Talks not tanks solution to Iraq: US commander

US and Iraqi security forces cannot solve the problem of violence in Iraq without political action and reconciliation with some militant groups, the US commander in Iraq

US and Iraqi security forces cannot solve the problem of violence in Iraq without political action and reconciliation with some militant groups, the US commander in Iraq said on Thursday. General David Petraeus, in his first news conference in Baghdad since he took command last month, also said he saw no immediate need to request more US troops, but reinforcements already requested would stay “well beyond the summer”.

“There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency of Iraq,” Petraeus said. “Military action is necessary to help improve security … but it is not sufficient.” He said political progress would require talking to and reconciling with “some of those who have felt the new Iraq did not have a place for them”.

He said a key challenge for the Shi’ite-led government of Nuri al-Maliki was to identify those militant groups who were “reconcilable” and to bring them into the political process. He said groups such as al Qaeda were intensifying their attacks to provoke more violence and stop that process.

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Petraeus said he had discussed with his second in command on Thursday whether he had enough troops for his current mission. “Right now we do not see other requests (for troops) looming out there. That’s not to say that some emerging mission or emerging task will not require that, and if it does then we will ask for that,” Petraeus said.

Petraeus took command of US troops in Iraq last month at a critical time, having been appointed to oversee President George W Bush’s new strategy in Iraq, focusing on halting the daily carnage of suicide bombs and death squad killings in Baghdad.

Bush is sending 21,500 more troops, mostly to Baghdad. At least 3,188 US soldiers have died since the 2003 invasion.

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