"We do feel an obligation to assist in providing security and the coalition forces are doing that. They're patrolling in various cities where they see looting. They're stopping it. And they will be doing so," he said.

In the longer term, Rumsfeld stressed the necessity to hand over responsibility for security to local people.

"The second step, of course, is not to do that on a permanent basis but rather to find Iraqis who can assist in providing police support in those cities...we're in the process of doing this," he said, adding that the looting was an unfortunate but temporary consequence of a people emerging from the repression of a dictatorial regime.

"While no one condones looting, on the other hand, one can understand the pent up feeling that may result from decades of repression," he said.

Several Iraqi cities, most notably Baghdad, have been the scene of widespread looting in the past three days.

SPACE.WIRE