Report doubts US control of Baghdad

Despite troop “surge”, military report says US holds only a third of Iraqi capital.

wounded girl in Baghdad Iraq — US and Iraqi forces were unable to "protect the population" in over two thirds of Baghdad [AFP]

“Let the people of Iraq vote if they want the US to stay or leave”

Bob Kaye, Bohemia, US

The paper quotes Brigadier-General Vincent Brooks, the deputy commander of the First Cavalry Division which has responsibility for the Baghdad area, as saying that the operation “is at a difficult point right now, to be sure”.

In an interview with the newspaper, Brooks said in many cases US troops were still undertaking functions, such as patrolling and manning checkpoints, that military officials had expected Iraqi troops and police to have taken over.

He said that in some cases the Iraq had not provided all the forces promised, and in some cases had performed poorly.

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Iraq bomb attack pushes up US toll

Meanwhile, violence in Iraq has continued, with the US military seeing its deadliest single attack on Sunday when four soldiers were killed by a bomb blast as they conducted an operation to seal off and search a neighbourhood in Baghdad.

Two other US soldiers were killed in a bomb attack in the Iraqi capital on the same day, with another killed outside Baghdad.

A day earlier, seven soldiers were killed by roadside bombs, the most common cause of US troop deaths in Iraq.

Source: News Agencies