Iraq colonel: US troops now in 'prison-like bases'

An Iraqi military commander on Monday compared new restrictions on the U.S. military to "house arrest," saying American combat troops cannot patrol as freely as they did before pulling out of cities on June 30.

Col. Ali Fadhil, a brigade commander in Baghdad, cited several occasions in which Iraqi troops turned down U.S. requests to move around the capital, and in one instance to conduct a raid _ the Iraqis carried out that operation themselves. The new balance of authority stems from a security agreement that requires all U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

Fadhil spoke to The Associated Press about conditions in Baghdad, where violence has dropped dramatically …