US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today US troops were still in control of Iraq but warned Iraqi pilgrims that holy cities were potentially dangerous.
During a Pentagon briefing, Mr Rumsfeld also said the Pentagon may delay the scheduled return home of some of the US troops currently in Iraq in order to buttress US force levels to deal with the current violence. There are currently about 135,000 US troops in Iraq.
"This is an important moment in Iraq's history. The future of the Iraqi people is certainly at stake. So the stakes are high. They're high for Iraq, they're high for the region and indeed they're high for the world," Mr Rumsfeld said.
Mr Rumsfeld said the security situation in Iraq was not spiraling out of control, and added only "relatively small numbers of people" were causing the violence.
He said "there's nothing like an army" or "large elements of hundreds of people trying to overthrow or to change the situation."
"You have a mixture of a small number of terrorists, a small number of militias, coupled with some demonstrations and some lawlessness. It's a serious problem, and the problem's being worked," Mr Rumsfeld said.