The generals told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing in Washington, DC on Thursday that insurgents are pushing Iraq towards the brink of a civil war but the Iraqi government and the military could still prevent it with strong international backing.
During a lengthy and sometimes heated discussion between senior defence department officials and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, General John Abizaid painted a gloomy picture of the current situation in Baghdad.
General Abizaid said he has rarely seen the region as 'unsettled and volatile' as it is now in his more than 30-year military career. But it is now time to defeat the extremists in Iraq, as 'halfway measures in the past' had only made them stronger and that the international community cannot afford to let that happen again.
'This is a very serious problem that requires the application of our national might and will, along with that of the international community, to face down the extremist threat, whether it's sponsored by Iran or whether it comes from Al Qaeda, or we will fight one of the biggest wars we have ever fought,' he said.
The army commanders' testimony before the Senate committee also dashed all hopes of an early withdrawal of the American troops anytime soon.
'I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I have seen it in Baghdad in particular, and that if not stopped it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war,' General Abizaid said.
'Al Qaeda terrorists, insurgents and Shia' militia militants compete to plunge the country into civil war. It is a decisive time in Baghdad and it requires decisive Iraqi action with our clear support,' he added.
General Abizaid, who is the West Asia commander, says there are sectarian divisions that cannot be ignored. But he said the new Iraqi government and its security forces are committed to getting the situation under control.
'The most important point that we have got to keep in mind is that the army is holding together and that the government is committed to bringing the sectarian violence under control,' he said adding that he is optimistic that Iraqi forces, with American support, with the backing of the Iraqi government could prevent the situation from sliding into a full-scale civil war.
General Abizaid told the Senate committee that the new Iraqi government is very well aware of the problem and knows what must be done, the priorities, being able to bring Baghdad under control, disband illegal militias, bring death squad leaders to justice and proceed with the national reconciliation process.
At the same hearing, several Senators and senior officials said the ultimate solution to the violence in Iraq will be socio-political, rather than military, and that Iraqis themselves must find the solution.
The top US military officer, General Peter Pace, said now is a decisive time for the Iraqi people to make clear to the militants that they want the violence to end so they can build a democratic future.
'We need the Iraqi people to seize this moment. We provided security for them. Their armed forces are providing security for them, and their armed forces are dying for them. They need to decide that this is their moment,' General Pace said.
The Senate hearing brought out in the open Democrats' criticism of the Bush administration's policy in Iraq, and Republicans' support as well.
But some Republican Senators made special references to their increasing concern about the future of the US commitment in Iraq, because of the increase in violence.
Senator John Warner, chairman of the committee, said the administration might have to ask the US Congress for additional authorisations if Iraq does descend into civil war.
