The new US commander in Iraq has admitted that insurgents have intensified their attacks during the security crackdown in Baghdad, as he warned that there was no military solution to the nation’s bloody conflict.
General David Petraeus, appointed last month to oversee the White House’s fresh plan for Iraq, said that his troops were limited in what they alone could achieve and that some of the militant groups causing violence in the country would have to be engaged in political discussions.
The latest security sweep would take months, during which “sensational attacks” would continue, he said, but there had already been encouraging signs of improvement including a fall in sectarian killings.
In his first press conference since taking command, the General added he saw no immediate need to call for yet more US troops, but that the reinforcements already requested were likely to stay well past the summer months, and would be sent to areas outside Baghdad where militants were regrouping.
One of the key regions will be Diyala province, northeast of the capital, where suspected Sunni extremists fleeing the security operation in Baghdad have been gathering, he said.
Asked about reports that his second in command, General Raymond Odierno, had recommended the additional 21,500 troops would need to stay in Iraq until early 2008, he replied: “I’ve certainly not reached a conclusion yet about that I think you generally think that if you’re going to achieve the kind of effects that we probably need, I would think it would need to be sustained certainly some time well beyond the summer, but again we’ll have to see.
On Tuesday, a senior Pentagon official said the number of US troops needed to carry out the White House's security plan could approach 30,000, significantly more than projected in January.
Essential to ending the conflict, General Petraeus insisted, was identifying militant groups who were “reconcilable” and to bring them into the political process. “Putting Iraq above personal and sectarian agendas will be critical,” he said, warning that such negotiations would “determine in the long run the success of this effort.
“There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq. Military action is necessary to help improve security... but it is not sufficient. There needs to be a political aspect.”
The comments followed three days of unrelenting violence, in which attacks by Sunni insurgents on Shia pilgrims left more than 150 dead and dramatically increased political tensions.
Speaking inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, General Petraeus acknowledged that the nation had witnessed a particularly bloody period of insurgent attacks since coalition and Iraqi forces began their much-vaunted security sweep three weeks ago.
Despite a drop in the number of bodies found shot and dumped around the capital - from around 40 to 50 a day to single digits on some days – there are few signs of a let-up in bombings, with recent attacks including a suicide bombing at a mainly Shia university and an assassination attempt against one of Iraq’s vice presidents.
Of the reinforcements promised by the Pentagon, 17,500 have been pledged to Baghdad. General Petraeus said the full contingent should be in the nation by June, with one army brigades already in place, and another was partially deployed.
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