The title of the article is Petraeus: No Military Solution to Iraq War, but he began his speech by talking about the positive effect of the military surge in greater Baghdad, and he mentioned that coalition forces have uncovered stockpiles of explosively formed penetrators, 96 weapons caches have been found in Baghdad in just the last two weeks, and two car bomb factories have been destroyed on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Petraeus: No Military Solution to Iraq War
Says Political Action, Reconcilation Also Required to Achieve Peace, Stability
Petraeus made these key points today during his first Baghdad news conference since taking command of US and coalition forces in Iraq last month:
-- There's no immediate need to request more US troops for Iraq beyond those in the pipeline.
-- US forces will reach peak strength in June and will remain at that number "well beyond summer."
-- "Military action is necessary... but it is not sufficient" because Iraqi political action and reconcilation are necessary to achieve peace and stability.
-- "sensational attacks" on US and Iraqi forces will continue, but "there have been a few encouraging signs" of progress -- notably a decrease in sectarian attacks in Baghdad.
-- He felt "shame, horror, and sadness" when he learned of suicide attacks that killed more than 100 Shia pilgrims in Iraq Tuesday, and he called the killers "thugs wih no souls."
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