be shipped out by mid-February, the ministry said. In November, Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said his nation would withdraw the soldiers by March 31.A suspected insurgent was killed Thursday morning as he attempted to plant a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, according to a U.S. military spokesman from the 1st Infantry Division. The bomb detonated prematurely as the insurgent tried to place it in the ground about six miles (10 km) south of Baquba, around 7:35 a.m. (11:35 p.m. ET Wednesday).CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
