U.S. chief sees gain in Baghdad control
He said allied forces had a better grip there. But he said the enemy was stronger, too.
WASHINGTON - In the face of stiffening insurgent resistance, U.S. and Iraqi security forces now control about half of Baghdad - up from about 19 percent in April, the American commander overseeing operations said yesterday.
Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil Jr., commander of Multi-National Division Baghdad, told reporters at the Pentagon that progress in securing the capital had been steady. He said that while he could use more U.S. troops, he believed he had enough - with the recent arrival of reinforcements - to complete his mission.
"Some wonder: Are we progressing fast enough? Are we ahead? Are we on track?" he said in a video teleconference from his headquarters in Baghdad.
"This is a fight against extremists," he said. "It's a fight to put power back into the hands of the average Iraqi citizens and to give them a vote and a voice in their own future, without intimidation or fear. I see progress, a steady progress, in every neighborhood that we've cleared and then established a full-time presence."
A reinforced U.S. troop presence has been conducting stepped-up security operations since the launch in mid-February of a new campaign designed to tamp down sectarian violence in Baghdad to a degree that the Iraqi government is able to begin functioning normally and moving toward political reconciliation.
The commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, is due to present a progress report to Congress in September.
Fil said U.S. and Iraqi security forces controlled 48 percent to 49 percent of the 474 neighborhoods in Baghdad. That is up from 19 percent in April, he said. Two weeks ago his boss, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, said about 40 percent of the city was under control.
Fil defined control as "where we have our security forces there and we're denying that space to enemy forces."
U.S. and Iraqi forces are conducting clearing operations in 36 percent of the capital's neighborhoods - about the same percentage as in April, he said. In neighborhoods that are neither under control nor in the process of being cleared, coalition forces are "disrupting" insurgent forces, Fil said.
He declined to predict how long it would take to get the entire capital under control.
Fil said the degree of resistance by insurgents in some parts of Baghdad had been remarkable.
"This is a skilled and determined enemy," he said. "He's ruthless. He's got a thirst for blood like I've never seen anywhere in my life."