New US military commander takes over in Iraq
Petraeus says help of national forces needed
BAGHDAD -- General David Petraeus assumed control over US forces in Iraq yesterday, saying that the "rucksack of responsibility" was too heavy to carry alone there and that without cooperation between Iraqi and US forces, "Iraq will be doomed to continued violence and civil strife."
During a hand over ceremony under the crystal chandeliers and marble columns of one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, Petraeus characterized the challenges facing Iraq as daunting, but said "these tasks are achievable, this mission is doable."
"The situation in Iraq is exceedingly challenging, the stakes are very high, the way ahead will be hard, and undoubtedly there will be many tough days," Petraeus said in a 5 1/2-minute address to Iraqi and US generals, ambassadors, and other officers and dignitaries at Camp Victory on the western outskirts of Baghdad.
"However, hard is not hopeless," he said.
Petraeus, the Princeton-educated military man who previously served as the commander of the 101st Airborne Division in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, and also led the US military effort to train Iraqi soldiers, takes over for General George Casey.
During the brief but formal ceremony, an Army band with the First Cavalry Division played the Iraqi and US national anthems, and Army General John Abizaid, the outgoing Central Command chief, passed a military flag into Petraeus's hands.
The deadly conflict that Petraeus will attempt to counter took the lives of three more US soldiers on Friday, when explosives detonated inside a building in Diyala Province north of Baghdad, the US military said in a statement issued yesterday.
The three soldiers from Task Force Lightning were hunting for a weapons cache in the building at the time of the blast, the statement said. Four other soldiers were wounded in the explosion.
Yesterday, at least two car bombs exploded in Baghdad, killing at least 14 people, Iraqi police said.
The deadlier bomb struck in the Baghdad neighborhood of Karrada outside a bakery, killing seven people and wounding 13 others, said Brigadier Abdulla Hassoun, of the Interior Ministry.
The other bomb exploded outside a government communication center in Khamliyah, in eastern Baghdad, killing seven people and injuring nine others, said Major Abdul Aziz Abdul Kareem of the Interior Ministry. The communication center is an insurgent target because some believe members of the Shi'ite militia, the Mahdi Army, operate there.
"The enemies of Iraq will shrink at no act, however barbaric," Petraeus said in a letter to US servicemen. "They will do all that they can to shake the confidence of the people and to convince the world that this effort is doomed. We must not underestimate them."
Before the ceremony, Casey stood overlooking a man made lake and said his departure after 2 1/2 years left him feeling proud but "a little numb." He cited Iraq's constitution and elections as highlights of the country's progress.
"I really go away with a great feeling of pride because I feel like we have laid the foundation for Iraq's ultimate success," Casey said. "Everything's not as I would have expected it to be or wanted it to be on my way out, but that's kind of the way things are."
Casey, who will become the new US Army chief of staff, said it was "too close in time" to judge the mistakes on his watch. 