Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen The United States' top military officer says he believes Iraqi forces are ready to take full control of their country's cities on Tuesday, as called for in the U.S.-Iraq security agreement. 

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a small group of reporters traveling with him in Europe that the Iraqis will need some support, but the U.S. military is confident Iraqi forces "can handle the duties they are about to take on."

U.S. and other international forces will continue to provide air support to the Iraqi forces, as well as help with logistics, reconnaissance and other functions that enable combat troops and local police to do their jobs.  

Al-Qaida and other insurgent groups have already begun their expected surge in attacks to challenge the new arrangement.  Admiral Mullen says he is concerned, but his commander in Iraq, and the former commander who now heads all U.S. military operations in the region, tell him the Iraqi forces are ready.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks at a ceremony marking the 2003 death of Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim in Baghdad, Iraq, 27 Jun 2009He said U.S. forces have already been out of many cities for well over a year. Admiral Mullen told reporters that Baghdad and Mosul are the two biggest challenges right now.  He said a tough fight is still ahead in Mosul, "but the leaders have a plan to get through that."

Admiral Mullen accepted some harsh comments by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who referred to the coming handover of the cities as a victory over occupiers.  But the admiral was more focused on the prime minister's comments after the recent attacks, in which he did his best to prevent al-Qaida from sparking another outbreak of sectarian violence.

Admiral Mullen notes that, overall, violence in Iraq is down substantially from recent years, but he acknowledges more violence is possible.

That will be a key challenge for the admiral and other U.S. officials, as they stress that their priorities now are Afghanistan and Pakistan, where U.S. and Pakistani forces are just starting to implement a new strategy aimed at applying hard lessons learned through years of bloodshed in Iraq to what has been a difficult and even longer fight.