Rumsfeld Bests Critics to Steer Same Course in Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is under fire from U.S. troops in Iraq but has bested conservative critics at home to reinforce the message that U.S. Iraq policy is on a correct course.

Critics from the neo-conservative faction in the Republican Party had wanted Rumsfeld's head but lost out because there was no good alternative and because America was at war, officials and analysts say.

"We're a nation at war and he's the right man for the job. The president didn't want to change horse in midstream. He's happy with the job he has done," a White House official said.

Less than a week after President Bush announced he would keep Rumsfeld in his second term Cabinet, the outspoken 72-year-old Pentagon chief reprised his role as a lightening rod for critics of the war.

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