On his part, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld cited progress on several fronts in the Bush administration's global waron terrorism and said U.S. enemies should not underestimatethe willingness of the American people and its coalitionallies to suffer casualties in Iraq and elsewhere. "The progress has prompted a backlash, in effect, fromthose who hope that at some point we might conclude thatthe pain and the cost of this fight isn't worth it," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference. "Well, our enemies have underestimated our country, ourcoalition. They have failed to understand the character of our people. And they certainly misread our commander in chief."--MORE1425 Local Time 1125 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/199361