"The looting goes down every day and I think you will continue to see it go down because the Iraqis are now stepping up and controlling the problems for themselves," Franks said.

"I am sad, but I don't have any regrets about how the campaign was conducted," he told reporters at the humanitarian operations centre of US-led coalition forces in Kuwait.

He said 2,200 Iraqi civilians volunteered on Wednesday in Baghdad to work as unarmed police officers.

Franks also said that humanitarian aid to the nation was increasing.

"There is nothing more important that we are doing right now within Iraq than providing opportunities for the Iraqi people," he said.

"I actually believe the people in southern Iraq are already beginning to see the benefits and as we move through Iraq with humanitarian assistance, I think you will see it's in every place we go."

The general visited Baghdad on Wednesday to meet his commanders.

SPACE.WIRE