The new US military commander in Iraq said yesterday that American and Iraqi security forces had to stabilise the country in what he called a high-stakes battle, or it would be doomed to more violence.
General David Petraeus, taking command just days after a new crackdown against militants in Baghdad began, said the situation in Iraq was "exceedingly challenging" but not "hopeless".
"We will all have to share the burdens and move forward together. If we can do that, and if we can help the people of Iraq do likewise, then the prospects for success are good," Petraeus said during a ceremony at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces near Baghdad airport, now a US military base.
"Failing that, Iraq will be doomed to continuing violence and civil strife and surely that is a prospect all must strive to avoid ... The stakes are very high."
Petraeus takes charges at a critical time, having been appointed to oversee President George W Bush's new strategy in Iraq, which focuses on halting the daily carnage of suicide bombings and death squad killings on Baghdad's streets.
Thousands of US and Iraqi forces have launched the Baghdad crackdown, seen as the last chance to halt a slide towards all- out civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. The capital is the epicentre of the violence.
Petraeus was speaking after formally taking command of 130,000 US troops from General George Casey, who was confirmed by the Senate this week as the next US Army chief of staff.