The James Logan Courier

By Scott Canon and Leila Fadel
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The day after the U.S. military declared its Iraq surge at full strength, the No. 2 commander in Iraq appeared frustrated Saturday as he was briefed on progress in the restive neighborhood of Dora, an al-Qaida stronghold in west Baghdad.

"I guess I thought we'd make a little more progress," Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said at a combat outpost in the Dora market.

Odierno said he considered Friday the first day of President Bush's Iraq surge, with the last of 28,500 additional troops declared in place. Some of those added troops had already were beginning operations in violence-prone areas, including restive Arab Jubour south of the capital, where Odierno said "we've never had a presence."