US military situation

When will we see a marked reduction in violence in Iraq?

Brigadier General Kevin Bergner talks to Inside Iraq

In January, George Bush, the US president, announced that 20,000 more troops would be sent to Iraq to quell sectarian violence, a move regarded by many as a last throw of the dice.

The majority of the new force was to be stationed in Baghdad and embedded with Iraqi units, with some 4,000 marines sent to western Anbar province to fight Sunni insurgents.

The plan was an attempt to stabilise the Baghdad area – the scene of 80 per cent of sectarian violence in Iraq.

However, the killing of more than 200 people in northern Iraq in the latest bombing attack has refocused attention on whether the American ‘surge’ is working regardless of the US claims that the surge is making progress and al-Qaeda is in retreat.

An interim report released in July to assess Bush’s troop increase strategy has painted a negative picture of the situation in Iraq. This comes on the heels of a recent US intelligence view that Iraqi forces are incapable of taking charge of security.

Amid these gloomy reviews, the deepening sectarian political divide continues to tear the country apart.

With a month to go until the final report is submitted to the US Congress, many are wondering what, if anything, has changed since the interim report.

Inside Iraq this week looks at the US military situation in Iraq.

When will we see a marked reduction in violence in Iraq? And how is the training of the Iraqi Army progressing?

Our guest this week is Brigadier General Kevin Bergner, the spokesman for Multinational Force-Iraq.

Watch this episode of Inside Iraq here:

Part One: