US General: Iraq Shifting from Insurgency Toward Sectarian Violence

[ECH1969]

The general who commands all U.S. military activities in the Middle East says the situation in Iraq is shifting from insurgency toward sectarian violence. At a U.S. Senate committee hearing, General John Abizaid said tension in Iraq is increasing, and the type of violence is changing.

"There's no doubt that the sectarian tensions are higher than we've seen," he said. "And it is of great concern to all of us. It's my belief that the security situation in the country, while changing in its nature from insurgency toward sectarian violence, is controllable by Iraqi security forces and multi-national forces."

Secretary Rumsfeld declined to say what role U.S. forces would play if a civil war broke out in Iraq. But he stressed that avoiding a civil war is as much a political issue as it is a military one.

"The situation, to the extent that it's fragile and tense, is as much a governance issue as it is a security issue," he added. "The need is for the principal players in that country to recognize the seriousness of the situation, and to come together to form a government of national unity that will govern from the center, and to do it in a reasonably prompt manner. And that will be what it will take, in my view, to further calm the situation."

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-03-09-voa46.cfm