"Planes are already landing at the Baghdad airport. They're already going in," Rumsfeld said.

The defense secretary dismissed reports of a humanitarian crisis in Iraq.

"The humanitarian problem occurred under the Saddam Hussein regime for decades.

"What's happening now is that humanitarian assistance is coming in. That doesn't mean that the situation is worse, it means that it's better," he said.

"I can't see why the humanitarian situation would grow drastically, quite the contrary," he said.

"The humanitarian problem occurred under the Saddam Hussein regime for a decade.

"The circumstances of those people has been terrible. They have been denied all kinds of things because he was unwilling to cooperate with the United Nations," Rumsfeld said.

SPACE.WIRE