Then-US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, center, presents a medal of valor to Sgt. Kenneth Stover, left, as soldiers watch from a rooftop during a medal ceremony in Khandahar, Afghanistan, December 22, 2005.
Rumsfeld said a rapid withdrawal of US forces from Iraq or Afghanistan would spawn more terrorism in the region and raise the risk of attacks on the US. Addressing US troops on the second day of a visit to Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said, "there are some in Washington who are questioning why our country is fighting this difficult war on terror half a world away."