General David Petraeus has taken over as the new US military commander in Iraq, warning the country is "doomed to continuing sectarian strife" if the new joint military operation under way in Baghdad fails to halt sectarian violence,- Jazeera reported.
"The stakes are very high," he said at a Baghdad ceremony, as he took command of about 130,000 US troops in Iraq.
"The prospects for success are good. Failing that, Iraq will be doomed to continuing violence and civil strife and surely that is a prospect all must strive to avoid," he said on Saturday.
Petraeus has been appointed to oversee the Bush administration's new strategy in Iraq.
George Bush, the US president, is seeking to send 21,500 extra troops, most of them to Baghdad, to help the government of Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, secure the capital and the western province of Anbar.
Petraeus, a veteran of two tours of Iraq and a counter-insurgency expert, has called for the additional American troops to be deployed as quickly as possible. Thousands of US and Iraqi troops began a security crackdown in the capital earlier this week.
"The rucksack of responsibility is very heavy ... we will all have to share the burden and move forward together," Petraeus told his audience at Camp Victory, a US base on the outskirts of the capital.
During his time as commander of the US 101st Airborne Division in 2003, he won plaudits for working closely with local leaders to improve security in the northern city of Mosul.
He also led the effort to train Iraqi security forces and his counter-insurgency manual emphasises the importance of understanding local politics and culture, two things which could be vital in achieving success.
KC
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