Iraq security gains 'fragile'

2008-04-08 18:09

Washington - The top US commander in Iraq told Congress on Tuesday that security gains in Iraq were "fragile and reversible" in a long-awaited progress report about the results of a year-old US troop build-up.

Despite an improvement in security in parts of Iraq, General David Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee: "Nonetheless, the situation in certain areas is still unsatisfactory and innumerable challenges remain.

"Moreover, as events in the past two weeks have reminded us, and as I have repeatedly cautioned, the progress made since last spring is fragile and reversible."

All three contenders for the US presidency were among the senators expected to question Petraeus, who said a process of withdrawing US combat troops from Iraq would be suspended after July for 45 days to allow commanders to evaluate the security situation.

"I recommended to my chain of command that we continue the drawdown of the surge combat forces and that, upon the withdrawal of the last surge brigade combat team in July, we undertake a 45-day period of consolidation and evaluation" Petraeus said in his written testimony to a Senate panel.

20 000 troops to be withdrawn

The United States is withdrawing about 20 000 troops after a US "surge" of force last year.

Petraeus and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker immediately faced a blistering denunciation of US policy in Iraq from the committee chairperson, Michigan Democratic Senator Carl Levin, in a hearing room packed with news media and onlookers.

Petraeus' plan to interrupt the US troop withdrawals, said Levin, would simply be "the next page in a war plan with no exit strategy".

That decision, made as rising violence threatens to unwind gains made last year, could leave more than 130 000 US troops in Iraq through to the end of President George W Bush's term.

Levin said even the small political steps taken by the Iraqi government were in jeopardy because of the "incompetence and the excessively sectarian leadership" of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Real success 'in sight'

Arizona Senator John McCain, who has clinched the Republican presidential nomination for president, said he saw a genuine prospect of success in Iraq and warned that defeat could require US troops to return in a broader war.

"We're no longer staring into the abyss of defeat and we can now look ahead to the genuine process of success," McCain said.

In testimony over two days, Petraeus and Crocker will assess the uneven progress made in a year-long "surge" of force meant to create the calm for Iraqi politicians to advance legislation and factions to reconcile.

An increase in violence - including the deaths of 11 American service personnel in the past 48 hours - has thrust Iraq back to the forefront of campaigns for the November presidential election.

The US now has 160 000 troops in Iraq. Under plans announced last year, the Pentagon is pulling five combat brigades - or about 20 000 troops - out by mid-July, bringing the force level down to what it was before the surge.

- Reuters