Mosul, Iraq ? In a festively bedecked dining hall, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld served Christmas Eve dinner to dozens of U.S. soldiers, then fed them his view – with a mix of optimism, caution and emotion – of why the war that has cost more than 2,150 U.S. lives must be won.

“We will win this war. It’s a test of wills, and let there be no doubt that is what it is,” he said. Rumsfeld told the troops that “generations before you have persevered and prevailed, and they too were engaged in a test of wills.”

“In this fight, the vast majority of Iraqis stand on the side of freedom,” he said over the roar of helicopters flying over a regional U.S. military headquarters that once was a palace of Saddam Hussein.

Rumsfeld, winding up a five-day trip that began in Pakistan and included stops in Afghanistan and Jordan, said the battle for Iraq is part of the wider global war on terrorism, which he called “this long war against terrorism and it will be a long war.”

Repeating a theme he struck throughout his visit, Rumsfeld cautioned against an early exit from Iraq. He said that giving up would mean allowing terrorists to impose “their dark vision on the rest of the world.

“Let there be no doubt: if the United States were to withdraw from Iraq today, the terrorists emboldened by their victory would attack us elsewhere in the region and at home in the United States,” he said.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld serves Christmas dinner Saturday to soldiers in Mosul, Iraq. Rumsfeld is in Iraq to thank the troops for their service.

With an emotion that sometimes creeps into his voice when he talks about the human cost of the Iraq war, Rumsfeld said the Christmas season was a time to remember those who have been lost in combat

“You folks have helped liberate some 25 million people for whom hope was never there before,” he said.

Before he spoke, Rumsfeld helped serve the soldiers a dinner of rib-eye steak, lobster, crab legs, Cornish game hens and all the seasonal fixings. Grinning widely and wearing a white cooks hat, he worked his tongs as many of the soldiers snapped pictures of him and politely asked for their helpings.

“Steak’s the big seller tonight,” he declared after the first several dozen soldiers had gone through the line.

It was the second straight year that Rumsfeld served Christmas Eve dinner to troops in Iraq.

Last year it was in Baghdad at a time of hope that the election of an interim government in January would deal a heavy blow to the insurgency, which nonetheless remained resilient and deadly throughout 2005.

On his current visit, Rumsfeld and senior military commanders appeared even more optimistic that Iraqi progress on the political front will soon translate to greater success in neutralizing, if not defeating, the insurgency.

Lt. Gen. John Vines, commander of Multinational Corps-Iraq, told reporters Saturday in Baghdad that there is no hard assurance that the Iraqis will manage the transition without collapsing into civil war, although he is optimistic. He said it may take 30 days or more before he can judge whether the Iraqis are putting together a truly representative and viable government, based on the constitution that voters approved Oct. 15.