Petraeus Says Cleric Helped Curb Violence

Defense Secretary Sees Extended 15-Month Iraq Tours Continuing Until Next Fall

BAGHDAD, Dec. 6 -- Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq, said Thursday he applauds Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for helping, through a cease-fire, to reduce violent attacks in Iraq by 60 percent since June. It was unusual praise by a U.S. official for a relentless critic of the American role here.

But Petraeus and other commanders also warned of enduring threats to Iraq's security, saying the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq is again carrying out suicide bombings and trying to gain control of towns in northern Iraq -- and the U.S. military must therefore carefully calibrate any future troop reductions.

The Army's extended 15-month tours in Iraq, necessary to carry out this year's increase of 21,500 combat troops, will have to remain in place until at least the fall of 2008, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Thursday after meeting with Army captains in Baghdad.

"Perhaps next fall or at some point late next year, we will be able to go back to 12-month tours. That is our hope," Gates told NBC News. Gates and Army leaders had set no timetable for ending 15-month tours but said they sought to do it as quickly as possible.

Petraeus outlined a strategy for handling what he called "the thinning out of our forces" as 17,500 soldiers and 4,000 Marines depart by July. He said he has asked each U.S. brigade commander to consider the U.S. and Iraqi forces and local volunteers they have available, gauge the intensity of the insurgent threat and map out incremental plans to "step back a bit" and shift to mentoring while allowing Iraqi forces to take the lead.

The transition strategy will link future troop reductions to continued improvements in security, which Petraeus called "heartening" in recent months. Weekly attacks in Iraq as of the end of November had declined to a level not seen consistently since mid-2005, he said. Iraqi civilian deaths are at their lowest level since the end of 2005, and November had the lowest number of U.S. troop deaths for 20 months, according to U.S. military figures.

Among several factors leading to the reduced violence, Petraeus pointed to what he called the decision by "a majority . . . of the militia" associated with Sadr to honor a cease-fire.

In striking contrast to the U.S. military's previous wariness -- if not hostility -- toward the young firebrand cleric, Petraeus praised Sadr personally for "working to rid his movement of criminal elements" and making a "pledge of honor" to uphold the cease-fire announced in August. He said the United States is in indirect dialogue with "senior members" of Sadr's organization to maintain the cease-fire.

"The Sadr trend stands for service to the people," and the goal is for Sadr and his followers to become "constructive partners in the way ahead," Petraeus said in an interview with defense reporters traveling with Gates.

Earlier this year, U.S. military and defense officials said Sadr had been weakened and his organization fragmented since the cleric left for Iran before the start of the boost in U.S. troops, apparently out of fear of being targeted.

"I wouldn't say he has been marginalized," Petraeus said Thursday. "He very much maintains contacts with his leaders and continues to give direction. . . . And there is an effort ongoing to try to get a grip on some of the nefarious actors who are associated with his movement."

Meanwhile, Sadr's rhetoric remains as anti-American as ever. "I speak to the head of evil Bush, go out of our land, we don't need you or your armies, the armies of darkness, your aircrafts, tanks . . . your fake freedom," said a statement issued under Sadr's name two days ago.