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House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton Opening Statement Hearing on "The Status of Efforts to Develop Iraqi Security Forces"

January 17, 2008

"Today, the committee is holding the first hearing of the New Year. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome my colleagues back, and to hope for a continuation of the productive, bipartisan record we established last year.

"The committee meets today to receive an update on the status of efforts to develop Iraqi security forces. Our witnesses are Lieutenant General James Dubik, the commander of the Multi National Security Transition Command - Iraq, and Mark Kimmitt, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East. Welcome both of you, and thank you General Dubik for agreeing to appear before us today. I know you came home for leave, and we appreciate your willingness to come update the committee on the Iraqi Security Forces. I understand that your wife, Sharon Basso, is in attendance as well, and I would like to welcome her.

"Security in Iraq has improved over the past year, due to the heroic efforts of our troops, the Anbar sheiks deciding to fight Al Qaeda, and the cease-fire declared by Moqtada al-Sadr. We should all be proud of our troops and grateful for such progress. But the question now is how to sustain it. Part of that solution will depend on political progress in Iraq, but part of it will depend on developing effective, nonsectarian Iraqi Security Forces. We are here today to hear from witnesses about the latter.

"I met with the Iraqi Minister of Defense, Abdul Qadir, in my office earlier this week. He expressed his personal belief that Iraq might be able to take responsibility for their own internal security as early as the first quarter of 2009 and would probably be able to handle their external security by 2018 or so. The 2009 timeline is very optimistic, and I am sure we are all committed to meeting it. I hope our witnesses will address how realistic this timeline is, how close we are to meeting it, and what we can do to make it a reality.

"Thank you. I now turn to Mr. Saxton for any opening comments he might care to make."