The US military reported the deaths of five more soldiers as new Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up a two-day visit today aimed at finding a new strategy in a war he has said America is not winning.
Four US servicemen were killed in action yesterday in the restive Anbar province, heartland of the unrelenting Sunni insurgency against US forces and the Iraqi government and the most dangerous place in Iraq for American soldiers.
A fifth was killed and another wounded west of Baghdad today when their patrol came under machinegun and mortar fire, the military said.
The deaths brought the total US death toll in Iraq to 2,960, creeping closer to the 3,000 mark and adding more pressure on US President George W. Bush to find a strategy that will allow the eventual withdrawal of 135,000 US troops.
Mr Bush has said he will announce a new strategy in January after listening to the advice of his military commanders, State Department officials, Iraqi leaders and Mr Gates, who said he would report back to the president this weekend.
Mr Gates said whatever strategy was decided, the Shia-led Iraqi government must take the lead in curbing sectarian violence between minority Sunnis and majority Shias that has killed thousands of Iraqis, many in the Iraqi capital.
"The situation in Baghdad is obviously difficult. Clearly success will only be achieved by a joint effort with Iraqis taking the lead," he told reporters. Gates said Iraqi leaders had concrete plans to reduce violence in Baghdad and target militias, who are blamed for fuelling the tit-for-tat violence, but implementation details still needed to be worked out.
"They do have some concrete plans in mind, and putting flesh on those bones is exactly what General Casey and his team and the Iraqis will be doing in the days ahead," he said, referring to the US commander in Iraq, General George Casey.
Critics of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have accused him of doing little to rein in the militias, which are tied to parties within his ruling Shia alliance, despite making repeated promises since taking office to act against them.
The Pentagon said this week that the Mehdi Army militia of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had overtaken Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda as the greatest threat to Iraq's stability. Sadr's supporters say it is a "peaceful army" for self-defence only and does not launch revenge attacks against Sunni Arabs.