US: The top US military commander in the Middle East has warned against setting a timetable to withdraw American forces from Iraq and suggested that troop levels may have to be increased temporarily if violence surges.
Gen John Abizaid told the Senate Armed Services Committee that US commanders need flexibility in managing their forces and deciding when to pass responsibility to Iraqis. "Specific timetables limit that flexibility," he said.
Yesterday's hearing was the first on Iraq since last week's Democratic election victory and the resignation of defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld. It came as the bipartisan Iraq Study Group steps up its work on a new approach to US Iraq policy as it prepares to publish a report next month.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that the White House had launched its own internal review of Iraq policy, which is expected to be completed around the same time that the Iraq Study Group reports.
Democratic senator Carl Levin, who will chair the Armed Services Committee from January, said the Bush administration should tell Iraq that US forces would start leaving within months.
"We cannot save the Iraqis from themselves. The only way for Iraqi leaders to squarely face that reality is for President Bush to tell them that the United States will begin a phased redeployment of our forces within four to six months," he said.
Gen Abizaid, who said in August that Iraq was in danger of sliding into civil war as sectarian violence worsened, claimed yesterday that the situation had improved.
"I wouldn't say that we have turned the corner in this regard, but it's not nearly as bad as it was in August," he said.
Despite his opposition to a timetable for withdrawal, Gen Abizaid rejected a proposal by Republican senator John McCain to substantially increase US troop levels in Iraq.
"I believe more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, taking more responsibility for their future," he said.
David Satterfield, the senior State Department adviser on Iraq, told the committee that hope for a united Iraq would crumble if the situation reached the point where ordinary Iraqis believed they were better protected by independent militias than by their own government. He said the Bush administration would oppose any move to partition Iraq.
"Such an outcome in Iraq is unacceptable. It would undermine US national interests in Iraq and in the broader region. And it would lead to a humanitarian disaster for the Iraqi people."
Asked about a proposal that the US should engage with Iran and Syria about the future of Iraq, Mr Satterfield said that Washington was prepared, in principle, to talk to Tehran.
"We are prepared in principle to discuss Iranian activities in Iraq. The timing of such a direct dialogue is one that we still have under review," he said.
Earlier this week, President Bush said that the US would not hold direct talks with Iran until Tehran suspended its uranium enrichment programme.
The Iraq Study Group is widely expected to call for a regional conference on Iraq's future, involving all its neighbours, including Iran and Syria. Britain's former ambassador to the UN, Jeremy Greenstock, suggested this week that such a conference should also include Russia and the EU and should discuss the security of the entire region, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.