Progress in Baghdad will take time-U.S. general
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A U.S.-backed Iraqi security plan seen as a last-ditch attempt to halt violence in Baghdad will not produce results overnight, a U.S. general warned on Sunday, after a one-ton suicide truck bomb killed 135 people.
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The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq said Thursday that a seven-month-old security operation has reduced violence by 50 percent in Baghdad but he acknowledged that civilians were still dying at too high a rate
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President Bush said Tuesday his decision to send more troops to Baghdad is yielding "gradual but important" progress in Iraq. He portrayed himself as steadfast while Democrats squabble over strategy.
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U.S. and Iraqi forces are meeting little resistance as they sweep through Baghdad, a U.S. officer said on Friday, a day after Iraq's president said a Shi'ite militia had ordered its leaders to leave the country.
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BAGHDAD -- Bombings and mortar attacks killed dozens across Baghdad yesterday as Iraqi troops set up new checkpoints and an Iraqi general took command -- indications that the much-awaited operation to restore peace to the capital is gearing up nearly a month after it was announced.
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The next three to four months will be vital to determine if violence in Iraq can be cut further and security maintained with fewer American troops, the number two U.S. military commander in Iraq said on Tuesday.
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President Bush will take weeks rather than months to start making changes in Iraq policy after he receives high-level recommendations on the conduct of the war, his national security adviser said on Thursday.
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HILLA, Iraq  - The top U.S. military commander in Iraq on Thursday promised the truth from a progress report on the country that he will deliver to Washington in September.
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For weeks, U.S. military leaders in Iraq have been saying that security is improving in Baghdad. But the military's Joint Contracting Command is still urging precautions for U.S. contractors working at the Interior Ministry headquarters.
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U.S. experts studying what to do next in Iraq said Tuesday that the next three months are critical and Baghdad's government must make more progress toward controlling the violence and rebuilding the nation.
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The top American general in Iraq said   on Wednesday he foresaw Iraq assuming control of its own   security within 12 to 18 months with "very little" support from   U.S.-led forces.
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A security plan seen as a last-ditch attempt to halt violence in Baghdad will not produce results overnight, a U.S. general warned on Sunday, after a suicide truck bomb killed 135 people.
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The top U.S. general and diplomat in Iraq are expected on Monday to argue against any major decrease in U.S. troop levels for now because this could undercut any progress made under the "surge" of forces into Iraq this year, a U.S. official said on Sunday.
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ADELPHI, Md. - It will take three to five years before Iraq's government is stable enough to operate on its own, according to the former commander of US forces in the Middle East, who said the surge of American forces has not solved the country's broader problems.
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A revised U.S. military plan envisions establishing security at the local level in Baghdad and elsewhere by next summer, it likely would take another year to get Iraqi forces ready to enforce any newfound stability, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
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Iraq's army, despite measurable progress, will be unable to take over internal security from U.S. forces in the next 12 to 18 months and "cannot yet meaningfully contribute to denying terrorists safe haven," according to a report on the Iraqi security forces published today.
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BAGHDAD -- Iraqi security forces will need another year to 18 months before they can take over from American troops, the top US commander in Iraq, General George W. Casey Jr., said yesterday.