Mr Rumsfeld raised the possibility of partial elections publicly for the first time on Thursday in a session at the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"Let's say you tried to have an election and you could have it in three quarters or four fifths of the country but some places you couldn't because the violence was too great," he said.

"Well, so be it, nothing is perfect in life, so you have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet." (via the BBC)

Got that, Florida?