"This situation cannot be resolved by military forces alone," Chiarelli said. "And I know that is uncomfortable for a lot of people, both in and out of uniform, who were raised on the concepts of destroying a certain portion of the enemy's forces and declaring victory. This conflict will take all efforts, in governments, economic development, and transition, working together."
Chiarelli's comments are the first by a senior commander in Iraq since the release of the Iraq Study Group report earlier this week.
That bipartisan panel called for a more rapid military transition to Iraqi control and a withdrawal of most U.S. combat forces by the first quarter of 2008.
(AFP, Reuters)
On The Verge Of Civil War
The Imam Al-Mahdi Army on parade (epa)
HAS THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ BECOME A CIVIL WAR? Many observers have concluded that the tit-for-tat sectarian violence that emerged after the February 2006 bombing of a mosque in Samarra has become a full-blown civil war.... (more)
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THE COMPLETE PICTURE: Click on the image to view RFE/RL's complete coverage of events in Iraq and that country's ongoing transition.