Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

General says casualties in Iraq likely to climb

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 27, 2007

WASHINGTON - Echoing the warnings of those who preceded him as commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus said Thursday that the war effort may well get harder before it gets easier and American casualties are likely to continue to climb.

Speaking as the Senate was passing legislation to start bringing home U.S. forces in October, Gen. David Petraeus said the war will require "an enormous commitment" by the United States.

In his comments on Thursday, as well as in private briefings to lawmakers a day earlier, according to one lawmaker who was involved, he talked about numerous obstacles to stabilizing the country, including evidence of new assistance going to al-Qaida of Mesopotamia from outside Iraq and what he called "exceedingly unhelpful activities" by Iranian-backed Shiite militants.

Petraeus also said that Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki lacks enough power within his own government to push through measures sought by the United States to try to ease tensions between Shiite and Sunni Arabs.

Although some Democrats in Congress have insisted in recent days that Iraq has grown so unstable that an American pullback would not dramatically worsen the situation, Petraeus disagreed.

"It can get much, much worse," he said. "Right now it's a good bit better, but again I am not trying in any way, shape or form to indicate that this is a satisfactory situation whatsoever."

He called the war "the most complex and challenging I have ever seen" as he painted a somber picture of the coming months.

Information from the New York Times was used in this report.

[Last modified April 27, 2007, 01:34:07]