Iraqis will fill US troop withdrawals: Petraeus
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Genral Petraeus says he is confident in the security capabilities of Iraqi troops. (File photo) (AFP: Alex Wong)
US commander General David Petraeus says the impending drawdown of some 30,000 US troops from Iraq will not disrupt the "relentless" pursuit of Al-Qaeda as Iraqis are ready to take their place.
Washington has projected the withdrawal of five units by July, which would bring the number of US troops in Iraq down from 160,000 currently to about 130,000 - the level before a "surge" was launched last February.
Speaking on Wednesday in Owesat village on the banks of the Euphrates, about 25 kilometres south-west of Baghdad near the town of Yusufiyah, Gen Petraeus vowed no quarter would be given in the fight against Osama bin Laden's extremist network, blamed for much of the violence in Iraq.
"We cannot let up - they are much more on the defensive right now than they have been in years and that is where we have to keep them," Washington's top general in Iraq said as he declared the village of Owesat, just months ago a hotbed of Sunni insurgency, now secure.
"This was a small Al Qaeda sanctuary that offered an opportunity to go right across the river and right into Baghdad," he said. "Having this secured is very important to the overall security of the Iraqi capital."
He shrugged off concerns that the US troop withdrawals could see a reversal of gains made in the past six months, when according to US figures, the number of attacks across Iraq has dropped by 62 per cent.
"It is very important to remember that our surge is dwarfed by the Iraqi surge that is taking place," GenPetraeus said on one of his trademark "battlefield" tours, accompanied by a small group of reporters.
"The official Iraqi security forces has increased by something like 110,000 or so in the past year - during which (time) our surge was 30,000," he said.
"There are also 70,000 plus concerned local citizens who are now helping our forces and our Iraqi partners," he added, referring to members of powerful anti-Qaeda fronts being formed across the country by the US military.
The 30,000 US "surge" troops were deployed from February last year in a bid to quell raging sectarian violence that has killed thousands of Iraqis.
According to a Pentagon report last week, the surge has been working, with US forces achieving "significant security progress" in Iraq over the past three months and the number of attacks across the country down 62 per cent.
- AFP
