Brass Says Months, "not Weeks," Before Baghdad Feels Safer

Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, the chief of staff for Multi National Corps Iraq, told reporters Friday morning that the troop buildup in Baghdad would be completed by the end of May and that it would be months, and "certainly not weeks" before security began to improve noticeably in the Iraqi capital.

He said that militia activity against the government of Iraq is on the rise, and that roadside bombs "clearly marked from Iran" and IED's with components coming from Iran have been seized in recent weeks.

But he added that the presence of Iranian operatives in the country is "still minimal -- it's not a large presence" and that the vast majority of weapons in the country were taken from caches leftover from the Saddam era.

By Anna Mulrine