US General says 8% of Baghdad neighborhoods are “free of enemy influence”
September 22, 2007 7:06 am IraqAmerican and Iraqi Forces Control Half of Baghdad - New York Times, September 22, 2007
American and Iraqi forces control a little more than half of Baghdad’s neighborhoods but 8 percent are “free of enemy influence” and are being secured primarily by Iraqi units, according to a senior American commander.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil Jr., the American commander in Baghdad, told reporters in a video briefing at the Pentagon that in around 38 of Baghdad’s 474 neighborhoods American forces were playing mainly a supporting role to Iraqis, and that violence was at minimal levels. That represents only a slight increase in Iraqi control since June.