US General Says He May Need More Time to Assess Iraq Surge(3/3)

He says he supports proposals to increase the size of the new Iraqi army so it is large enough to secure the country after coalition combat forces eventually withdraw.

At the same time, General Odierno says he has ordered his commanders to put more effort into contacting insurgent groups and trying to get them to stop their attacks.

"We have refocused our commanders at all levels, I'm empowering them and trying to give them some tools to reach out because there are insurgents reaching out to us, which is the most important thing, so we want to reach back to them."

General Odierno says he believes most of the Shi'ite and Sunni insurgents in Iraq can be convinced to reconcile" class="hjdict" word="reconcile" target=_blank>reconcile with the government, but not most of the insurgents affiliated with al-Qaida.

"I believe about 80 percent are reconcilable, both Jesh al-Mahdi as well as Sunni insurgents, I believe very few of al-Qaida are reconcilable."

General Odierno says reconciliation is essential for long-term stability in Iraq. And he says the coalition is trying to promote that, in part, through increased efforts on economic development, in addition to the security surge.