A few more years, U.S. general says

The day-to-day commander of the U.S. military in Iraq said Tuesday that American forces would be needed in the country for a few more years in order to stave off chaos.

“We think that based on the campaign plan that we need forces here for a few more years,” Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno told The Times during a tour of a U.S. Army base in Babil province south of the capital.

“We need to have forces here in a deliberate fashion in order to accomplish what our goals are, which are a stable Iraq able to operate in a regional construct that will not provide a safe haven for terror and we will move forward with a government that cares for the people of Iraq,” he said.

Odierno’s comments were the most blunt in a series of recent statements from U.S. Embassy and military officials that aim to persuade Congress to support a U.S. military presence in Iraq. He emphasized that troop numbers probably would be reduced gradually.

The senior U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are scheduled Sept. 15 to present a report to Congress about progress made in Iraq since the Bush administration’s troop buildup plan began in February.

Embassy and military officials have downplayed the failure of Iraqi politicians to enact laws aimed at defusing tensions and sectarian violence. Instead, they pointed to what they term successes on the ground, including securing the cooperation of Sunni Arab tribes that had participated in the insurgency.

On Saturday, Petraeus told The Times:

“We are very likely to have some recommendations on the way ahead. I am reluctant to try and put down timelines. I will come in with recommendations at some point that do lay out certain force structures over time, missions over time based on certain assumptions about continued progress.”

President Bush has said he expects U.S. forces to still be in Iraq when his term ends in 2009. But Odierno’s is the first open declaration of its kind by a top commander that the Americans plan to stay a few more years.

The Pentagon had confirmed the existence of a plan to secure Iraq by the end of 2009, but described the blueprint as dependent on conditions there, and did not specify that U.S. troops would be required for the entire period.

The situation in Iraq remains complicated. Questions concerning the effectiveness of the troop buildup are difficult to answer.

The number of Iraqi civilians killed in violence rose to 1,753 in July. The toll in June was 1,227. The number of bodies found in and around Baghdad also climbed in July, to 619, compared with 540 in June.

However, the number of U.S. military deaths was 74 in July, after exceeding 100 three months in a row, according to the website icasualties.org, which tracks the military toll.

Meanwhile, a U.S. attack helicopter made a precautionary landing Tuesday after being shot at from the ground in east Baghdad, the military said. No casualties were reported.

The AH-64 Apache helicopter landed east of New Baghdad, a mostly Shiite district, the military said in a brief statement. An accompanying helicopter evacuated the two crew members, who were taken to a U.S. medical facility for evaluation.

Meanwhile, at least six Iraqis were killed or found slain in bombings and other violence.

A roadside bomb exploded near a restaurant in the Sunni-dominated western Baghdad neighborhood of Mansour, killing an Iraqi soldier and injuring six civilians, police and hospital officials said.

Another bomb, aimed at a U.S. patrol, exploded near a movie theater in New Baghdad. The patrol escaped harm but three civilians were wounded, police said. Three people were injured in a bombing near a police patrol in north Baghdad.

An engineer helping to rebuild Sarafiya Bridge was killed in a drive-by shooting near his home in the capital, police said. The steel-girder bridge in north Baghdad was destroyed April 12 in a suicide attack that sent cars plunging into the Tigris River and killed at least 10 people.

Gunmen killed a Shiite driver as he pulled out of a gas station in the southwest Bayaa neighborhood, which has seen a return of sectarian violence despite the U.S. and Iraqi troop buildup in the capital.

In northern Iraq, a teacher was shot and killed in a market in Kirkuk, police said.

The bodies of two men shot execution style were recovered in Hillah, south of Baghdad.

U.S. forces detained nine suspected insurgents in the last two days in Baghdad, Mosul and other areas, the military said in a statement.

Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. Special Forces advisors, captured 13 suspects Monday in a raid in the Nidah area of eastern Iraq, the military said.

ned.parker@latimes.com

Special correspondents in Baghdad contributed to this report.