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V CORPS, TASK FORCE LEADERS SHARE CONCERNS WITH BAGHDAD CLERICS

V Corps Release

Release Date: 10/21/2003

By Cpl. Todd Pruden 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Coalition officials met with Kurdish and other Christian religious leaders Oct. 15 at the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team operations center here.

Among those who met with the local clerics were Brig. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, commanding general of V Corps's 1st Armored Division; British Maj. Gen. Andrew Figgures, deputy commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force-7, and Hank Bassford, director of Baghdad Central. The group discussed the current situation in Baghdad and listened to the religious leaders' concerns.

The coalition leaders gave a briefing on the current situation in Baghdad the progress the coalition has made in achieving its goals of returning Iraq to normalcy and self-governance. The group discussed such topics as electricity and sewage service improvements; the Iraqi Police and Facility Protection Services; the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps; the new Iraqi army, and the progress of removal of munitions scattered throughout the city as a result of combat.

The main topic of concern among the religious leaders was security within the city. To help quell their concerns, coalition leaders discussed their progress in finding improvised explosive devices and the recruiting and hiring of Iraqi Police officers.

"The most significant danger to the people of Baghdad is what we call the IED," said Dempsey. "The reason is, that there has been a large amount of ammunition for terrorists to use. There is still a lot of ammunition lying around the country that we still need to get control of."

The general also said the IED attacks were indiscriminate, because more Iraqis are injured in the attacks than coalition soldiers. He said the solution is progress toward establishing the Iraqi Police.

"Baghdad needs 19,000 police officers. We now have roughly 6,000," he said.

Dempsey said it would take another six months to hire the number of police officers needed to keep the city safe.

"We can't accelerate the plan," he added. "We need the right kind of people, and they need the right kind of training -- and that includes human rights training. They have to have the trust in the Iraqi people and know they work for the Iraqi people."

One religious leader commented that Iraqi Police are still taking bribes and his solution to the problem was an increase in pay to the officers.

"It's hard to change 30 years of bad habits in one month," Dempsey responded.

According to Dempsey, one soon-to-be-implemented change in policy will affect security concerns in the city.

"The curfew will be totally lifted in a few weeks," he said. "I believe the security situation will improve when that is done."

Another concern weighing heavily on the minds of the leaders was the news that Turkey joining the coalition by sending troops to Iraq to aid in rebuilding efforts. The leaders pleaded to coalition representatives not to allow the Turks to join the coalition.