Areas of Baghdad fall to militias

The Guardian

George Bush signalled yesterday that he was likely to suspend the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq this summer because of fears that the country might return to the levels of violence witnessed last year. Speaking as a three-day curfew was imposed on Baghdad and as fighting continued for a third successive day in Basra, the US president said there had been gains in Iraq, with overall levels of violence down, but security was fragile. He would make his decision about more withdrawals from the 154,000-strong US force after speaking next month to the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. But he added: "As I consider the way forward, I will always remember that the progress in Iraq is real, it's substantive, but it is reversible. And so the decision on our troop levels will be ensuring that we succeed in Iraq."