U.S. defense chief Gates visits Iraq

BAGHDAD, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, visiting Iraq Monday, said significant risks remain despite recent security gains and reductions in U.S. combat troops.

Pro-government forces must ensure "al-Qaida isn't given the opportunity to regather its strength" and work to subdue Shiite special militias, Gates said in a New York Times report.

In addition, government leaders must press forward with provincial elections and other measures to achieve political reconciliation, Gates said.

"There are still people who would like to see this fail," Gates said before arriving in Iraq.

Gates said the question to meeting the challenges facing troops and government leaders in the coming months is, "How do we preserve the gains that have already been achieved, and expand upon them, even as the numbers of U.S. forces are shrinking?"

U.S. President George Bush announced he accepted recommendations from senior advisers to withdraw 8,000 troops and support personnel by early next year.

Besides meeting with Iraqi government officials, Gates is scheduled to meet with U.S. military personnel "to get the view from the troops' level of how things are going and whether their needs are being met."

He also will preside over a change-of-command ceremony in which U.s. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno will receive his fourth star and became the senior U.S. officer in Iraq, as outgoing commander Army Gen. David Petraeus takes command of U.S. military forces across the Middle East and Southwest Asia.