New leader takes hot seat in Iraq

February 10, 2007 08:09pm
A 54-year-old former paratrooper with an honours degree in diplomacy has taken over the toughest job in the US military, assuming control of the coalition in Iraq at a ceremony in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.

Lieutenant General David Petraeus has told dignitaries assembled at the ceremony on the outskirts of Baghdad that Iraq was "doomed" if they failed to restore order in the country, carved open by sectarian strife.

Lt-Gen Petraeus takes over from General George Casey as head of the 140,000-strong US-led forces in Iraq. More than 130,000 of those are US troops.

But while the new commander is hailed as Iraq's best hope of peace, and is widely regarded as a deep thinker, critics of the Bush administration's new "surge" strategy say it is too little, too late.
Before the handover, Gen Casey said his greatest fear for his successor was that Iraqis would not be able to let go of the past, but would continue succumbing to a spiral of hatred and reprisals. >>>cont

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