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Press Roundtable, Aug. 30, 2006

Multi-National Force-Iraq

Wednesday, 30 August 2006

Gen. George W. Casey, Jr.Gen. George W. Casey, Jr
Commanding General, MNF-I

BRIEFING BY GENERAL GEORGE CASEY, U.S. ARMY, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ TOPIC: SECURITY IN IRAQ LOCATION: THE COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, BAGHDAD, IRAQ TIME: 8:00 A.M. EDT DATE: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2006

GEN. CASEY: Everybody ready?

STAFF: (Off mike.)

Q (Through interpreter.) Ahmad Jamila (sp) from Al-Sharqiya TV station. General Casey, we see -- we heard a lot about the security situation is improving, but what we see in Baghdad and throughout Iraq -- there is still -- a lot of things are still the same. Some people are pointing the accusation finger toward militias or other, you know, forces. Some of suggestions that came up is to form those popular committees. And you, as the Multinational Forces, are -- you are supposed to keep security in Iraq in all areas. What do you say about these kind of things?

GEN. CASEY: Well, I think it's important to have a common view of what the threats to Iraq's security are, and I believe that the primary threats to Iraq's security are the terrorists and the death squads. And both of those threats have to be addressed if Iraq is going to progress.

The Iraqi people aren't going to have the security that they want until the Iraqi security forces are the primary and dominant providers of security in the country. And that won't happen until all militias and insurgents are disbanded.

When -- with respect to your question about popular committees, we thank those committees operating at the neighborhood level with the Iraqi police and the Iraqi military, providing information on threats in the neighborhood -- we think those committees can make a positive contribution, but we also think that they should be unarmed and provide information and let the security forces deal with the threats.

The last thing I'll say is that the Iraqi security force is progressing very well in their development, and they are evolving and will continue to evolve into a -- into security forces that the Iraqi people can be proud of.

Thank you.

Cory (sp)?

Q Thanks. When President Bush was here almost a month ago now, he promised that the U.S. would give greater support for mobility, fire power, and protection. Retired General Barry McCaffrey said not too long ago that he thinks the Iraqi forces need something on the order of 2,000 humvees, 2,000 armored personnel carriers, 120 Blackhawks, and so on. So far, we've heard from General Dempsey that they're going to get 2,800 up-armored humvees over the next five years.

What do you think should be done to get enough equipment out there, and is it being done?

GEN. CASEY: It is being done. And actually, the up-armored humvees I think are coming in over the next eight or 10 months or so; it's not anywhere near that long. And each one of the Iraqi brigades will have a battalion's worth of armored vehicles in it, I believe by the end of next year.

So the plans are there to up-armor the Iraqi military to the extent they need to be up-armored to prosecute this insurgency. And, you know, we are building -- helping them build a force to deal with the security threats to the country now. And the greatest security threat to the country now is the internal terrorism and insurgency, and that's what this force is being developed to deal with.

Beyond that, they are building a long-term security plan to shape the type of armed forces that they think they need in five to 10 years from now.

Q Can you tell me what that means, though, in terms of these higher-tech, more expensive things like C-130s, was one thing that General McCaffrey said they needed, more Blackhawks, and so forth.

GEN. CASEY: They've got three C-130s now. I think they probably have about a total of about 30 helicopters or so. That will be up to them to decide if they need more than that right now.

But General McCaffrey's point that they were woefully under-armed I think is not right. They are well-armed for the counterinsurgency fight.

Q (Through interpreter.) Ahmed Jawad (sp) from Radio Sawa. You talked about the improvement for the Iraqi security forces, the great improvement that the Iraqi security forces have done. My question is, when do you think they are going to be able to execute their missions independently without the support of coalition forces? And do you have a date that you think this mission would be accomplished at?

GEN. CASEY: I don't have a date. But I can see over the next 12 to 18 months, I can see the Iraqi security forces progressing to a point where they can take on the security responsibilities for the country with very little coalition support.

We have been on a three-step process to help build the Iraqi security forces. The first step was the training and equipping; to organize them, put them through a training program -- army and police -- and to give them the appropriate weapons and equipment they need. The second step was to put them into the lead still with our support, and when they're in the lead, they're responsible for the area, and we still help them. That process is almost 75 percent complete. The last step, as you suggest, is to get them to the stage where they can independently provide security in Iraq. That step becomes primarily building institutional capacity, building ministerial capacity and building the key enabling systems -- logistics, intelligence, medial support; those kinds of things -- that can support and sustain the armed forces in place for a longer period of time.

And so we're making good progress along those steps right now.

Mike.

Q General, do you think the battles that occurred in Diwaniyah over the weekend is a setback? Have you looked at it as a setback in coalition ambitions to disarm the militias, to control militias, unlawful armed groups in this country?

GEN. CASEY: Yeah, I don't think it should be seen as a setback. The Iraqi armed forces acquitted themselves quite well. They had losses, but they gave much better than they got. And that battle is not finished yet. There were soldiers that were killed there. There is clearly an illegal armed force that is attempting to control areas of Diwaniyah, and I believe that the Iraqi division commander down there is going to continue to work to restore Iraqi governmental control to that city.

Q But it had to be ended with negotiations, compromise. Is there any compromise?

GEN. CASEY: There was no compromise on the part of the Iraqi division commander. He didn't engage in any negotiations. He cordoned the area, pulled his troops back -- the rest of them after they had been in contact for 14 hours. And as I said, the battle there -- the battle may be over, but the campaign to clean that city up and to restore it to Iraqi government control isn't finished.

Q And do you feel that the prime minister is serious about his promise to disarm these groups, not just the insurgency, but the militias? I mean, do you see him as compromising or hard on this to keep the promise?

GEN. CASEY: I think the prime minister is quite serious about this. I work with him on this every day.

There are political -- there's a political and a military track that are working in parallel here, and it's fairly sophisticated and delicate, but both those tracks have to be pursued if we're going to stand the militias down in an appropriate fashion.

Q (In Arabic.) (Name and affiliation inaudible.) The question is about militias, also.

(Through interpreter.) You always talk about, you know, the need to disarm the militias and armed groups. Is there -- a concrete step has been taken and concrete steps have been discussed with the government in that direction to disarm the militias and the illegal armed groups?

GEN. CASEY: There have been, and there have been ongoing discussions for several months that have produced some political and military steps that we believe will ultimately lead to the disarmament of the militias.

But as I mentioned to your colleague earlier, there are several things that need to happen for the militias to feel comfortable that they can lay down their weapons. The first of those, I think, is the improvements that we're seeing in the Iraqi security forces. And what we're seeing in Baghdad, as these neighborhoods are cleared it's the Iraqi security forces that will go in and hold the security in those neighborhoods. And I think when the people begin to feel more confidence in their security forces, they'll feel less need to rely on the militias.

The second part, though, is there are militias that are no better than murdering, criminal gangs, and they flout the rule of law every day. And those need to be dealt with firmly by the government because no government can stand to have criminal groups terrorizing their population.

Q (Off mike.)

GEN. CASEY: This is called a follow-up. (Laughs.)

Q (Through interpreter.) Yesterday The Washington Post mentioned in a write-in about a lot of the accused American soldiers that are doing violations in Iraq; the ones who have been accused or charged, their trials were not conducted the right way -- (inaudible) -- you know, that they were let go easy. What do you say about that?

And then the second thing is, what do you say about does the American soldiers in Iraq have immunity that prevent him from being prosecuted, even in front of the American courts?

GEN. CASEY: Your second question first. We take great pride in the values that our armed forces operate under, and when our service members violate those values, we do everything in our power to hold them accountable and to bring them into the legal process and have them tried appropriately under a military court.

So to suggest that any service man, American or coalition service man or woman is immune from prosecution while they are in Iraq is just not right. They are subject to the full extent of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and we take pride in holding our soldiers accountable to their values.

With respect to The Washington Post article, I didn't see it. I can just tell you that they went through the appropriate legal process, and the legal process rendered a verdict and an outcome, and that's all we can ask.

Q Given the situation in Diwaniyah and also recent incidents, such as the 10th Iraqi Army Division mutiny when they refused to be deployed in Baghdad, the looting of Abu Naji Base after the British forces withdrew, how prepared do you think the Iraqi army is to take over security? The 8th Iraqi Army Division is supposed to take over in a few days. Do you think that they have the capability?

GEN. CASEY: Those are good questions, and they're ones that we ask ourselves all the time.

I would say the 8th Division has been in the lead for some period of time, and they are in the lead, with our enabling support.

What will happen in the next days here is, the Iraqi ground force headquarters and joint headquarters will come on line, the two major national headquarters. And then -- they will then connect the 8th Division to them, and the 4th Division. And so you -- we -- you will have an Iraqi chain of command that goes from the prime minister down to the soldier, without any coalition involvement.

Right now the Iraqi forces are under my operational control, and so we are, in effect, giving back operational control to an Iraqi chain of command. That process will continue over the coming months, until all of the Iraqi units are under the Iraqi control.

Now, your larger question: Are they ready? Those battalions that you mentioned are two of the 110 battalions in the Iraqi army. There's no question that what happened both down -- I think it was in Basra -- and then up in Maysan were troubling events. And the Iraqi ground forces and Ministry of Defense are investigating both of those incidents, with the intent of holding the people responsible accountable for their actions. And they're continuing to work with the units to put them and to bring them back together again.

It's troubling. It's something we watch all the time. But it is a very small percentage of the Iraqi armed forces.

Now, are they ready? They are about halfway -- I said they were about 75 percent of the way toward the second step, toward completing the second step. There's still more work to do for them to become independent.

I'm pretty comfortable with their capabilities, given where they are in the process right now. They're going to continue to get better over the next 12 to 18 months. And they will still -- during that process, they will still have our support and our substantial presence here to assist them.

You look like you have a follow-up.

As long as it's not a second question under the cover of a follow-up. (Laughter, laughs.)

Q You say 12 to 18 months. After that period, do you think that they will be able to go it alone to the point where coalition troops can withdraw completely, or will they continue to need support for a while?

GEN. CASEY: Yeah. I'm not sure yet, and we'll adjust that as we go. But a lot of that, and in fact, the future coalition presence, 12 to 18 months from now is going to be decided by the Iraqi government. There's also a process that was announced in -- during Prime Minister Maliki's visit to Washington that has begun that will look at when the Iraqi security forces and ministries will achieve certain capabilities, and then look at what the overall security requirements of the country are, and then how the coalition force posture may be adjusted based on those conditions.

Q May I ask just one quick -- this television pool is going to kill me if I don't ask this question, but I mean, if -- pardon me? Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

GEN. CASEY: No, go ahead.

Q Okay. I'm sorry. Just about the reinforced Baghdad security operations going on, your impression of how they are, either succeeding or not succeeding, as opposed to the figures that were in July. And then, the follow-up would be, are we going to have that reinforced level for quite some time in Baghdad in order to keep seeing some improvement?

GEN. CASEY: I think we've all seen progress in Baghdad in the last five or six weeks as a result of the operations that we've been conducting. As you suggest, the difficult part is going to be holding these areas with Iraqi security forces and building the relationships between the Iraqi people in the neighborhood and their security forces so that they can get on with their economic development in those areas.

So I'm pleased with the progress to date, but we have a long way to go. And we're not going to let up until we get where we're going and bring security to the neighborhoods of Baghdad.

And the second part of your question, we'll keep the forces that we need to do that.

Q My guys were just out with the Strykers for three days, and documented what they were doing. And these are people who had to be brought back. What do you think about these guys, the Strykers, the guys who had to come back and staying in there, and they're still out there in 120-degree heat doing that job every day?

GEN. CASEY: As I said when we extended them, it puts our most capable force at the decisive point in the campaign, and that's what we needed. And they are magnificent young men and women, and their families are also magnificent for the support that they give these solders. I know it was difficult for the families. These soldiers are making a decisive difference here on the ground in Baghdad.

STAFF: We have time for one more question.

Q (Through interpreter.) My question is, some of the areas in Baghdad, you know, we're noticing there are complete closures on some of the areas in Baghdad.

Just right now we are noticing the Adhamiya area. Can you give us a picture of what goes inside these areas once they closed up? And do you have any plans to close any other additional areas in the city of Baghdad?

GEN. CASEY: If you're referring to the operations going on in Adhamiya, we come in, we put an outer cordon around the area that we intend to search, and then Iraqi and coalition forces go through and search every building in that area for weapons, ammunition, contraband, those kinds of things. And we have been doing that, starting with Dura, Amiriyah, Ghazalia, Shula and now Adhamiya. And we intend, with the Iraqi security forces, to keep doing that until Baghdad's secure.

So yes, we intend to continue this, but I'm not going to tell you where or when.

Thanks.

STAFF: Thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate --

INTERPRETER: "Shukran, shukran, shukran."

GEN. CASEY: Wait, I had one --

STAFF: Taking one more?

GEN. CASEY: One more from Corey, since I used to listen to him on the way to work. (Chuckles.)

Q For all of us, he's a rock star.

GEN. CASEY: I'll probably regret that. (Chuckles.)

Q I just want to ask a question that kind of combines the militia issue with the cordon-and-clear issue, and that is Sadr City. We know -- it's a place that we know to be, you know, heavily under Mahdi Army control. It could result in a confrontation. Do you have different plans for running this operation in Sadr City?

GEN. CASEY: Yeah, I'm not going to talk to future operations. But I think, as I mentioned, this -- all our operations against armed groups, and particularly militia, will have a military and a political component. That's really all I want to say about our future plans for Sadr City. Did I say a military and security component?

I meant a military and a political component. That's what I said.

Q (Off mike.)

GEN. CASEY: I did say political? Okay.

Q Why don't you just pull the battery out of the microphone --

GEN. CASEY: (Laughs.)

Q -- just to make sure no one knows --

Q (Off mike) -- before you go out. (Laughs.)

All right, sir. That's --

GEN. CASEY: Thank you all very much.

Q Thank you.

GEN. CASEY: Thanks for -- thanks for coming.

END.