BAGHDAD – The leader of U.S. Central Command said he believes sectarian violence in and around Baghdad is the "gravest threat" facing Iraq today.

This is a decisive period in the country, Army Gen. John Abizaid told National Public Radio in a recent interview. "First and foremost we have to stabilize the situation in Baghdad before we need to get overly focused on leaving," Abizaid said.

Baghdad is both the largest city and political center of Iraq. It is also the primary battleground between Shiite and Sunni groups struggling for supremacy in the nation. "The sectarian violence that's taking place in the Baghdad area and up north towards Diyala province is probably the gravest threat to stability that there is in the country right now," Abizaid said.

Officials in Baghdad said there is a tit-for-tat response going on in Baghdad and its environs now, with several revenge killings taking place each day.

Abizaid said the government must demobilize militias.

"If you don't do this, you end up with a situation like you have in Lebanon, where the militia becomes a state within a state," Abizaid said. "It makes the state impotent to be able to deal with security challenges."

For Iraq to be successful, Abizaid said, the country's government must be successful against such groups.

Controlling the security situation in Baghdad is key to security throughout the country.  U.S. and Iraqi officials have agreed to put more troops into the capital. Abizaid and Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq, have discussed Iraq's security environment and the challenge Baghdad presents, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today.

"Obviously, General Casey will position military forces within Iraq where, in his best military judgment and working with the Iraqi government and Iraqi security forces, he feels they are best suited to address that security challenge," Whitman told Pentagon reporters. "These are military matters that are his purview in terms of how he will use the force he has there."

About 127,000 U.S. servicemembers are in Iraq and no plans to bring more troops into the country, Defense Department officials said.

In an effort to quell the violence in Iraq’s capital city, additional U.S. military police will deploy to Baghdad to serve alongside Iraqi law enforcement officers, President Bush said July 25 following a White House meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The move is part of a new strategy to stem stepped up insurgent violence plaguing the city.

"This plan will involve embedding more U.S. military police with Iraqi police units to make them more effective," Bush said in a news briefing.

The reinforcements will be sent to Baghdad in coming weeks from other parts of Iraq, Bush said.

"Our military commanders tell me that this deployment will better reflect the current conditions on the ground in Iraq," he said.

Maliki is in Washington to discuss Iraq strategy with Bush and other senior U.S. officials. He concurred that more U.S. troops are needed in Baghdad.

"We have agreed that building the security and military institutions in Iraq in terms of numbers, equipment, firearms -- and as quickly as possible -- represents the fundamental base in order to stabilize the country and to have security and defeat terrorism," Maliki said.

Bush echoed Maliki's assessment. "Iraqi security forces need better tools to do their job," Bush said. "And so we'll work with them to equip them with greater mobility, fire power and protection."

The key to defeating the insurgency in Iraq is to remain on the offense, including in Baghdad, Bush said.

Although he acknowledged that current insurgent actions -- including bombings, murders and kidnappings -- are challenging Coalition and Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and some other areas, Bush remained upbeat. "No question it's tough in Baghdad, and no question it's tough in other parts of Iraq," he said. "But, there are also places where progress is being made, and the prime minister and I talked about that progress."

Bush and Maliki agreed to establish a joint committee to achieve Iraqi security self-reliance. The new security partnership "will seek to ensure the smoothest and most effective assumption of security responsibility by the Iraqi forces," Bush said.

Maliki said he appreciated the United States' assistance and the sacrifices made by its servicemembers.

(Compiled from Defense Department sources)

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