International alarm over Iraqi violence. Sending in more lethal arms into Iraq.
Gee.
news.ft.com
"..At a summit next week, Mr Bush and Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, are expected to insist that the proposed June 30 handover of sovereignty in Iraq is "sacrosanct".
With that date in mind, the State Department on Friday announced it would lift the US ban on lethal military assistance to Iraq as part of an effort to strengthen the Iraqi military and police forces.
The end of the long-standing ban would allow the US to provide a broad array of military equipment to Iraq, including small arms "for private security purposes".
The US is insisting, however, that Iraqi forces remain under the control of US commanders even after sovereignty is formally transferred back to Iraq.
"Given the state of the Iraqi forces, it makes sense to put them under the operational control of the US commander because that's where the capabilities lie," said Adam Ereli, State Department spokesman
An Associated Press poll released on Friday found that nearly half of Americans now believe that the war in Iraq has increased the threat of terrorism, compared with just 28 per cent who say it has decreased the threat. In mid-February, Americans were equally split over that question...."
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