BAGHDAD — Army Gen. Ray Odierno took command of American troops here Tuesday with words that made it clear he wants the Iraqis to take a bigger role in security and move forward with political progress as pressure mounts for U.S. forces to leave the country.
In comments made shortly after receiving command from his predecessor and former boss, Gen. David H. Petraeus, Odierno emphasized the need for Iraq’s government to hold provincial elections this year and use its military and police to preserve the security gains made since Petraeus’ arrival in February 2007.
U.S. troops will be there to help, Odierno said. But he added, “We must do this with our Iraqi partners out front, in the lead.”
Petraeus, credited with overseeing a dramatic decline in Iraq violence, left to take charge of the U.S. Central Command, a job that requires him to balance demands for more troops in Afghanistan with the need to leave enough in Iraq.
President Bush plans to withdraw 8,000 of the 146,000 American forces in Iraq by February; the Iraqi government wants U.S. officials to agree to a 2011 date for a total withdrawal.
Seven of Iraq’s 18 provinces have yet to be handed over to Iraqi control, and speaker after speaker Tuesday described the current relative stability as fragile and reversible.
“Caution should be the order of the day,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at the hand-over ceremony, held beneath a massive chandelier in the rotunda of one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces.
The cool, marble interior was in sharp contrast to the eerie atmosphere outside, where a 2-day-old desert storm had blanketed Baghdad and covered trees, cars and buildings in dust and sand.
Petraeus said Odierno’s experience — he’s on his third tour in Iraq — made him “the perfect man for the job.”
In his first news briefing minutes after the ceremony, Odierno said he hoped his job, unlike that of Petraeus’, would involve more diplomatic wrangling than street fighting.
Odierno emphasized the need for provincial elections, which U.S. officials have long said would balance lopsided power structures that have contributed to sectarian and ethnic tensions. But Iraq’s parliament has yet to pass legislation to clear the way for such elections, even though they are supposed to take place this year.
Odierno also said he wanted to see continued improvement in the Iraqi security forces and in the government’s ability to provide essential services such as electricity and clean water.
When he took over as Petraeus’ deputy, Odierno had the reputation as a hyper-tough officer who thought little about the unintended consequences of military action. But by almost all accounts, Odierno has transformed himself under Petraeus’ watch into an expert at the nuanced war-fighting required to pacify an insurgency.
