U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in Singapore for a conference with Iraq war allies such as the U.K., Australia and Japan, said the war on terrorism is closer to the beginning than the end.
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While U.S. military alliances with Southeast Asian countries are strong and the country is committed to its presence in Asia, no area in the world is immune from terrorist attacks, he said. Future threats to the U.S. and other countries will come from small cells and not great powers.
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Defense ministers of U.S. allies at the three-day conference by the International Institute for Strategic Studies include Australia's Robert Hill, Shigeru Ishiba from Japan and the U.K.'s Adam Ingram. Rumsfeld also met Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean. The city-state supported the Iraq war.
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There are 18,000 potential terrorists at large, and recruitment by groups is accelerating because of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said on May 25 in its annual survey.
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