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The US military commander in Iraq is looking for reinforcements while admitting that the war cannot be won without reconciliation with the country's militant groups.
The US Administration announced in January that it was going to send an extra 21,500 troops to Baghdad and Anbar province west of the capital. Since then the Pentagon has said it would send a further 7000 support troops of whom 2200 would be military police to handle an increased number of Iraqi detainees.
General David Petraeus, US commander in Iraq, said military force alone was "not sufficient" to end violence in Iraq and political talks must include anti-US militant groups.
However, in a challenge to the President, the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives this week proposed legislation that would bring US combat troops out of Iraq by August 2008 at the latest.
It is not clear if the White House has a single coherent strategy on Iraq and how far this will change depending on who has the President's ear.
An international conference in Baghdad this weekend will be attended by the US and Iran. "We are waiting to see if the US turns up visibly holding its nose or really wants dialogue with Iran," said one Iraqi observer. In the the last couple of weeks the US had reined back on its confrontational rhetoric towards Tehran.
Iran will want to see if the US stance is really changing. The Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his country hoped "the conference will bring forward the end of the presence of foreign forces" in Iraq. The US has accused Iran of funding and supplying the Mehdi Army, the main militia of the majority Shiite community.
Moqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Mehdi Army, has told his militiamen not to confront the US troops entering Shiite areas such as Sadr City. He may calculate that the inability of the US Army and Iraqi government forces to protect Shiites from the bombs of Sunni insurgents - several hundred have died in the last week - will reinforce popular demands for the return of the Shiite militia.
Petraeus admitted the difficulty in protecting Shiite civilians from suicide bomb attacks. This is particularly true at the moment when the roads in Shiite districts are crowded with pilgrims walking to Karbala to mark Arbain, the 40th day of mourning for Imam Hussein, killed in the battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
About 113 pilgrims were killed at a fake aid station in Hillah south of Baghdad on Wednesday.
- Independent
