Press Briefing, Sept. 14, 2006
Multi-National Force-Iraq
Wednesday, 13 September 2006
Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV
Spokesman,
Multi-National Force - Iraq
and
Maj. Gen. William McCoy
Commander,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region
SPECIAL IRAQ OPERATIONAL UPDATE BRIEFING
SUBJECT: PROJECTS AND PROGRESS IN RECONSTRUCTION
BRIEFERS: MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM CALDWELL, USA, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ; MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM MCCOY, GULF REGION DIVISION COMMANDER, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
LOCATION: COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, BAGHDAD, IRAQ TIME: 7:00 A.M. EDT
DATE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2006
GEN. CALDWELL: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. As-salaam aleikum.
Combined operations by both the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces continue to target terrorist al Qaeda operations. Since August 30th, over 150 focused operations have been conducted. That resulted in 66 terrorists being killed and over 830 suspected terrorists being detained, as well as the discovery of multiple weapons caches.
As part of these operations, on Tuesday evening alone there was a series of 25 raids here, in and around Baghdad, targeting al Qaeda in Iraq activities. A key outcome of these raids was the capture of over 70 suspected terrorists, of which one was the personal associate of Abu Ayyub al-Masri. This associate of al-Masri was the leader of assassination, kidnapping and IED cells in Baghdad. He is known to have directly participated in numerous terrorist acts, including kidnappings and executions, terrorist acts and others contributing to sectarian violence throughout the city. He also played a key operational role in terrorist activities prior to and during the operations in Fallujah in November of 2004.
Slide 1 Slide and chart, please.
During this past week, as part of our continued pursuit of death squads in and around Baghdad, Iraqi security forces, in coordination with coalition support forces, conducted these 10 operations you can see. And again, these are the 10 operations listed here. The result of these was three cell leaders being captured and 21 cell members also being captured. As it turned out, these operations all happened to be down in the southwest corner of Baghdad city.
Slide and chart, please.
Slide 2 As part of Operation Together Forward, Iraqi security forces, with coalition forces in support, recently began operations in three new locations within Baghdad. Specifically, this morning up here in the beladiya of Aramiya (ph) and the Shaabura (ph) area, we have begun operations. Additionally, as you probably have already heard, down here in the Monsur (ph) beladiya of Karad (ph) and also in the Rasala (ph) area down here in the beladiya of Baya (ph). Again, these operations have been ongoing and we've talked before they finished the clearing. They are now into the build and protect phase. This operation has just begun. This morning forces of the Iraqi security forces beginning clearing operations up in this area right here.
We continue to maintain focus areas, obviously, as we've talked before the areas where you see the solid green located in those beladiyas. That's five different beladiyas. Again, the intent behind this was to pick those that had the greatest amount of sectarian violence that was occurring that was murders and executions, and to conduct the operations in there in order to bring the level down, and then to reestablish security in the area, allowing for the prosperity of rebuilding to occur for the people.
Within those operations, the Iraqi security forces, with coalition forces in support, have at this point now cleared just over 52,000 buildings, which resulted in 32 weapon caches having been found; detained 91 persons; seized more than 1,200 weapons; and have assisted with registration of over 800 weapons. We have moved more than 100,000 cubic yards of trash from the streets and neighborhoods, and currently have employed more than 24,600 man-days of labor for projects directly related to activities within each of those areas where they have their focus. Overall, as part of the Baghdad security plan, we have seen a sustained reduction of level in the violence of attacks and murders in the focus areas. So what we're talking about is in these areas specifically where we, in fact, are our focused areas, we have seen a sustained level of reduction in those. However, at Baghdad at large, the number of execution-style murders we have seen a creeping back up. And yesterday, as I think most of us realize, there was a spike in those numbers.
The terrorists and death squads are clearly targeting civilians outside of the focus areas. Overall, Baghdad levels of ethnosectarian violence has been reduced by Operation Together Forward, but remains above the levels of violence we saw before the Golden Mosque bombing in Samarra in late February.
As we approach Ramadan, we know there is generally an increase in violence, and the government of Iraq has ongoing plans to address this. Last week the government of Iraq and its security forces proved once again they can successfully provide security for its people, this time when more than 4 million Shi'a pilgrims celebrate the birth of the 12th imam in Karbala Province on September 8th and 9th. Iraqi security forces independently set up and operated checkpoints and patrols throughout the Babil, Karbala and Najaf provinces, assuring the safe passage of the pilgrims moving to Karbala for the celebration.
However, the celebration was not totally without incidents, and we did see Iraqi security forces manning checkpoints throughout these to thwart the terrorist attacks, seize several weapons caches, and detain multiple terrorist suspects, as reported by the government of Iraq. As with the seventh imam celebration, the government of Iraq has demonstrated its commitment to provide the conditions by which religious freedom can be practiced without fear of prosecution, persecution or attack.
In multidivision area north, we observed Iraqi security forces assuming the lead over the past 12 months. As we have always said, as the Iraqi security forces stand up, the coalition forces will stand down. And this is evident in the fact that coalition forces in multidivision north area have been reduced from approximately 31,000 down to 21,000. And along with that, we saw a reduction in the number of operating bases from 35 operating bases down to 11 operating bases. Also in November of 2005 there was only one Iraqi battalion in the lead in that same area. Today there are now two Iraqi division headquarters in the lead, eight Iraqi brigades in the lead, and 35 Iraqi battalions in the lead.
There is a clear sign of progress by the Iraqi security forces. As we yesterday observed the transfer authority from the 101st Air Assault Division to the newly arrived 25th Infantry Division, this transfer of authority highlighted the increased capabilities that the Iraqi security forces have assumed in the northern area.
Also we continue to graduate Iraqis from army and police training programs. The latest graduations brought the number of trained and equipped Ministry of Interior forces to just at 167,900, and trained and equipped Ministry of Defense forces to 130,000, for a combined total of right about 298,000, about 2,000 away from hitting the 300,000 mark. We look forward to that milestone, obviously, with our goal eventually, as we've always stated, to have approximately 325,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces.
Additionally, by the end of this month the Iraqi Ground Forces Command, which recently stood up, will assume operational control of a second Iraqi army division, which is the 4th Iraqi Army Division; that date to be announced by the government of Iraq sometime in the next two weeks.
In addition to the progress seen with the growth of the increasing capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, we also know that later this month the government of Iraq plans to assume control of the Dhi Qar Province. This provisional Iraqi control, or PIC, transfer indicates that the provisional leadership is ready to assume responsibility for the Iraqi police and army security and governance of that province.
Lastly, I'd like to highlight a significant event taking place in Irbil starting tomorrow through Sunday. The third annual Irbil International Expo will include representation from approximately 80 countries, 800 companies in 21 different countries. Iraqi security forces have a robust security plan for this event, but the significance of this event is the jobs and economic growth theater- created from expositions such as this. The expo will showcase domestic and international businesses and link them with buyers and investors in a way to drive economic activity in a private sector.
Today we're fortunate to have with us a guest who will address a topic that is truly near and dear to hearts and minds of Iraqis, and that is the topic of reconstruction, of which we're truly seeing progress across all of Iraq. Major General Bill McCoy will address reconstruction issues for us today with a particular emphasis on the Baghdad area.
Reconstruction projects all across Iraq, and especially in Baghdad, are visible elements of Iraq's economic growth and progress, and are linked to the prosperity that Iraqis envision and the stability that they deserve.
And with that, if I could, Bill, I'll turn it over to you.
GEN. MCCOY: Thanks, General Caldwell, for the opportunity to talk to you today about what the Gulf Region Division of the Corps of Engineers is doing to help Iraq rebuild its country, and in particular the actions that we're taking to support the Baghdad security plan.
Slide 3 You can't pick up a newspaper or turn on the television today without -- (audio break) -- violence every day in Iraq. What you don't see and what the American people should be seeing at least a little bit of are the successes of the reconstruction program so that they can make a balanced -- see a balanced view of how we are making a difference in the lives of the Iraqi people every day.
The United States has contributed almost $22 billion towards a rebuilding effort estimated to be around $60 (billion) to $80 billion. Our program is yielding positive, tangible results every day that are significantly improving the lives of the Iraqi people around the country.
Certainly the work in Iraq is challenging and difficult, but reconstruction efforts are a vital component to Iraq's progress towards democracy. It is also just as important to our build and protect efforts, and the Baghdad security plan.
So the Gulf Region Division is integrally involved in Operation Together Forward to improve the essential services and the quality of life of Iraqis living in Baghdad.
(Note: From this point there are more frequent technical difficulties resulting in audio breaks.)
A joint operations center for reconstruction is -- (audio break) -- of Baghdad. The joint operations center consists of representatives from multinational forces in Iraq, the Multinational Division of Baghdad, the U.S. embassy, the -- (audio break) -- reconstruction in Baghdad, the joint -- (audio break) -- the government of Iraq, and the aminate (ph), and of course the Gulf Region Division. (Audio break) -- have reconstruction liaison teams out in the -- (audio break) -- identifying areas that they need to go to as priority areas, assessing projects that improve the quality of life in the communities. They're looking at everything from short-term projects such as trash removal and immediate repairs in the streets to long- term involving the -- (audio break).
Slide 4 As you can see on this -- (audio break) -- have a broad plan of projects already under way and planned -- and many completed -- in Baghdad in areas of buildings, health education, electricity, water -- (audio break) -- security and justice, and transportation and communications. (Audio break) -- to improve the living conditions here -- (audio break).
(Audio break) -- we are actively engaged in identifying -- (audio break) -- and initiating additional work -- (audio break) -- approve the essential -- (audio break). Today we're focusing on six key neighborhoods, or beladiyas, in Adhamiya, Ghazalia, Amariya, eastern Monsur (ph), Beya (ph) and Dura.
(Audio break) -- of October -- (audio break) -- electrical distribution to 3,000 homes, to improve wastewater disposal to 3,500 homes, and to improve the educational facilities for up to 1,000 students.
Slide 5 (Audio break.)
On slide three, you'll show -- I wanted to show you some examples of some of the things we're doing in Adhamiya, which has a population of about 390,000 people. In particular, we renovate or construct 28 schools, supporting about 8,400 students, in Adhamiya. Currently there are 18 schools that have been renovated or constructed, that are supporting 5,400 students, and shown here are three of the completed schools -- the Adhamiya girls school, here the Adhamiya boys school -- (audio break) -- school -- (audio break) -- has a special place in GRD's heart for the Iraqi associate that we lost about six months ago as a result of her efforts to make this school a better place for students in Adhamiya.
We also installed 23 kilometers of collection lines to take sewage away from the homes of businesses, and about 14 kilometers of those lines are already -- (audio break).
Slide 6 Next slide.
In Dura, we're focusing on increasing the potable water supply in the beladiya. The water treatment plant shown in this photo here will supply water to about 192,000 residents in the Dura beladiya, including the hospital district. It's expected to be at full capacity by November.
We'll also renovate and pave about 92 kilometers of road to increase the movement and cut down on congestion in the Dura beladiya, and of those 92 kilometers, we've finished about 70 kilometers already.
Slide 7 Next slide.
Overall in Baghdad, we're constructing about 23 fire stations to provide fire protection services to the people of the community. And shown here is the Al Banuk (sp) Fire Station, which is nearing completion and will serve the Adhamiya beladiya.
We're also constructing or renovating 86 public health centers to serve 3 million people around the city. The Al Tallith (sp) Public Health Center in Sadr City has been for several months and is seeing approximately 300 patients a day. Currently there are five PHCs open -- public health centers -- that are open and seeing patients in Tallith (sp) and al-Mashtal; Al-Hurria, Al Guyara (sp) and al- Husainiyah were opened just this last week. And a sixth clinic in Dura is ready to open as soon as the minister of Health decides to open its doors.
We've constructed about 27 electrical substations around the city to improve electrical transmission into the city. The average number of hours of power in Baghdad, admittedly, is low at about six hours of power a day. Our goal is to raise it to 12 hours. And we have just recently awarded a contract to the Quds power plant to expand its capability by 240 megawatts, and that project should be done in October of '07.
We've also constructed about 43 water projects in and around the Baghdad area designed to produce enough water for about 2 1/2 million residents. WAPDA was one of them, (WADA ?) is another, and we just recently assumed control of the R-3 Water Treatment Plant outside Sadr City.
We're making incredible headway in Iraq and in Baghdad. As of the 12th of September, of the more than 3,800 planned projects that we have as part of the Iraq reconstruction program, more than 3,400 of those projects have started, valued at almost $11.5 billion, and 643 are under construction. We've completed a total of 2,842 this morning.
We continue to strive for success in helping rehabilitate and rebuild the nation of Iraq, but we're not doing this alone. By teaming with our Iraqi partners, we're building the foundation for continued success.
Under an initiative called Iraqi First, the Gulf Region Division, along with the Joint Contracting Command, has focused efforts on maximizing contract awards to Iraqi-owned businesses. This empowers the citizens of Iraq to play a major role in rebuilding their nation and helps boost the country's economy.
Likewise, in every -- virtually every project that we're working on today, we work hands in hand with the ministries at the national level and the DGs, the local director generals, at the local level, to ensure that we're building an appropriate facility that they can maintain and then sustain after we turn it over to them.
In particular, though, in the past 10 months, Gulf Region Division has awarded over 1,700 projects to Iraqi-owned businesses, which is a huge turnaround of our past practices of cost-plus-design build contractors, multinational firms. And that totaled about 77 percent of our total contract awards.
Iraq is a country rich in natural resources and intelligent and talented people. I'm confident that by continuing to work with our Iraqi partners on reconstruction and focusing on essential service projects, we can help repair the dilapidated infrastructure we've seen here and help rebuild a -- help build a brighter future for Iraq.
Thank you for your interest in this subject and this important part of Iraq's future. I'm prepared to take your questions.
Q Mark Brunswick from Knight Rider. General, school starts in Baghdad next week, next Wednesday. And we're hearing from a lot of parents that they're concerned about security. Some have taken their children to Syria or Jordan. Some are just considering keeping their kids home for the school year. Does it concern you at all that all this work you've done on building infrastructure, building schools, might go for naught if people don't show up at the door?
GEN. MCCOY: Well, my sense is that in the past several months, that we've actually seen increases in people coming back to our beladiyas. And the schools are ready for them. We've worked hard over the summer. Last year and into the spring, even though the violence was here, we still had kids going to school. And as you saw in the Adhamiya girls' school, there is a heavy incidence of children off the streets, in the schools, and that's important.
Q General, Mike Bether (sp) with NBC.
GEN. MCCOY: Hi, Mike.
Q There's no secret that at the beginning of three years ago, after the invasion, that the country was flush with cash for rebuilding. But I'm hearing from sources at the Pentagon and Washington that there is not enough money now for rebuilding, that this is being cut back. What is your opinion on this? And do you think you have enough money to continue on to do what you think you need to do in order to, you know, achieve these various projects?
GEN. MCCOY: Yeah. Thanks, Mike.
You know, first of all, the World Bank three years ago said that the estimate that they had was about $60 billion to fix the infrastructure in Iraq. That was probably conservative. It was more like 80 (billion dollars) to a hundred billion (dollars) as we look at it today, because they didn't account for a lot of the just dilapidated infrastructure that was here that not been maintained for several decades.
Our government -- the United States government contributed about $20 billion to that. So we were never going to completely rebuild Iraq. The intent was to refurbish the country in key critical sectors and also to give it a jump start.
Now, on to your question: Could I use more money? Sure, we could use more money.
But we're looking for a variety of different ways to get it. And the embassy, I think, has worked actively with our Congress and with the United States to identify areas where we should help. And we're continuing to work with the government of Iraq for them to start using the money that they've accumulated through revenue that they've obtained in oil. And we're continuing to work with the international community to support the reconstruction efforts that continue to be needed here.
My sense is we'll be here for a while helping Iraq continue to develop their infrastructure as they continue to prosper.
Q Well, let me go again here. And one thing -- and you touched on this. After three years, we're only at six hours of power a day. Frankly, in most neighborhoods it's less than that -- the people we talk to. Why can't we get this right?
GEN. MCCOY: Well, there's a couple of reasons. And first of all, I don't want to fool you; electricity is a very, very complicated subject and it's tied up in a number of factors. I'm going to give you the Cliffs Notes version of this, but it's very complicated.
First of all, before the war, the vast majority of the country was about four to six hours of power, while Baghdad enjoyed 18 to 24 hours of power. Today, the vast majority, 75 percent of the population, has twice as much power as they had before the war, and Baghdad has four to six. We've had them up to 10; we couldn't hold it, and it went back down.
The reason that Baghdad is as bad as it is, is a number of reasons: bad infrastructure, which we're working on; bad maintenance on the facilities that they do have, and a bad maintenance ethic that has caused them to forget about preventive maintenance in the past years. And we're working on that by training their plant operators to improve that. Today, 2,000-plus megawatts are available, feasible power, in Baghdad alone, and only 770 of them were operating today. So that is, in part, due to the maintenance of the facilities. And so we continue to train their operators to improve their maintenance.
Interdiction has become an issue here in the last few weeks, as either lines have blown down or been blown down in the areas surrounding Baghdad, which has caused the minister of Electricity to be unable to get power into the city. And that's problematic. But -- so he has rapid response teams out repairing those lines. Fuel, oddly enough, has become an issue because a lot of the turbines that he has require diesel to operate. And the minister of Oil and he have not been able to come to an agreement on getting diesel for his generators. Oddly enough, about three days ago, the minister of Electricity became the acting minister of Oil, and the first thing he did was transfer some diesel to his plants so that he could start running his diesel-operated generators. And that's a good thing.
The other thing, though, that we're looking at is a dramatic increase in demand. We've gone from 4,000 megawatts to about 6,000 megawatts in improved feasible capacity here, at the same time that the Iraqi demand has gone from 6,000 megawatts to almost 9,000. So, while we've increased power availability by almost 50 percent, they've increased their demand by 50 percent. There is no energy conservation in Iraq right now, other than the forced energy conservation by not having power. But there is -- their demand continues to grow.
Free markets have enabled them to buy air conditioners, refrigerators and the like, and that's causing an increase in demand.
So what we still have left to do is the creation of generation capability, and we're working at Dura. The minister of Electricity is partnering with us and working at -- he's building a similar plant right outside Dura. We're working -- continue to work on transmission lines, and we're continuing to improve the ability of the Iraqis to run their plants the appropriate way.
Q A quick follow-up. I speak English.
GEN. MCCOY: Good.
Q Hi, Sudar Sinrogavin (ph) of The Washington Post. Just a quick follow-up to this question, you had mentioned that -- in your response here that some of the lines outside Baghdad were blown up. Are you -- I mean, is there -- are insurgents actively targeting the electricity infrastructure of the region? And I mean -- and then you had -- is this a concern?
GEN. MCCOY: I think at this point the answer is somebody is actively targeting the infrastructure. It could be insurgents, it could be criminals, it could be tribes. It is somebody that is interested in blowing down the power for a variety of reasons, and the minister of Electricity, we meet with him about three times a week at my office. And he is very concerned about security. He's working actively to train up his facility protection services that he has integral to his organization. He's asked for assistance from the Iraqi army, from the coalition forces, as he goes out to repair lines that have come down.
And what we're finding is there is -- there are deliberate actions along some parts of the line. I don't know that it's organized. It's just they're going after destruction, and what -- all these people are doing is hurting the Iraqi people. They're not causing anything except hurt to the Iraqi people.
As you look at the way that we've started this three years ago, our focus was really on providing nationwide power. So we were focused more on building power stations external to Baghdad, and we didn't pay a lot of attention to the thermals that were here, the thermal plants because we wanted the perception to be that we were providing power for all of the people of Iraq, which was different from before. So it was predicated on this notion that you could build these power plants out in places like Kirkuk and in Khor Zubair and transfer power to Baghdad as required.
Now two things have happened. First of all, the security situation deteriorated. So when those lines go down, that has an effect. And the second thing is some of the provinces don't like to share, and so we have to work continuously with the minister of Electricity. In fact, he's doing it; he works with his provinces to be more directive in load shedding so that he can shed power from the outer provinces -- some of which have 18 and 19 hours of power -- and bring power into Baghdad when required.
The other piece about electricity that's important is they don't have a control system, an automated control system that allows them to detect faults, to -- and disruptions and to move power accordingly. So if you had a system like that, you'd be able to detect when a power plant goes down or when a power line, and then, you'd be able to divert it along another course. Many of the transmission lines have redundant lines, and we are building even more redundancy into it.
They don't have a system like that. We're installing it right now.
Q General, have you found that some of the projects you've tried to open in various neighborhoods in the Baghdad area and in Iraq are not being used because certain political elements in this country want to take credit for this and that the U.S. -- the fact that it's built by the U.S. has not really been a good thing?
GEN. MCCOY: It is happening in one sector, and that's in health. We've not experienced that in security and justice. When we finish a police station, when we finish military facilities, when we finish a fire station -- (inaudible) -- in there and take them over and start operating.
We had a problem with one ministry building that we finished because she wanted some additional protective measures around it. And it was a legitimate request, we've installed that and she's moved in. We had an issues in the south with facilities that we finished, and the agreement had been, when we made the agreement, that when we finished the facility, the Iraqis would move the furniture in. There was no furniture and so they didn't want to move into it. So we're working through that.
But the issue that we've had in health is more to the point of what you talk about.
Q The idea directly. I mean, there are more than just a few clinics that have not opened, correct?
GEN. MCCOY: Well, the whole clinics program is, you know -- we've had some issues with the clinics program over the last year. We've turned it all around and all of our clinics are now back under construction. We've turned six over to the Iraqi government, and as of this week, they've opened five of them. Three of those were not open for several weeks, and the only reason was a political motivation, we think. But the fact is what we've continued to do is work with the Minister of Health to help them understand that this is goodness for the people. And they have agreed to that, and so now they're looking at ways to open these.
And we've started to partner more. We've got engineers from their staff working on our staff. We talk to them as much as we possibly can to gain their insights on things we can do better. The Basra Children's Hospital down in the south, if we get Congress to pass the congressional notification, we'll start on that work here in the next month. In fact, we're negotiating the contract now. And on our staff working on that project is the future facility engineer for the Basra Children's Hospital out of the Ministry of Health.
So we're attempting to work with them and help them understand that the health sector is non-sectarian. It is something that has to take care of the people of Iraq. And we think we're making some headway together.
GEN. CALDWELL: Are there any further specific questions for General McCoy?
Q General, I notice that a lot of the planned projects are in the Sadr City area. Could you talk a little bit about why that is and perhaps even address perhaps the political implications of appeasing Sadrists there?
GEN. MCCOY: No, that's not what it is. Those dots -- as you recall, we went into Sadr City several years ago, and as a result of that, after we went in, we did quite a bit of work, planned work. We started in the water sector, sewage lines, health clinics, two of which are open today, and that continues.
Those red dots that you see represent all of the electrical sectors, some 68 electrical sectors in Sadr City. What we did is we decided that the United States would procure the materials for those electrical sectors and the Ministry of Electricity would install the material. And it was intended to be done as a joint effort. It was intended to be done in the fall of '05. And we started buying the materials, and the financing was going to be provided by the government of Iraq to install the materials. The financing was developmental funds Iraq.
And if you'll recall, in December there was an election, and so just before the election, the government in power did not want to make a decision about future funding of projects, so they didn't. And after December there was a period of time where the government was trying to stand up; nobody wanted to make a decision then. So in May, the Ministry of Electricity showed up and the minister of Finance took over, and it was about negotiating again.
So they have been negotiating, and just this week they've released the money for the Ministry of Electricity to start the -- some $92 million in material that we have acquired for the Sadr City electrical (sector ?).
Now, this is final model of electricity -- distribution lines throughout the city installed down to the resident, down to the customer.
We just started a recent project to install water distribution systems throughout Sadr City as well. So we are now installing to the residents, again, some 10 different contracts involving 45 different sectors throughout the city, to install water distribution there. And as you know, last year we were installing compact water units, small water stations, if you will, where people could come to get potable water. And this year we're installing distribution systems that will distribute it right to their house.
If you remember, one of the most critical issues here is the health of this nation. And the reason the health is so bad is -- I would attribute it to three reasons: one, the lack of emphasis on water and sewage infrastructure over the past two and a half decades, combined with no advances in their health sector.
The prime minister hit me up the other day with a question about if I knew when the last hospital was built in Iraq. And the answer is 1986, when they had 17 million people in this country. Today they've got 27 (million). When you combine that with the unsanitary conditions here, you have a health problem.
And so we're attacking all three of those and trying to make a difference to improve the health of this country.
STAFF: General McCoy remains available, but we'll move on to any general questions you may have.
GEN. CALDWELL: Mike, go ahead.
Q Sorry. He's hiding behind the board there, so he should come out now. (Laughter.) He was -- we thought he'd left, but we knew he was there. Don't worry.
General, can you talk to me about operations ongoing in Sadr City, what is going on up there in terms of security operations in that sector? GEN. CALDWELL: I can. If he could put back up the map of Baghdad, please, that one chart. (Pause.) Slide too, please.
I'll walk out here and talk to them on the chart.
What we have done, obviously, is we've talked -- and the areas that are green -- those are specifically where obviously we're clearing, protecting and then doing the build phase.
This past week we had significant clearing operations that we initiated down in this area right here, again, but with no intent to continue to protect thereafter but rather to go in and reestablish some control.
We have been running operations in Sadr City, Thawra. They went -- they commenced this past weekend. We've been using up to about a battalion's worth of Stryker unit, conducting operations through the city. That has gone reasonably well. They're security operations. Again, the prime minister's been very clear. The entire city is part of the Baghdad security plan. He expects Iraqi security forces, with coalition forces in support, to conduct operations throughout the entire city, and that's in fact what continues to occur.
And then, obviously, when the ministerial council for national security does meet, they establish where the next focus area will be, which they've just now established, this now being the next focused area. And again, we've just started clearing operations there, not into the protect phase yet and the build phase. But that would be -- probably in the next few days they should finish the clearing operations, them move to the next phase.
And then, again, as we've stated, this entire operation will take many, many months. This is not a couple of weeks or even a few months. I mean, this is well into the beginning of next year that we're going to see us still being focused in Baghdad, specifically building in areas, reestablishing the governance, bringing back normalcy to the areas where, again, this had -- really, this -- as you know, down here at Dura, that had the highest attack rates, which resulted in murders and executions, of any area within Baghdad. And it's almost minimal now because of the ongoing operations.
Q As a follow-up question, if I may, as a follow-up, would -- you've had significant counterinsurgency operations in the west and in other sectors in Operation Together Forward. Would this be the first operation that you could term as counter-militia, frankly?
GEN. CALDWELL: What I would say is, I'd rather categorize this -- this is the first time we have taken a comprehensive total approach to conduct operations that will give the people the ability to see progress being made in their neighborhoods. I mean, up until now, the military can go in -- the Iraqi security forces, with coalition support, can go in and establish security in any area you want, and regain control. But the question is, what is the long-term impact? I mean, the military can't achieve long-term success. That's going to be the economic piece and the governance piece.
And that's why, in the focus areas that you see, there is such a deliberate effort being made to get the governance back up, the neighborhood advisory councils, the district advisory councils, to get the ministers out there. You know, the chairman of the provincial council was down in Ghazalia here this past weekend, going through the town, talking to the people.
I mean, the more that the government takes the control, the government of Iraq takes control of these areas, along with the build phase that's occurring, which General McCoy and all his folks are working hand in hand with the government of Iraq on, is what will be the key to the success in these areas.
Yes, sir?
Q Hi. Peter Graff from Reuters.
STAFF: (Off mike.)
Q Oh. I wanted to ask about Anbar province. Of course, we had an excellent -- or several of us had an excellent telephone conference call with General Zilmer the other day.
GEN. CALDWELL: Good.
Q But I guess the quality of the line was kind of troublesome, and it was hard to ask follow-up questions. So I was just wondering if I can ask a few more.
The general said -- you know, in effect, it was, I guess, prompted the Devlin assessment and the stories about that in The Washington Post and The New York Times. The general said he accepted the conclusions of that assessment, but he didn't necessarily accept the sort of grim characterizations of it that had appeared in the press.
And of course we haven't actually seen the assessment, because it's classified. We've only seen the characterizations of it that appeared in the press. So it's hard for us to figure out exactly what he accepts and what he doesn't accept.
So I was just going to go through some of those conclusions and see if this is what you guys are actually saying is the case. I mean, it's been reported that that assessment said that -- GEN. CALDWELL: Well, look, if I -- I don't mean to cut you off. That is a classified assessment.
Q No, I know.
GEN. CALDWELL: It would be very inappropriate for me to talk about something that's classified. In fact, I'm prohibited from actually doing it. So I will not be able to answer any questions that you ask specifically about that assessment --
Q Okay.
GEN. CALDWELL: -- because it is a classified document.
Q Right. But I -- but the press reports about it aren't. You know, they have said that -- I guess it was The Washington Post said that in Anbar province, the most potent political force now is al Qaeda. It said that the central government has almost no functioning institutions outside of a couple of towns like Fallujah and Qaim. And it said that -- I guess The New York Times said that without an extra division to back up the Marines, there's nothing the Marines can do to counter the insurgency. I wonder if you'd count -- comment on those three conclusions and tell me what you think about that.
GEN. CALDWELL: Sure. Well, a minute ago we talked about the number of operations that were conducted, with a focus on al Qaeda terrorist operations here over the last two weeks, just over 150. What I can tell you is, specifically, 92 of those operations, or about 60 percent, were out in the Al Anbar province. So clearly is a(n) al Qaeda threat out there that does exist. We are very focused on that. We dedicate the resources and the assets necessary when actionable intelligence is available to specifically go out there and target those people.
So when in fact we find the al Qaeda elements out there, we have the assets available. They're focused, they're targeted, and they conduct operations. There would be 92 operations over a 14-day period. You can do the math, but you can see it's a pretty intensive ongoing effort that's made against the al Qaeda terrorist activities that are occurring out there.
They're very intertwined. I mean, I'd like to say we can clearly separate this terrorist group from that terrorist group, but many times where it's very clear which one is AQI, but -- but there was 92 different operations conducted against terrorist al Qaeda in Iraq elements out there.
So that's a very deliberate ongoing process that is occurring out west in the Al Anbar province. I mean, over half of those that are done within the country are just in that area. So -- over these last two weeks. And then when you talk about the ability of -- to get a functioning government and everything else, you're exactly right; if you go into al Qaim or you go into Fallujah, from where it was just 16 months ago, Fallujah especially, you know, you now have a civic government that is beginning to function down there.
You've got a mayor, you've got a city council, you have a police chief, you've got an Iraqi army and Iraqi police elements that are beginning to dialogue and work with each other. I mean, there's forward motion occurring down in Fallujah that's very positive from what it was 16 months ago, and that needs to continue spreading throughout the Al Anbar Province. You see a lot of that too up in al Qaim. So there are positive signs.
If you take -- let's just take police forces. In February of this year when that Marine unit came in and assumed control of the Al Anbar Province, there was approximately 1,600 Iraqi police. Today out there we have over 6,400 Iraqi police in uniform and serving. We have an additional 2,100 approximately right now that are actually in training, that are going to be added to those numbers, and we have another 300 waiting to go to training.
So one of the most important things is, the military can go in and establish security, but until all the other -- the governance piece and the economic piece and then, of course, the institution to provide its own internal security, the police forces are up and functioning, they won't be able to do that. So there is tremendous headway they've made; I mean, 3(00), 400-percent increase in the number of police in the last eight months they've been there. And that will continue as these additional ones come out of training and the other 300, and the recruiting drive still goes on.
So those type of things show positive movement in the right direction. Is it where it needs to be? Not yet. Is it moving in the right direction? It sure is. And that's the most important thing that we could do right now.
But ultimately, any solution out there is going to take all elements. I mean, it's going to take the military element but it's also going to take the economic element. It's going to take a commitment by the government of Iraq to dedicate those resources to fulfill the commitments that have been made to begin the developmental projects that they have planned, and then it's going to take the governance piece, and that's standing up the governance in more than just those two cities we talked about.
Yes, ma'am?
Q Liz Sly with the Chicago Tribune. I'd like to ask if you could clear up the mystery that sort of emerged in the week of the claim last week that there was a 52-percent fall in the civilian deaths in Baghdad in August, which seemed to be contradicted the following day by the final figure released by the Health Ministry, which showed (1,536 ?) deaths, I think, violent deaths, which was more like a 17-percent decrease over the previous month.
Could you explain that, and also explain why it is that you don't release actual counts so that people can figure out for themselves what's included and what the percentage fall and increase is month over month?
GEN. CALDWELL: Liz, the exact way people count figures is always going to be slightly different. If you just take right here within the city of Iraq -- I mean Baghdad, 7 million people here in the city, exactly how many people yesterday did die through whatever -- whether it was executions, murders, whatever, indirect fire, whatever killed them, how many exactly died yesterday, you're going to have slightly different numbers. It's just because there is not a coherent system that exists out there that covers throughout the entire city, that reports into one local place. The NJOC is probably one of the best mechanisms that the Iraqi government has set up, where figures are reported in through their police system into a central location where you can get some overall reporting.
The way the military does it, the coalition force does it is that we remain very consistent in how we track these numbers every month. We have a system that goes in and looks at four different areas.
We take those things. We have a fusion cell that exists that goes across those, looks at all these different reports and inputs, and then establishes what we think was the casualty figures for that day. The key thing that we do is we make sure we're consistent so that we can establish trend lines. Anybody can debate -- you know, debate numbers any day of the week for as long as you want, but what is a lot more definitive is trend lines, and so we can establish a trend line because the method and means and mechanisms by which we're collecting, analyzing and reporting our data remains consistent.
You may say, "Well, that's not consistently right." Well, but it is consistent so that we in fact can establish a very clear definitive trend line and feel very comfortable that that gives us a reasonable assurance that we're -- when we say it's dropping, increasing, remaining steady, it probably is doing about that. What that exact number is you can get debated by many different ways. The Ministry of Health reported one set of figures at the end of August and then a week later gave a very different number, and I don't know why there numbers change. You'd have to talk to them. That's not for me to figure out.
But what I can tell you is that the mechanism by which we, the coalition forces, do ours is a very deliberate and conscious process. We take it from UNIFIL reports that come in. We have out the PTTs, the MiTTs, the sit-in reports. We have our own forces that are operating in the city. We have -- that send in spot reports, and we do the analysis of those. We go to the NJOC. We are embedded with them and reading their reports and taking their data too. We have all-source intelligence means that we use to collect additional reports from across the city, and then, we also have the Government of Iraq Ministry reports that come in that we have access to.
So we take all these, bounce them off each other to -- it's complete analysis that's done every day, and then, as they get further information, it may be slightly refined. So was it 65 yesterday, as reported in the press, or was it 58? Tomorrow, you know, it may be 61 or 45. I mean, as reports come in, they get further refined, data gets further analyzed, but what's important is we remain consistent in the means by which we do this so that we can establish trend lines and do analysis off whether there is in fact we're seeing an increase, a decrease or a steady state.
Q So are you saying that you actually make a composite figure that's basically an average of different reports? And do you mean that you actually just rely on American reports and not on Iraqi reports?
GEN. CALDWELL: No, that's not what I said at all.
Q Okay.
GEN. CALDWELL: I said we use the NJOC figures, which is the government of Iraq, and the ministry figures, which is the government of Iraq. That's over 50 percent of the means and mechanisms, and then, we have our all-source sources that -- which we're not going to discuss publicly, but we also use to establish additional information.
So there's -- the reporting that comes from just strictly coalition forces is almost minimal. That's all the other resources that are being brought in on the reporting. Everybody wants to get this right. There's nobody that wants to have it incorrect. Everybody wants to report as accurately as they possibly can. There is no use in anybody reporting incorrect figures.
What's important is -- you need to understand, it's like anything. When you get a first report in, whenever I hear a first report, I realize that within 12 hours or 24 hours that report can change slightly, and when you take the cumulative effect of that occurring across the entire country, those figures can change 24 to 48 to 72 hours later. And it takes somebody dedicated and thorough that's continually doing the assessment, the analysis, and we have a group of people that do just that every day of the week so that we make sure that we're as consistent, as accurate, as detailed and descriptive as we possibly can.
All right.
Q Just to follow again --
GEN. CALDWELL: Well, let me --
Q -- if there was a 50 percent drop, there would have been 900 or so deaths in August, but in fact, there were 1,500. So is it possible that you could be out by 600 deaths? And would you revise your figure, now that the Health Ministry has revised its figure?
GEN. CALDWELL: I'm not sure what the exact Health Ministry figures are at this moment, if they've gone back and done further analysis. And I'm not sure if the government of Iraq has made any comment yet on those figures. I think I'd probably wait till they make their final analysis before I make any type of comparison like that. I am aware that there was a deputy minister of Health that put out a figure, but I have not heard that from the government of Iraq.
Next question, please?
Yes, sir?
Q Ahmed Fahram (ph) from AFP. Sir, how can you describe to us the violence level going on in Baghdad right now? Is it dropping? And what can you tell us about the fact that about 84 dead bodies were found in Baghdad within the last 48 hours? Most of these bodies have torture marks, handcuffed or blindfolded, and chopping the head. So is there a jump in violence going on in these days in Baghdad? Or how can you --
GEN. CALDWELL: Right. I think what I said in my statement was that in fact we did see a spike in violence in the city of Baghdad over the last 24 hours. And so you're exactly correct, there was a spike in violence that did occur in the city over the last 24 hours. And a large portion of those, and the reports we received thus far, are from murder execution-style type activity that's associated with it.
Within the focus areas, the areas, as we've talked on the map, where in fact Iraqi security forces are conducting their focused operations, there is a significant reduction in the level that occurred between July and today. The intent is to sustain it down at those levels, which we in fact -- the government of Iraq, with coalition forces in support, are doing. But the increase that you saw did occur in areas outside of the focus areas. And that's part of the reason why, as the prime minister stated, that eventually the intent is his plan will spread throughout more of the city of Iraq. Where he had us start, we being the government of Iraq security forces and us, is in the areas where they had the highest number of murders, deaths, execution-type activities that occurred in order to bring it down as quickly as possible. So you do see some occurring outside of the focus areas, but not within the focus areas themselves.
Q Still, sir, we've been hearing from some Iraqis, like for example in Dora, which is supposed to be security area right now, that since the searching campaign that was organized by the U.S. forces in Dora, lots of weapons were confiscated and people right now are unarmed. And this gave a chance to militias to get back into the area and to work freely. And in fact, there was an incident about four days ago in Ashaha (ph) neighborhood in Dora. About 30 people were kidnapped from the market in daylight by militias, and they were found dead the day after -- 30 people. So how can you respond?
GEN. CALDWELL: I did not see the report on that one, so I can't really comment on it for you. What can I tell you is that every home, by the prime minister's decree, is authorized to have a weapon in their home with some ammunition. And in fact, as they go through the sweeps, the Iraqi security forces register weapons. Again, I mentioned that in my opening comments, that there's been a lot of weapons registered in these homes because they are authorized to have a weapon in every single home by the prime minister's direction. And so they in fact do have weapons.
So if -- when you say there's no weapons in the home, if they had had one and they wanted to maintain it, or they wanted to get one, they're authorized to have it and nobody will take that away from them in their home because that's what the government of Iraq has established -- has authorized.
What I will tell you, if you go down to the Dora area -- and again, I don't know if you'd had the opportunity to walk in the area, the focused area where they've focused the operations and continue to operate today, you can walk very freely through that area.
It's very secure. There's always going to be some crime that's going to occur, just like you would have at any city anywhere in the world. But in terms of the murders and the executions, there has been a dramatic downturn from the July period in that area, and it has been sustained. You'll have a couple of incidents that occur, obviously, and we continue tracking those with the government of Iraq, but you have not seen the levels at all reach back to where they were before. And I think if you were to talk to the citizens -- again, living in the focused areas; not the entire Dura beladiya down there, but the focused areas we're operating within Dura -- that the levels have not gone back to where they were, and that people will talk to you very freely about it.
I mean, they're really the best example to find out what's happening down there is to go and talk directly to them, versus me telling you what it is, which I can, but they truly are the best representation of what this plan is achieving that the prime minister put together.
STAFF: Time for one last question.
Q Hi. Sudar Sinrogavin (ph) again from The Washington Post. Yes, you're claiming success in these areas, yet --
GEN. CALDWELL: I think what we're saying is we're having progress, we're having forward progress.
Q Yeah, you're planning progress in these areas.
GEN. CALDWELL: "Success" would imply that you've reached an end state, and that everything that you had originally planned to achieve has been achieved, and we in fact have not done that yet. And this going to be done over many, many months.
Q Okay.
GEN. CALDWELL: I mean, I just -- I think it's very important to understand that, because some people get the impression when you say "success," that you're finished, it's been concluded, you achieved everything you wanted to achieve; in fact, we have not yet. We're only at the start of it, and we've got a long ways to go. But we're encouraged by what we're seeing, and we see some positive movement forward. Q I meant to say "progress."
GEN. CALDWELL: Okay.
Q (Laughs, laughter.) My question is you're claiming progress in these areas, and yet, just in the past few weeks, we've seen some of the worst cases of violence in other areas, key -- as in yesterday, as my colleague here pointed out, with the, you know, 85 bodies. What do you think is behind that? I mean, are you -- is the -- do you have enough resources to bring security to all of Baghdad? Is it just a matter of being overwhelmed? Are the death squads simply moving to other areas once you guys go in, are they just going elsewhere? Are they outstrategizing the U.S. military? What is behind this -- especially the spike in violence yesterday, when you have -- and these aren't just ordinary crimes. You know, we're talking about, you know, people who have been tortured, executed. These are really -- and so if you can just speak a bit about what you think is behind this violence. What -- you know, what's happening here?
GEN. CALDWELL: As with any situation that occurs, you know, anywhere throughout Iraq and we look at it and we see that it was clearly a murder or an execution or assassination of some timing, most of those we normally associate with is we do further analysis with probably sectarian violence at this point. Not all necessarily, but a large portion of that probably are associated with that. And so what we -- and our initial analysis of what occurred, especially over the last 24 hours, was a(n) increase in sectarian violence that did occur in the city.
We obviously work very closely with the government of Iraq to address that, to deal with it. You know, the people have to see some hope for the future. They're going to have to see the reconciliation that the prime minister talked about, his 24-point plan from June. They need to see that being implemented. I mean, when people understand there's hope, there's a better future that lies ahead for them, that in fact we're going to work out things like the hydrocarbon law, we're going to work out the division of resources so that everybody in Iraq -- all Iraqis will benefit from the wealth that this great nation possesses.
I mean, the council representative is taking these things on. They're dealing with them. They -- you know, this government's been in existence maybe about 120 days now. I mean, they are moving forward. They're taking positive steps. It's not going to be done overnight. But the people have to see and understand that there's not one sect trying to take away and exclude the other sect, that in fact they all want to work together, that there is unity, not just in terms of the representation there at the national level, but in terms of their actions and the way that they deal with each other. So the people have to see that in order to truly believe.
Sure.
Q On to the specific questions.
GEN. CALDWELL: (Inaudible) -- that's right.
Q Do you have enough manpower to handle all of Baghdad?
GEN. CALDWELL: Well --
Q Do you --
GEN. CALDWELL: Well, what I would tell you -- it's more than a manpower issue, though. It's a three-part process. I mean, that's the key thing the prime minister talked about. There's the military that can go in and establish security in the area for a time period, but that's all we could do. With physical presence on the ground, you can establish security. And the military can do it wherever they want. The government of Iraq security forces, with the coalition forces -- anywhere we want to move in this country, we can move and establish security.
But the question is, to sustain it for long term, you have got to build the economic piece and the governance piece. They are the only things that are going to convince the people long-term to put their down their differences, to not take up arms against each other, and to work together in harmony towards, you know, truly a unified Iraq that has just such incredible potential for what it can do in the future, with the resources it has and the people that exist here today.
And so when you say do we have enough people -- the question you're asking is, do you have enough people to go into the city -- I need more than people. What we need is, we need the economic piece to start working, we need the governance piece to start working. They have to work in coordination with the military piece. The three have to work in harmony to produce the outcome that will be long-term and sustainable. And that means the government of Iraq, it means the people of Iraq are going to have to commit themselves to this.
And they are the true key to success. Yes, we have enough forces to do the mission that we're trying to accomplish, but it's a lot more than military force. It's all elements combined together, working in harmony with each other. And that's what the purpose is, as the prime minister stated, within the focused areas. And so with time, the people should see that start happening in those areas. They should see, like Bill McCoy was talking about, the water lines being repaired, the sewage being taken out of the city.
I mean, there are -- three basic things they continually talk about is, when you go down and you talk to the people, especially in these areas -- Dura, Ghazalia, Amiriyah, wherever you want to go -- is, "we need water, we need electricity, and we need the sewage fixed." Those are their three big things -- electricity being probably number one -- that they want. And that's in fact what we know everybody is working very diligently towards to improve, so that the basic services for the people are restored.
And then the reconciliation piece has to continue on. All right. And we've heard the prime minister talking about it. We've heard members of the Council of Representatives talking about it. I mean, there's a lot of discussion. They've been holding conferences at different levels. I mean, that process needs to continue on, too.
You've got a very young government in power right now that have been there about -- like -- we said about 120 days. There's a lot more to still be done here in the next 120 days.
But they are moving forward. They are making differences. And each day they take another step. And that's what's the important thing that's occurring.
But it is not going to occur overnight, and it's going to take many, many months, well into next year, before people really start seeing a real difference in their lives.
STAFF: That's all we have time for.
GEN. CALDWELL: Okay. Thank you very much.
Q Thank you.
END.
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