Baghdad agrees to new security timetable: US

America8217;s top military and civilian officials in Iraq said today that the Baghdad government has agreed to a timetable for a series of milestones to be pursued in the coming year

America8217;s top military and civilian officials in Iraq said today that the Baghdad government has agreed to a timetable for a series of milestones to be pursued in the coming year, including cracking down on Shiite militias, completing a 8220;national compact8221; between competing political groups, persuading Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms and settling contentious issues like the division of oil revenues.

Alongside these ambitious aims, they also laid out a relatively sober assessment of what Iraq would be even if these goals are met: A country where conflict would continue, but not overwhelm the government.

Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American military commander in Iraq, said that at their current rate of development, in 12 to 18 months the Iraqi security forces 8220;will emerge as the dominant force in Iraq, possibly with some American support.8221;

General Casey raised the possibility of bringing more forces into Baghdad, where a crackdown by American and Iraqi troops has had limited success in quelling sectarian violence. But he said the long-term security situation in the capital depended on political progress. 8220;We8217;re not going to have total security here in Baghdad until the issues dividing the country are resolved,8221; he said.

General Casey appeared at an unusual joint news conference with the US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad to lay out a plan for progress, at a time when the disarray in Iraq has become the central issue in this fall8217;s Congressional election campaign.

Many of the steps the two men described, like disarming militias and addressing Sunni concerns about the Iraqi constitution, are steps that American officials have been urging on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki since he took office in April.

8220;Iraqi officials have agreed to a timeline for making these difficult decisions,8221; Khalilzad said. Some steps, like completing plans for transferring more areas to Iraqi control and an international accord for economic development, should be achieved by the end of the year, Khalilzad said, adding that he expected a national compact to be in place in a year8217;s time.