TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq - US troop reinforcements will stay in Iraq until at least June, outgoing coalition commander General George Casey said on Friday, adding that he was pleased with the progress so far of a new US strategy. After meeting visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Casey said recent arrests of suspected death squad leaders showed that Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki was beginning to take the steps he had promised to end the alleged impunity of Shia militias.“So far so good, but as I said, we’ve got a long way to go yet,” Casey told reporters with Gates, on his first Iraq visit since this month’s unveiling of the US change of policy, at his side.
Casey said it would take until about June to see results from the reinforcement of US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad. Only then could decisions be made about how long the 21,500 additional US troops sent to Iraq would stay, he said.
But the US general said there was already evidence that the Iraqi premier was genuine in his determination to crack down on the sectarian bloodletting gripping Iraq, following the arrest of a commander of the Mehdi Army militia of Shia radical leader Moqtada Al Sadr earlier in the day.
“We have had a series of operations against Al Qaeda, against Saddamists and against death squads. And we have picked up five or six death squad leaders in the last two or three or four weeks,” Casey said. “I think it is indicative of the prime minister and the government’s commitment to target all those who break the law.”