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WASHINGTON -- The word "Iraq" doesn't appear in former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation letter. Neither does the word "war."

In fact, the deadly and much-criticized conflict that eventually drummed him out of office, comes up only in vague references, such as "a critical time in our history" and "challenging time for our country," in the four-paragraph, 148-word letter he wrote to President Bush a day before the Nov. 7, 2006 election.

According to a stamp on the letter, Bush's office acknowledged receipt the next day, as voters were going to the polls. Bush announced Rumsfeld's departure a day later, after the massive anti-war vote that swept Democrats into control of the House and Senate.

The elusive letter - which the Pentagon denied existed as recently as April - surfaced this week in response to multiple Freedom of Information Act requests by The Associated Press.

But it sheds no light on why Rumsfeld believed he should leave his post after directing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for nearly five years.

Instead Rumsfeld, in his last paragraph, says only, "It is time to conclude my service."

The former secretary - who took on the job at Bush's request in early 2001 - talks more about the honor Rumsfeld felt in serving.

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"It has been the highest honor of my long life to have been able to serve our country at such a critical time on our history and to have had the privilege of working so closely with the truly amazing young men and women in uniform," Rumsfeld wrote.

A request for the resignation letter, submitted last Nov. 13, was finally answered in April. At that time, Will Kammer, chief of the Pentagon's Office of Information, said that a thorough search of the records "revealed no records responsive to your request." A second request was submitted.

The Pentagon had no answer for why the letter suddenly surfaced this week.

Asked why Bush decided to wait until after the election to announce the resignation, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Wednesday that Bush wanted to avoid "the appearance of trying to make this a political decision."

© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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