IRAQ:The surge of US troop numbers in Iraq has failed to reduce the level of violence, as attacks have moved away from Baghdad and Anbar province to areas with a sparser American presence, said a Pentagon report. Suicide attacks more than doubled - from 26 in January to 58 in April - and civilian casualties have risen to more than 100 a day.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Harry Reid said the report showed that President George Bush's strategy in Iraq was not working. "As many had foreseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results," the two leaders wrote.
"The increase in US forces has had little impact in curbing the violence or fostering political reconciliation. It has not enhanced America's national security. The unsettling reality is that instances of violence against Iraqis remain high and attacks on US forces have increased. In fact, the last two months of the war were the deadliest to date for US troops," they said in a letter to the president.
David Petraeus, the top US general in Iraq, warned yesterday that this week's bombing of a Shia shrine at Samarra could unleash a new wave of sectarian killing. He said increased US patrols had helped to reduce sectarian violence in Baghdad after a brief rise in May. "But candidly, we're going to have to see what the impact of this tragedy in Samarra is on that," he said.
Two out of three Americans believe the Iraq war was not worth fighting and more than half want US troops to be withdrawn. Only one in three supports the decision to send almost 30,000 extra troops to Iraq.
The United Nations Security Council agreed this week to an Iraqi request to extend the mandate of the US-led multinational force after the country's foreign minister said the troops were "vitally necessary". Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari told the council that despite the violence his government has made "tremendous strides" towards creating a self-sufficient Iraqi national security force".
"While Iraqis will always be grateful for their liberation from an absolute despot, no Iraqi government official, indeed no Iraqi citizen, wants the presence of foreign troops on Iraqi soil one day longer than is vitally necessary. But today, and for the foreseeable months at least, the presence of [ multinational] troops is vitally necessary not only for Iraq but also to safeguard regional security and stability," he said.