Petreaus press conference (video)

"General Petraeus repeatedly stressed the long-term nature of the troop increase.
. . . He said there were no 'looming' requests for additional troops and that he had not yet taken a position on an assessment by the second-ranking commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, that the greatly enlarged American force remain until February 2008.
But he added, 'If you’re going to achieve the kinds of effects that we probably need, it would need to be sustained certainly for some time well beyond the summer.'
Military officials in Iraq have indicated that they would need a large American troop presence for at least a year and probably far longer to achieve lasting stability. For now, Congress seems persuaded to give General Petraeus’s strategy a year to yield results, setting the summer of 2008 as a deadline for the return of all troops.
General Petraeus’s open-ended strategy appeared to be an effort to avoid a repeat of the pattern that has doomed past American efforts to halt the insurgency. In hot spots including Tal Afar and Diyala, United States soldiers have cracked down on insurgents and then reduced the American presence only to see insurgents retake old ground." [1]

Q: "A number of people that we spoke to yesterday were lamenting the fact that Mahdi Army wasn't there to help. That in the past, security has been much better for the pilgrims. . . . Do you think that there is role for Mahdi Army in this sort of manner?
. . . GEN. PETRAEUS: Well, you know, ultimately, that's a question for -- truly for the Iraqi government, for its authorities and certainly its security force leaders.
You know, many of our -- of the coalition countries have a variety of auxiliary police or other functions. The challenge, of course, is that some of these organizations have participated in true excesses, and they have been responsible, some of them, some the extremist elements of them -- and I think that the challenge has been to determine, you know, how do you incorporate those who want to serve a positive -- in a positive way, and as neighborhood watches, let's say, but unarmed in our own communities, but without turning into something much more than that?
. . . I must tell you that I was taken aback by what I saw in driving around Ghazalia, parts of Adhamiya, parts of Mansour, parts of East Rashid, the Dura area and so forth. And some of that certainly, clearly, is the result of extremist sectarian militias. And I think that is the concern about employing them." [2]

Gen. Petraeus also said, "I was heartened by what I saw in Ramadi, by what I've heard described about in Hit, where again Anbaris, the members of those tribes, have said, enough, and have banded together, raised their hand, joined the police forces and in fact are standing and fighting against al Qaeda Iraq. And you can start to see, by the way, for what it's worth, an identity emerging among them that is, again, very heartening to someone who has been here since the beginning off and on and watched things go up and down in Anbar province -- frankly, mostly down during a variety of periods. So that's, again, a very, very interesting development in that regard." [2]

source
[1] Oppel, Richard A. Jr. (The New York Times). New U.S. Commander in Iraq Won’t Rule Out Need for Added Troops. March 9, 2007.
[2] Federal News Service. Multinational force Iraq press conference with General David Petraeus, U.S. Army, Commanding General. MNF-1. March 8, 2007. (no link).

video source
The Pentagon Channel. Gen. David Petraeus. March 8, 2007. (enter "petraeus" in search box).

posting: monday, march 12, 2007, 5:32 AM ET
update: monday, march 13, 2007, 9:52 PM ET

tags: iraq petraeus mahdi army video press conference

Sadr's militia targets Sunnis in Baghdad's mixed neighborhoods; some Shiites coming to support targeting

"The strengthening role of Sadr's Mahdi Army presents a disturbing window onto the possible path of this war. While they claim to be only targeting the "deserving" and are acting to protect their coreligionists, more and more the militia is taking a lead role in the sectarian battle unfolding daily on the ground in Baghdad.
"Some of us told them that our Sunni neighbors aren't terrorists, they should be left alone," says a Shiite man, who asked that his name not be used, estimating that five Sunni families have left his street in the past week. "They wouldn't listen - and some Shiites are now saying the solution is to drive the Sunnis out."
Evidence on the ground shows that militia groups have grown stronger since the current government took power early this year. While US advisory groups, such as the Iraq Study Group, are calling for mediation and reconciliation, street-level combatants seem determined to kill as many representatives of the other side as possible.
. . . 'Originally, months ago, the problem in the neighborhood was between two tribes - the Jiburi and the Maksosy,' says Wissam Hamed, who lives in Hurriyah. 'But the problem is the Jiburi are Sunnis and the Maksosy, Shiites. It became about religion pretty quickly.' "

source
The Christian Science Monitor. Iraq battle lines fracture mixed neighborhoods. December 13, 2006.

posting: thursday, december 14, 2006, 5:09 PM ET