New U.S. Trainer of Iraqi Forces Takes Over

BAGHDAD, June 10, 2007 — -- Lt. Gen. James Dubik became the top American trainer of Iraqi forces today, assuming control of the Multi-National Security Training Command-Iraq at perhaps the most critical time in the four-year-old war.

In a symbolic nod toward the day when the command might be taken over by an Iraqi commander, Dubik addressed a crowd in Arabic, including such senior U.S. and Iraqi military brass as Adm. William Fallon, the head of the U.S. Central Command, who flew in for the ceremony, and Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq.

Without mentioning growing congressional and public impatience at home with the pace of the war, Dubik's predecessor, outgoing commander Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, called the upcoming period a key time in training Iraqi troops to assume the leading security role in their country.

"There is no more important moment in Iraq than the development of Iraq security forces, security forces that will protect the people and preserve their new freedoms," Dempsey said. "We must stand together. There is no other way to honor those who have been killed."

By year end, U.S. commanders say Iraqi security forces should be able to take over control of 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces, though they will continue to require the reinforcement and training of American troops. The other four provinces — Baghdad, Diyala, Saladdin and Anbar — are strongholds of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.

Petraeus told ABC News that there are hopeful signs in Anbar province, where several Sunni tribes recently split with al Qaeda and joined Iraq's security forces by the hundreds.

"If you look at what transformed Anbar province, it was sort of political. I mean, it was really a statement by the tribes, physically, that they were going to oppose al Qaeda," Petraeus said. "There need to be similar statements among the different groupings of Iraqi society. That's really what our soldiers and the Iraqi soldiers are fighting for, is to provide the Iraqi authorities this opportunity to keep the level of sectarian violence down."

Commanders remain worried about Shiite militias operating within the Iraqi police force.

"I am comfortable two months into this. I see progress in the Iraqi army," said Maj. Gen. Richard Lynch of the 3rd Infantry Division, which controls the region south of Baghdad that includes the so-called "Triangle of Death," a major haven of Sunni insurgents. "I have grave concern, however, about the Iraqi police."

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zubaiei, a Sunni, said the Sunni rebellion against al Qaeda is now taking root in other provinces. Earlier this week, a group of 130 mostly Sunni sheikhs from volatile Saladin province met in Saddam Hussein's former hometown of Tikrit to consider ways to defend their province against al Qaeda.