"What concerns me is that the Iraqi regime is killing more innocent men, women and children in Iraq the last 12 days than collateral damage, and they are doing it systematically," he told a press briefing

He was responding to a question on whether the seven women and children killed by US forces at a highway checkpoint near the town of Najaf on Monday would be damaging to the US image, and particularly to post-war reconstruction efforts.

Washington on Tuesday expressed "regrets" to the families of the seven victims.

The Iraqi regime is "executing people, shooting people crossing the bridge, they use human shields and that concerns me," Rumsfeld said after meeting privately with members of the House and Senate appropriations committees.

SPACE.WIRE