IRAQ: Iraqi leaders have assured the United States that they will stick to a timetable of measures to curb violence and allow US troops to go home, Washington's top officials in Iraq said yesterday.
Two weeks ahead of US congressional elections, the US ambassador and military commander in Baghdad told voters directly via a rare joint news conference that success was still possible - and on a "realistic timetable".
Gen George Casey, who commands the 140,000 US troops still in Iraq, again forecast that Iraqis would be able to handle most tasks in 12 to 18 months. But he also did not rule out calling in reinforcements in the short term as he adjusted tactics in response to death squad killings and insurgent attacks which have killed 90 Americans this month.
The deaths of three more Americans were announced yesterday and a US military translator of Iraqi descent was feared abducted, prompting a massive search operation.
In Washington, meanwhile, President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said that the Iraqi government needed to move faster to bring stability to the country.
He also predicted that violence at some level would persist beyond the Bush presidency, which ends in January 2009.
Gen Casey said that he was planning unspecified tactical changes to curb the sectarian bloodshed which is claiming hundreds of lives each week, notably in Baghdad, where Shias and Sunnis live side by side. He said that he would ask for more US troops for Iraq, if required, but stressed that this was only one option, adding that US or Iraqi troops within the country could also be moved.