But television interviews with the troops, and their wives back home, told a different tale.

"The troops recognize that what they are doing is very important: Helping secure and stabilize Iraq so that it can move towards freedom and democracy," said Scott McClellan, chief spokesman for US President George W. Bush.

"Our troops are making a great sacrifice, and the president is grateful for their sacrifice," he said. "We will continue to make sure they have all the resources and support they need as they do their job."

But morale among US troops interviewed in Iraq by ABC Television was in the dumps.

"If Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was here, I'd ask him for his resignation," said one soldier of the Third Infantry Division based in Fallujah north of Baghdad.

"I don't have any clue as to why we are still in Iraq," said another.

"What was told to us is the fastest way home is through Baghdad," said Sergeant Felipe Vega, who hasn't seen his family in 10 months. "So that's what we did. And now we're still here."

"Well, it makes me lose faith in the army," said Sergeant Terry Gilmore, shortly after telling his wife she wouldn't be seeing him as early as expected.

"I mean, I don't believe anything they told me," he added. "If they told me we were leaving next week, I wouldn't believe it."

The two sergeants' wives, interviewed back home by ABC, expressed similar disgust.

"They have told us by the first of October," said Stacey Gilmore. "But really, we can't even believe in that because they've told us so many different dates so many different times."

"Just send my husband home," said Rhonda Vega. "Send all the soldiers home. I feel they've done the job they were sent to do."

The two sergeants may soon be regretting their comments.

Shortly after they were aired by ABC, General John Abizaid, chief of the US Central Command, warned that public criticism of the US military command would not be tolerated and could be punished.

"None of us that wear this uniform are free to say anything disparaging about the Secretary of Defense or the President of the United States," he told a Pentagon briefing.

"We're not free to do that. It's our professional code. Whatever action may be taken, whether it's a verbal reprimand or something more stringent is up to the commanders on the scene and it's not for me to comment."

Attacks on US forces occupying Iraq have become an almost daily occurrence.

On Wednesday, a US military plane narrowly missed being hit by a surface-to-air missile, and a series of rocket-propelled grenade attacks on US troops in Baghdad killed one soldier and wounded six.

At the White House, McClellan referred specific questions about the impact on morale of the difficult conditions in Iraq -- and the delayed return of some of the more than 147,000 US troops in Iraq -- to the US Defense Department.

The Pentagon has remained committed to restoring stability in Iraq and on Tuesday extended the stay of the Third Infantry Division's 16,000 or so troops.

But military officials said Rumsfeld planned to bring them home between now and the fall, replacing them with other US troops and soldiers from other nations.

"We're making some good, steady progress in Iraq in terms of reconstruction and stabilization and moving towards a democratic Iraq," he said. "Iraqis are starting to take responsibility for their democracy that is coming."

The spokesman reiterated Bush's position that "a free and democratic Iraq will mean a more peaceful and stable Middle East.

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