"I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won't last any longer than that," he said in an hour-long radio interview for Infinity Broadcasting.

"It won't be a World War III," he added, citing the "vastly more powerful" U.S. forces, compared to 10 years ago during the Persian Gulf War.
Rumsfeld made his comments shortly before Pentagon officials said the United States was having air patrols in the region take into account a small upgrade in Iraq's surface-to-air missile range.

The defense secretary said that a "decision has not been made that war is necessary" to get Iraq's compliance with the latest U.N. resolution calling on Baghdad to disclose its weapons of mass destruction program and disarm.

» Rumsfeld: No World War III in Iraq