Pentagon gives a grim assessment of the situation in Iraq

Washington, Sept 2 (UNI) The Pentagon has given a very disturbing report on the situation in Iraq, saying that killing of civilians has increased sharply, but denied the possibility of a civil war breaking out as a result of the insurgency.

The quarterly report on the situation in Iraq sent to the US Congress yesterday also accuses Iran and Syria of fueling the sectarian strife in Iraq.

Officials also noted that the new Iraqi security forces are loyal to the government. While the report says while the current conditions could lead to a civil war, it claims this can be prevented if the cycle of violence is broken. And that happens to be the goal of the current security operation in Baghdad, the report said, adding that it is having some success, although violence erupted again last weekend and this week.

According to the report, the sectarian militias have considerable support, with many Iraqis seeing them as protectors and providers of essential services. It also said that the sectarian tension and attacks on civilians increased during the summer, in spite of progress toward building the new security forces.

As a result, security problems have become more complex than at any time since the US invasion in 2003, the report said.

Death squads targeting mainly Iraqi civilians are a growing problem, heightening the risk of civil war, the report said.

''Death squads and terrorists are locked in mutually reinforcing cycles of sectarian strife,'' it said, adding that the Sunni-led insurgency ''remains potent and viable'' even as it is overshadowed by the sect-on-sect killing.

''Conditions that could lead to civil war exist in Iraq, specifically in and around Baghdad, and concern about civil war within the Iraqi civilian population has increased in recent months,'' the report said.

The report, required by Congress, is the latest in a series of quarterly reports required by Congress to assess economic, political and security progress in Iraq.

It says the number of weekly attacks by all groups is up by 23-and-a-half per cent, and the number of casualties among Iraqi civilians is up by 51 per cent.

It says much of the violence is in or near Baghdad, but it is spreading and threatens the effectiveness of the Iraqi government.

Assistant Secretary of Defence Peter Rodman says the 'dynamic' of the conflict changed during the last three months, with Al-Qaida and Saddamists becoming less prominent while sectarian violence has grown.

''It's a pretty sober report this time. The last quarter, as you know, it's been rough and the levels of violence are up and the sectarian quality of the violence is particularly acute and disturbing.'' Meanwhile a growing number of Congressmen are calling for either a shift in the Bush administration's Iraq strategy or a timetable for beginning a substantial withdrawal of the American forces.

Although administration and defence officials maintain that the situation is under control, US troop levels have been increased by about 13,000 over the past five weeks, to 140,000, mainly due to increased violence in the Baghdad area.

Reacting to the Pentagon's report, the Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, said the report only confirmed the fact that the Bush administration is ''increasingly disconnected from the facts on the ground in Iraq.'' ''It is time for a new direction to end the war in Iraq, win the war on terror, and give the American people the real security they deserve,'' he said in a statement.

UNI XC SY RK1940