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 WASHINGTON (AP) - Iranian support for militias in Iraq has grown, top U.S. defense leaders said Friday, asserting that recent battles in Basra gave the Iraqis an eye-opening view of Iran's increased negative role there.
More broadly, the outlook for more progress toward stabilizing Iraq and reducing the U.S. troop presence is clouded by several other potential pitfalls in coming months, including the prospect of increased violence with the approach of provincial Iraqi elections this fall, Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview at the Pentagon with a group of reporters.
Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, also cited the return of refugees and the release of security detainees as potential sources of instability to be considered as he determines when, and at what pace, U.S. troop withdrawals should resume after July. He reiterated that while he hopes further withdrawals are possible he will be careful not to reduce so quickly as to jeopardize the security gains of the past several months.
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