http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7618553.stm

The new US military commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ray Odierno, has said that
recent security gains there are "fragile and reversible". 

He was speaking in Baghdad at a ceremony to replace Gen David Petraeus. 

Gen Petraeus, who implemented the "surge" of nearly 30,000 extra US troops
in Iraq, is widely credited with driving down levels of violence there. 

He has been promoted to oversee operations in Afghanistan and in the Middle
East, including Iraq. 

He will take up the post as head of the US Central Command in late October,
working from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida. 

Achievements 

Gen Petraeus handed the command of the 146,000-strong US force at a ceremony
in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces on the outskirts of the capital. 

He thanked his troops and hailed his successor as "the perfect man for the
job". 

Gen Odierno said he was aware of the tough task ahead, adding that the Iraqi
people must take charge as "the struggle is theirs to win". 

He said: "Iraq is now a different country from the one I had seen first.
However, we must realise that these gains are fragile and reversible."

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The boys are back in town in Mosul. Soon in Baghdad.

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