Iraqi officials say security forces have found at least 50 more bodies in Baghdad.
This brings the number of execution-style killings to more than 100 since Wednesday, as a wave of sectarian violence sweeps the capital.
Separately, the US military says a soldier is missing following a suicide car bombing Thursday that killed two other soldiers. Two U.S. servicemembers were killed in attacks on friday in Iraq.
At the White House today, President Bush acknowledged the situation in Iraq is "tough," and said everyone wants US troops to come home as soon as possible. But he said American troops will remain until the Iraqi government can protect itself. He said he will not make military decisions based on political concerns.
In a briefing with Pentagon reporters from Iraq, US General Peter Chiarelli defended the transfer of American forces from Iraq's restive Anbar province to Baghdad. The general said U.S. troops are not, in his words, "walking away" from Anbar, but that the main effort to prevent civil war is in the Iraqi capital. He said the Iraqi government needs to improve economic conditions in Anbar.
This brings the number of execution-style killings to more than 100 since Wednesday, as a wave of sectarian violence sweeps the capital.
Separately, the US military says a soldier is missing following a suicide car bombing Thursday that killed two other soldiers. Two U.S. servicemembers were killed in attacks on friday in Iraq.
At the White House today, President Bush acknowledged the situation in Iraq is "tough," and said everyone wants US troops to come home as soon as possible. But he said American troops will remain until the Iraqi government can protect itself. He said he will not make military decisions based on political concerns.
In a briefing with Pentagon reporters from Iraq, US General Peter Chiarelli defended the transfer of American forces from Iraq's restive Anbar province to Baghdad. The general said U.S. troops are not, in his words, "walking away" from Anbar, but that the main effort to prevent civil war is in the Iraqi capital. He said the Iraqi government needs to improve economic conditions in Anbar.