General: Iraq Violence Likely to Increase

A Senate GOP aide said senators would wait until investigators know the circumstances of the photos before they ask to see them.

At the hearing, Abizaid spoke in somber tones as he assessed the situation in Iraq, offering a sometimes grim view of the challenge in bringing stability to Iraq.

He predicted "the situation will become more violent" after the June 30 handover to an interim government "because it will remain unclear what's going to happen" between then and the end of the year, when elections are to be held to begin the process of writing an Iraqi constitution.

"It could very well be more violent than we are seeing today, so it's possible that we might need more forces," he said, adding that he hoped more countries would contribute troops.

Abizaid said it might take until April 2005 before U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces are fully functioning.

Now, 155,000 coalition troops are in Iraq, and 135,000 of them are American. The Bush administration has had little luck so far in persuading other countries to offer troops.

Wednesday's hearing took place several hours after Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits pleaded guilty in Iraq for his role in the prisoner abuse that was captured in shocking photos. Sivits was sentenced to a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a demotion in rank and a bad conduct discharge.

In their testimony, Abizaid and Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller said there had been limited prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters are detained, and at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where the United States holds suspected al-Qaida terrorists. Miller, the former commander at Guantanamo, now is in charge of the military's prisons in Iraq.

In Afghanistan, the top U.S. commander, Lt. Gen. David Barno, announced a "top to bottom" review of all detention facilities in that country. He said it would be led by a general who would visit every facility to "ensure internationally accepted standards of handling detainees are being met." He is to report to Barno by mid-June.

CIA officials also are under investigation for alleged mistreatment of detainees. A Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday that the department is looking into three detainee deaths known to involve CIA personnel and contractors. They have been formally referred for possible criminal prosecution, the official said.

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Link to transcript of today's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing:http://wid.ap.org/transcripts/iraqfront.html