US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made an unannounced visit to
Iraq yesterday to urge Iraqi leaders to take advantage of a lull in
violence to enact measures aimed at reconciling warring
communities.
Gates will also hear from commanders how they plan to maintain
improvements in security, and discuss the long-term role and status
of US forces in Iraq.
"Secretary Gates is here to see for himself the considerable
progress that has been made since his last visit nearly three
months ago," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, traveling
with Gates.
"He will be visiting with Iraqi leaders including Prime Minister
(Nuri al-) Maliki to get their take on the situation and to see
what more they can do to capitalize on the gains that have been
made since the surge of US forces in Iraq."
President George W. Bush sent an extra 30,000 soldiers to Iraq
earlier this year to try to pull the country back from the brink of
all-out sectarian civil war and to give Iraq's leaders "breathing
space" to reach a political accommodation.
With attacks now at their lowest levels in nearly two years,
attention has focused on whether the Shi'ite-led government can
reconcile with disaffected Sunni Arabs, especially as the United
States begins to draw down troops.
A senior US defense official with Gates said the Pentagon chief
was concerned that political progress at the national level was
lagging behind recent gains at the local level.
Maliki's government has made little headway in passing a series
of laws aimed at reassuring Sunni Arabs they will share in Iraq's
oil wealth and political power.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said on Sunday
after a visit to Iraq that the country's leaders must enact laws
aimed at reconciliation or risk a resumption of sectarian
bloodshed.
US military commanders say they are confident they can maintain
gains in security despite the planned withdrawal of more than
20,000 soldiers over the next six to eight months. There are
currently around 160,000 American troops in Iraq.
Gates's first stop, Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad, is the
capital of Nineveh province, one of the regions north of Baghdad
that the military now regard as the most dangerous in Iraq, after
Al-Qaida militants relocated to the area following crackdowns in
the capital and west.
(China Daily December 6, 2007)
