Odierno: Iraqi forces big part of Baghdad clear and hold; envisions 'retreat to outskirts' in 3-4 months

Iraqi special police commandos at a Baghdad checkpoint today

BAGHDAD, Jan. 7 -- A top U.S. commander in Iraq said Sunday that previous attempts to halt sectarian killings in Baghdad had failed in part because of a shortage of Iraqi troops and a tight focus on Sunni Arab neighborhoods, and that those lessons would be incorporated into a new strategy to slow the violence in the capital.

Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the number two commander in Iraq, declined to discuss a proposed surge of thousands of additional U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad, saying he preferred to wait for President Bush to outline the policy. But he said he wanted his forces to begin with a push against both Sunni and Shiite fighters and "three or four months from now" retreat to the outskirts of the capital in a supporting role.

Sectarian violence has escalated in Baghdad despite repeated efforts to control it, including last summer's Operation Together Forward, which moved more than 10,000 additional U.S. and Iraqi soldiers into the city. At that time, "we were able to clear areas. We were not able to hold the areas," Odierno said. "We were not able to get security forces in there for an extended period of time that protected the people."

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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