The United States urged Iraqi leaders on Tuesday to work harder to achieve key political and security goals, amid mounting pressure on US President George Bush to change his policy.
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told a news conference in Baghdad that success in Iraq was still possible and could be achieved in a ”realistic timetable”.
Khalilzad said Iraqi leaders had agreed to a timeline of progress on specific issues, including security and the economy.
”Iraqi leaders must step up to achieve key political milestones,” he said. ”Key political forces must make difficult decisions in the coming weeks to reach agreement on a number of issues.”
Khalilzad said there would be occasional setbacks but the central goal of creating a multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian Iraq remained unchanged.
”As we look ahead the question for the US is either we will acquiesce to or defeat the enemies of Iraq,” he said. ”We should not acquiesce but instead make adjustments … and redouble our efforts to succeed.”
Speaking at the same news conference, the top US commander in Iraq, General George Casey, accused Iran and Syria of providing support to armed groups in Iraq, a move he described as ”decidedly unhelpful”.
October is already the deadliest month this year for US troops in Iraq, with at least 86 killed, boosting domestic pressure on Bush before congressional elections in two weeks.
Opinion polls suggest he could lose control of both houses, but he has insisted the US will not leave Iraq ”until we get the job done”.
US military forces were searching for a missing US soldier on Tuesday.
They said the soldier, a translator, may have been abducted. US forces backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters sealed the mixed neighbourhood of Karrada with checkpoints and conducted door-to-door searches.
”We are going to use all available resources — ground forces and aviation assets,” a military spokesperson said.
A poll released by CNN on Monday said one in five Americans believed Washington was winning the war in Iraq, a figure halved since December. A similar number believe insurgents are winning, CNN said on its website. Nearly two thirds oppose the war.
Bush’s closest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, was faced with a new poll on Tuesday that showed more than 60% of Britons want troops pulled out this year.
The ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper found only 30% of Britons supported Blair’s stance that British troops must stay until Iraq can provide its own security. — Reuters