US: White House sets markers for Iraqi government on security, writes Denis Staunton in Washington
The White House has said it has identified "milestones" to measure the Iraqi government's progress in taking responsibility for security but denied issuing ultimatums or setting a timetable for progress.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the Iraqi government must take more responsibility for security and that the US had been working with Iraq for months on goals and milestones.
"There is still a very large to-do list before Iraq is in a position to sustain government and defend itself. Are we issuing ultimatums? No," he said.
Mr Snow said Washington and Baghdad agreed that the Iraqi government must do more to address sectarian violence and confront the militias responsible for much of it.
"We're working collaboratively with them to figure out how best to do it. They've got more incentive than we do. The casualties on the Iraqi side are higher than they are on the British or the American side."
At least 44 Iraqis were reported killed across the country on Sunday and the US military announced the deaths of a marine and seven soldiers, bringing to 86 the number of American service personnel killed in Iraq in October - the highest monthly toll this year.
White House counsellor Dan Bartlett said the administration was flexible in its policy towards Iraq but he ruled out setting a timetable for withdrawing US soldiers, arguing that such a move would embolden terrorists.
"That's something the president is not going to accept," he said.
Alberto Fernandez, a senior state department official who said the US had shown arrogance and stupidity in its occupation of Iraq, has apologised for the remarks.
"Upon reading the transcript . . . I realised I seriously misspoke by using the phrase 'there has been arrogance and stupidity' by the US in Iraq. This represents neither my views nor those of the State Department. I apologise," he said.
The war in Iraq threatens to rob Republicans of their majority in Congress next month, as voters punish the party's candidates for an increasingly unpopular war.
A number of Republican candidates in close fights have distanced themselves from the administration's policy on Iraq, calling for new ideas to deal with the conflict there.
The administration is widely expected to change course in Iraq after the elections, when the bipartisan Iraq study group will present recommendations for the country's future.
The White House has already ruled out a partition of Iraq into Sunni, Shia and Kurdish states and has said there will be no phased withdrawal of US troops.
The Iraq study group is reported to be considering proposals for a regional conference of Iraq's neighbours, including Iran and Syria.
Senator Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the foreign relations committee, said yesterday that Washington must make clear that the US will not stand for any more of its soldiers' lives and its taxpayers' money being "poured down a rathole" in an Iraqi civil war.
"It's our blood and treasure . . . We should tell them now, 'get a political settlement, or you're on your own, Jack'," he said.