United States General David Petraeus said Thursday that military force is not sufficient to end the violence in Iraq, adding that political talks
must eventually include some militant groups now opposing the U.S.-backed government.

"There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency of Iraq," he said. "Military action is necessary ... but it is not sufficient."

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Meanwhile, in a direct challenge to President George W. Bush, Democrats in the House of Representatives announced Thursday that they will push legislation setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq.

"The Democratic plan," said House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, "will bring an orderly and responsible close to American participation in Iraq's civil war."

The proposal would require the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by the last three months of 2008, officials had said Wednesday night.

In his first news conference since taking charge of U.S. forces in Iraq last month, Petraeus on Thursday acknowledged the deadly power of suicide bombers.

"We share the horror of witnessing the bloodshed," said Petraeus, noting that security teams are often at the mercy of suicide bombers who have
blended into the vast pilgrim processions.

"It is an enormous task to protect all of them, Petraeus told reporters in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone," adding: If someone is willing to blow up himself ... the problem becomes very, very difficult indeed.

The attacks are part of a wider offensive by suspected Sunni insurgents since a U.S.-led security crackdown began in Baghdad last month.

The Pentagon has pledged 17,500 combat troops for the capital. Petraeus said it was very likely that additional U.S. forces will be sent to areas outside the capital where militant groups are regrouping, including the Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

The region has become an increasingly important staging ground for groups including al-Qaida in Iraq. Meanwhile, many Sunni extremists apparently have shifted to Diyala to escape the Baghdad clampdown.

Petraeus declined to predict the size of the expected Diyala reinforcements.

One of Iraq's most expansive militias - the Mahdi Army of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - appears to have set aside its weapons under intense government pressure to lend support to the Baghdad security plan.

Madhi militiamen also have allowed Iraqi authorities to try to protect at least 1 million pilgrims heading to Karbala, about 80 kilometers [50 miles] south of Baghdad.

Many are making the traditional trek on foot for rituals beginning Friday to mark the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Hussein's death in a 7th-century battle near Karbala cemented the schism between Sunnis and Shiites.

The processions have proved to be the most vulnerable targets. On Monday, at least 120 people were killed in twin suicide blasts. On Wednesday, gunmen opened fire on a group of pilgrims south of Baghdad, wounding two.

Al-Sadr issued a statement urging pilgrims to join in chants denouncing the attackers. "I ask almighty God to protect you from the sectarian sedition," said the message.

Security forces in Karbala have taken unprecedented measures, including checkpoints for top-to-bottom searches and a six-ring cordon around the two main Shiite shrines. At least 10,000 policemen have been placed on round-the-clock patrols.

Petraeus said U.S. forces would assist if needed.

"All the city's entrances have been secured, and I call upon the pilgrims to follow the instructions of the security forces and let them do the necessary searches, Iraq's minister of state for national security, Sherwan al-Waili, said in Karbala."

Terrorists are adapting and improvising new ways of hurting people. Preparations have been made in hospitals to receive emergency cases, he said.

In Baghdad, a mortar attack shattered some windows at the Iraqi Airways office on the airport compound, but the shells landed hundreds of meters (yards) from the passenger terminal and
caused no serious flight disruptions.

Such attacks, however, send chills through Iraqi officials preparing to host an international
conference Saturday on ways to help rebuild and stabilize the country.

The meeting will bring Iran and the United States to the same table since U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice met her Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, last September.

Washington cut diplomatic ties with Tehran after the takeover of the U.S. Embassy by radicals
in the wake the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The United States has accused Iran of backing anti-American Shiite militants in Iraq, has
detained Iranian officials there and has angered Tehran by beefing up its military presence in
the Persian Gulf. Washington is also pushing for new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear
program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Wednesday that his country hoped the
conference will bring forward the end of the presence of foreign forces in Iraq - reiterating
Tehran's stance that U.S. troops should withdraw.

At least 13 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since Sunday, all of them in Sunni areas
north and east of Baghdad. Nine Americans died Monday, the deadliest day for the U.S. military
here in nearly a month.

U.S. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that in recent days the
number of sectarian murders was down slightly and the number of car bombings was up.

So I think you see potentially the Iraqi people wanting to take advantage of this opportunity
and the enemy wanting to keep it going, Pace told a Pentagon news conference on Wednesday.

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