Special report:
Tension escalates in Iraq
BAGHDAD,
Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A new U.S. general on Saturday took command of American
troops in Iraq as part of U.S. and Iraqi security forces battle to quell
sectarian violence in the war-torn country.
During a ceremony at Camp Victory at a former Saddam
Hussein palace in western Baghdad suburb, General David Petraeus officially took
control of U.S. forces in Iraq from General George Casey, who is going to be the
next U.S. Army chief of staff. "It's too heavy for any one person to bear, and
we will all have to share the burden and move forward together," said
54-year-old Petraeus, who considered the mission "is doable and the prospects
for success are good."
"Failing that, Iraq will be doomed to continuing
violence and civil strife and surely that is a prospect all must strive to
avoid," he said.
"The stakes are very high," he said, urging Iraqi
people to reject violence and corruption and to stop those who employ such
methods to further their goals.
U.S. President George W. Bush has promised to send an
extra 21,500 U.S. troops, most of them to Baghdad, to take part in the ongoing
security plan aimed at quelling sectarian violence in the capital and Sunni
insurgency in Iraq's western Anbar province.
