Press Briefing, April 11, 2007
Multi-National Force-Iraq
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Media roundtable with Maj. Gen. William Caldwell IV, MNF-I spokesman, and Maj. Marty Weber, 79th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, April 11, 2007.
MEDIA ROUNDTABLE WITH MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN FOR MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ; AND MAJOR MARTY WEBER, 79TH EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL UNIT TOPIC: OPERATIONAL UPDATE LOCATION: THE COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, BAGHDAD, IRAQ TIME: 7:00 A.M. EDT DATE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2007
GEN. CALDWELL: Good afternoon. As-salaam aleikum. Today, I have with me Major Marty Weber from the 79th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit here in Baghdad, Iraq with us. He operates throughout the country of Iraq. I've asked him to come in because of some of the things we'll talk about today. In case anybody wants to talk about any technical aspects of some of the discussion, we'll have the resident expert here with us.
It's now two days since Iraqi Freedom Day. That day marks four years since the liberation of the Iraqi people from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein's regime. Iraqis observed that day in different ways across this country. In Najaf and Kufa, I saw Iraqis exercising some of their political freedoms. As is there right in this new Iraq, some of them even demonstrated against their democratic government and its allies. As long as it is done in peace, we welcome this exercise of political freedom. Waving the new unity flag is better than what we saw in past years when marchers carried weapons and held up photos and symbols of division.
Today, Iraq is led by an elected representative unity government, and there is a constitution that carries the rights of free assembly and political expression for all Iraqis, all of the people in those crowds. Of course, we would all hope to even be further after four years, but I do think we should acknowledge how far the Iraqi people have come.
Four years ago, Iraqis lived under a cloud of darkness. Iraq was ruled by murderous thugs; genocide and repression were tools of governance. Hope was only a dream. While Iraqis still have far to go, hope is now an option. Last Thursday I saw this hope firsthand. Iraqi Brigadier General Qassim was good enough to take me on a tour of the streets of eastern Baghdad. We saw shopkeepers selling goods of all kinds from their stores. We saw children with backpacks on, carrying their school books, preparing for their roles in this new Iraq.
I also visited one of the tools that can make their dreams a reality, a new joint security station. These are the community-based outposts staffed by Iraqis and coalition partners. They are being built so that the people know they don't have to give in, so they know they can fight the outlaws and terrorists who want to destroy the hope, their hope and spread fear and division amongst them.
Two months ago at the start of Operation Fard al-Qanun, I visited another one of these stations. I was shown around and briefed by an American soldier. On Thursday, I was briefed by an Iraqi. He showed me their command of their troops and what they're doing in their neighborhoods. I was in Safaniya, a mixed community, where Iraqi army is working with the Iraqi police on aggressive patrols to establish trust and safety.
This increased contact between Iraqi security forces and the people is in fact building increased confidence in the rule of law. The idea that the Iraqi security force can provide protection; that militias and outlaws are not the long-term solution for security; that compromise and compromise and cooperation with one legitimate armed authority, a loyal and professional security force, is truly the answer to their security and stability here in Iraq.
We all know there are still challenges. We work with our partners every day to make sure that the Iraqi security force finds and expels those who would abuse their positions of trust. As I said, there still is a ways to go. Operation Fard al-Qanun is still beginning. We are still moving in the extra troops that we need. The third of five American reinforcement brigades have just arrived. The fourth and fifth will be here by the end of May.
We know this increased security presence and cooperation from the people is having an impact in Baghdad. For one thing, it is taking more weapons off the street and out of the hands of murderers. Together with the Iraqi security force, we are finding more stockpiles of guns and bombs. In the seven weeks before the initiation of Fard al-Qanun on February 13th, we were finding an average of 24 stockpiles of weapons each week. In the seven weeks since we have begun operations, we have found -- or I should say the people have helped point out an average of 36 stockpiles each week, for an increase of about 50 percent.
As I have said, this increased contact with security forces on the streets is truly leading to increased confidence that these forces can provide protection for the Iraqi people. This increased confidence is making the people more willing to cooperate with the Army and police. Just yesterday there was an example of that contact and in fact how it is leading to more increased cooperation and confidence.
An Iraqi citizen reported to his local Joint Security Station that there were illegal weapons in his neighborhood. The Joint Security Station in Jihad neighborhood responded to this tip and dispatched a security force to the location specified by the Iraqi tipster. They found a black Mercedes sedan in the front of the home. On the back seat was a recently manufactured Iranian rocket. They opened the trunk. Inside they found some recently manufactured weapons from Iran. They found more weapons from Iran as they went through the house and through the backyard.
We can show you some of those right here right now. And of course, as I stated, I've asked Marty Weber, at the end here, if you would like -- we brought some of those weapons and some of those munitions in today, and he'll be glad to take questions and show you those at the end of the conference.
I'll show you some slides. This in fact is the black sedan that was parked out in front of the house. When they opened up the trunk, you can see some of the munitions that were located inside of the vehicle.
Next slide, please.
What you see here -- and again, Marty has brought some of these actual munitions to show you afterwards. On the bottom right are the 60-millimeter canisters that we found the Iranian-manufactured mortar rounds in. On the top left and on the top right are the canisters that we found the 81-millimeter mortar rounds in.
Next slide, please.
This is a further close-up of the 60-millimeter mortar round containers that we found.
Next slide, please.
These are the 81-millimeter mortar rounds that we found on site there at that house. And again, on the top right, if you look at that mortar round you'll see manufactured in 2006. And again, Marty can talk you through, as we have done once before, as to how we know where these rounds were manufactured.
Next slide, please.
These are the RPG-7 rounds that are only manufactured in Iran.
Next slide, please.
And again, you can see the year of date of manufacture there of this particular round. And again, Marty will be glad to show you some of these up close at the end of the briefing.
Next slide, please.
This is a 107 rocket, normally manufactured -- now, the country -- we know that Iran in fact does buy and import munitions such as this. And by the markings and some other things, we were able to ascertain that this one in fact did come from Iran, and it was also found on site at this house two days ago.
Next slide.
And that's an up front close view. That was 2005, when that one was made.
Next slide.
Okay. And again, at the end of this -- we have over on this table here some of those, and we'll go through those with you.
I think the key thing to remember on this is it was a joint security station in Baghdad that had a local Iraqi citizen who came forward, and he reported to the joint security station that there were in fact munitions in his neighborhood. He told us where the house was, and upon arriving at the house, they spotted the black sedan, the Mercedes, and then found the munitions both inside it and its trunk and both on the grounds of the property when they went through and buried on the grounds and then inside the home, too, itself.
The death and violence in Iraq are bad enough without this outside interference. Iran and all of Iraq's neighbors really need to respect Iraq's sovereignty and allow the people of this country the time and the space to choose their own future.
For the third month in a row, civilian casualties have declined in the Iraqi capital. In December of last year, casualties in Baghdad represented about 63 percent of the total for their nation. In March, there were only 37 percent. In Baghdad, the raw numbers improved as well. From January of this year through March, Baghdad saw tremendous progress, with civilian casualties having declined by 26 percent.
It is a good beginning, but it is not nearly enough. The violence across the rest of Iraq remains at unacceptable levels. Mass murder attacks, car bombs and suicide vests in other provinces did increase, and the percentage of civilian casualties in the provinces of Anbar, Babil, Diyala and Nineveh actually increased. Too many innocent men, women and children are still being murdered by those who want to destroy hope and end progress. From January of this year through March, there has been an increase in civilian casualties across Iraq; that is victims that have been both killed and injured by car bombs and suicide vests.
What does this mean? It means that we still have a lot of work to do. We have to continue fighting those who would use car bombs and suicide vests to commit horrific massacres. Total casualties, those are killed and injured -- civilians, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces -- increased by 10 percent from February to March of this year; 26 percent of those casualties in March were from three of these terrible crimes, three bomb attacks.
You can see what the enemy is up to, broken down; 14 percent of the casualties were coalition forces; 19 percent were Iraqi security forces, who were out there trying to protect their people; and 67 percent of the casualties in March were innocent civilians, targets of those who want to discredit this government and its security forces.
The goal of these murderers is to ignite a cycle of violence. They want to murder people of one sect to try to provoke revenge killings, so that this country will be divided and weak.
One hopeful sign I can report is that their strategy does not seem to be working. We are not seeing the historical pattern of tit- for-tat murders. In the week of March 31st to April 6th, we tracked the lowest number of casualties from sectarian violence since August of last year. As I shared with you previously, sectarian murders and executions declined by 26 percent from February to March.
We know there are still too many car bombs, but we're seeing the improving Iraqi security forces that are standing up to these murderers with great courage. In Baghdad, car bombs are being stopped at checkpoints, not making it to the markets, where more innocent men, women and children would be murdered. Iraqi soldiers and police are martyring themselves to protect all of the people of Iraq.
The Iraqi people need to work as one to reject division and believe in what they can build here.
Four years ago, the future looked dark. Today the future is Iraq's choice.
I can report encouraging news from Baghdad, having just spoke with General -- Major General Joe Fil, the division commander of the Multinational Division Baghdad, before coming in here. He tells me he is seeing signs of progress on the streets that he and his soldiers and their Iraqi counterparts are patrolling. They work every day to reduce the number of sectarian murders and to reduce the number of civilians killed and injured by car bombs. They are working to create the security situation that will allow sustainable control by the forces of law and order, so that political choices and economic progress can be made.
He tells me that he sees some stores and markets reopening. He tells me that there are some schools in the area that are reopening. He reports that there is in the air a new wave of possibility of what could be in the future for the Iraqis there.
I know some of you all have questions about an operation that took place in the Fadal (sp) neighborhood in the Rusafa district of Baghdad yesterday. I'll be glad to walk you through Operation Doolittle in detail, if you would care. Contrary to published reports I have seen, this was a planned operation. Three coalition forces are still being treated as a result of the injuries sustained from this action, but the other 12 wounded coalition forces -- or 13 other coalition -- wounded coalition forces have been treated and released.
From the reporting I've seen so far, four Iraqi security forces were in fact killed. Seven were wounded, all of which have been treated and released.
One of their humvees was damaged, but none were destroyed. At least 14 insurgents and outlaws were killed. Eight insurgents were placed in detention, and another 12 wounded insurgents were captured and under detention in hospitals at this time.
The intent of this operation was to take the bad guys and weapons off the street. Sectarian outlaws, mainly al Qaeda in Iraq, have been trying to create a climate of sectarian division and fear in this area.
Part of this operation also involved air operations. Four A-64 attack helicopters did come under small-arms fire from the insurgents. All four Apache helicopters returned safely to their bases with minor damage and have either already been repaired or soon will be able to fly operations again.
One of the 16 that were wounded was a coalition pilot. There was one additional incident involved in the coalition force helicopter yesterday near Taji. A Black Hawk helicopter did receive small-arms fire, but again, it also returned safely to its base.
And with that, I'd be glad to take whatever questions you all have.
Yes, sir.
Q Hi, General. Chris Kraul, LA Times. Chris Kraul, LA Times. General, thank you. Can you break out the action in March into the numbers of attacks versus, say, the previous month?
GEN. CALDWELL: Marty -- I don't have the actual numbers with me on attacks. We can go back and look, and I'll be glad to give you trend lines and tell you where the trending is, if you would like.
Q Sure. Yeah.
GEN. CALDWELL: Okay. Sure. We'll take that on and get that to you.
MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question over here?
GEN. CALDWELL: Yes, sir.
Q (Through interpreter.) (Name and affiliation inaudible.) General Caldwell, Mr. Nassar al-Rubaie, the head of the Sadr movement, said that the coalition forces stormed the office of al-Sadr in Diwaniyah and a number of civilians were injured and many were killed. Why did you storm al-Sadr office? And did you discover ammunitions or weapons caches in this office?
GEN. CALDWELL: I assume you're talking about the operations that have been going on down in Diwaniyah over the past couple of days. Those have been combined operations being conducted down there against elements that are conducting illegal activities. They're not targeted against any particular group. In fact, they're targeted against those who are conducting illegal activities.
MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question on this side of the room? Q (Through interpreter.) Today, Mr. Nassar al-Rubaie said that a Sadr office was occupied by the coalition forces in Diwaniyah today.
GEN. CALDWELL: Oh. I do not know of any reports of that occurring today. I'd have to follow back up and check on that. But I did not see any reports, and I was checking operational updates just before walking in here. So what I would have to tell you is that, had that happened, I think it would have been reported, but I have no reports of that. But we'll be glad to follow up and check for you, take that on.
Yes, sir.
Q (Through interpreter.) General Caldwell, some citizens in al-Fadl (ph) area confirmed that they saw Iraqi soldiers releasing -- killing some detainees yesterday.
GEN. CALDWELL: What I can tell you, that in the operation yesterday, the Iraqi security forces, 2nd of the 2nd of the 6th Iraqi Army Division, did conduct the operations. Coalition forces provided the cordon of that operation. They went in there, as you know, yesterday morning very early. They assembled about 5:30 in the morning. Operation commenced at 0630, about 6:30 a.m., and by 6:45 they had taken small-arms fire and that was an ongoing engagement till about 1:30 in the afternoon.
But there's absolutely no reports that I've seen that would even indicate what you just asserted.
MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question on this side of the room?
Q Jay from AFP. On the Iranian weapons, is it possible to know that up till now how many U.S. troops or U.S. members have been killed specifically by Iranian-made weapons in Iraq, in Baghdad or outside Baghdad?
And other question was about the security plan, because we have some reports coming that U.S. military and Iraqi authorities are putting together some kind of a plan where they will create gated communities and try to give identity cards to civilians, try to separate them from the militias, go neighborhood by neighborhood, and only those identity card-holding civilians can enter or go out of the specific neighborhood. Could you throw some light on these reports?
GEN. CALDWELL: As far as the exact number of coalition and Iraqi security forces that may have been killed by munitions that were manufactured in Iran, I don't have the exact numbers. We can sometimes tell -- put it together because of explosively formed penetrators. When those are used, we also can -- like one of our bases yesterday was mortared, and those were, in fact, mortared by 60- millimeter mortars, and we can tell because of the tail fins. They normally don't disintegrate after a mortar round has gone off, and you can recover those. I could have Marty talk more extensively on that. But again, we can tell whether those munitions were manufactured in Iran or whether they're another type that are manufactured in the region. But we don't track that per se, trying to directly put everything back. It's the EFPs that we look at more closely.
Q (Off mike.)
GEN. CALDWELL: We do track very closely the number of EFP- related deaths, but, you know, other than what we did in January, February, where we brought it forth and talked about it because of the incredible increase that occurred between the months of October through December, the number of coalition and Iraqi security force deaths that were being a result -- directly a result of EFPs, we went ahead and acknowledged the existence of them and talked about them and the fact that we know they're being, in fact, manufactured and smuggled into this country. And we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them. And we know that training has gone on as recently as this past month, from detainee debriefs of some personnel that we've picked up. So we know that is still an ongoing effort that's occurring, unfortunately.
As far as the gated communities, you know, what you may be talking about is like out in Fallujah, where they took and somewhat made that a gated community where anyplace you sort of enter or exit through over there, it's through a checkpoint manned by Iraqi police, Iraqi army and some coalition force presence there, which has been proving very successful in holding down the level of violence out there and the number of outlaws and terrorism insurgents that can get into that city and do damage in the city against the civilians there.
Within Baghdad itself, though, I think General Fil would tell you that the ongoing plan that General Abboud has laid out is to continue the operations in each of the districts and to continue to establish a permanent presence with the Iraqi security forces that will allow for that close contact with the people, which will, hopefully, develop into the confidence between them so that they in fact start working more closely together, as we observed in this tip that occurred two days ago here in Baghdad when an Iraqi citizen came forward and told us about another weapons cache out there.
There's no per se plan -- I mean, local commanders may be talking or something like that, but there's no overall big plan.
MAJ. WEBER: Sir, we have a question over here.
Q In which area did you discover this weapons cache? And did you detain any people in this weapons cache? And do they belong to any political party?
GEN. CALDWELL: The weapons cache was picked up in the area of Jihad in Baghdad. I mean, Marty, you can show them some of the weapons there that came off the site there. There was nobody at the time at the residence, so nobody was detained. But obviously, they're following up very closely, having talked to the neighbors, as to who does live there, so that they can come back to question them and ask them about both the weapons that were found in the car and on the property there. These are some of the very items that were just picked up a few days ago at that house. And if you would like, Major Weber can talk you through any of those if you have any questions about them that you want to ask.
Q You said that it was manufactured in 2006. Does Iran only manufacture these weapons?
GEN. CALDWELL: Do you have Marty turned on?
MAJOR WEBER: Okay, sir? All right, sir.
In the particular case of the rounds, such as PG7AT1 (?), we know that they are specific to Iranian manufacture. And again, the lot numbers highlight again the year of manufacture. In this case, this one was 2006, as indicated on the stencil of the warhead. As is, we can positively identify other items, such as the 60-millimeter mortar, again, by physical construction and the stenciling and locations and the way the stencils appear on the warheads, and again, manufactured in 2006. In the case of the 81-millimeter mortars, again you'll see, very similar to the stenciling on the warhead, and again, identifying positively country of origin by structure of the round as well as geometry of the tailfins, and again, the stenciling on the warhead, and again, manufactured 2006.
In the case of the 107-millimeter rocket, as General Caldwell pointed out, in some cases, some of these items are manufactured in other countries. Most of the 107 rockets we see are Chinese manufacture, Chinese origin. But what we see is, we will see Iran buy them, and then they will repaint them, remark them and then sell them on the open market for themselves -- in this case, this one, 2005, so again, recent manufacture.
Okay.
MAJ. WEBER: Sir, a question on this side of the room.
Q (Through interpreter.) Hamani Jabouri (ph) from Millith (sp) Press. Recently, there have been some violations in the security plan. The Iraqi security forces said that the American forces interfered before the Iraqi forces, and this brought the anger of some militias and some cities, like what happened between the American forces and al-Mahdi Army in some places. It is supposed that the operation should be carried out by the Iraqi forces only.
GEN. CALDWELL: Well, what I think you'll find is, just like what occurred with Operation Dolittle -- as it was planned, the Iraqi forces in fact did plan and execute that. The 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Army Division executed that. They brought in elements from the 9th Iraqi Army Division. They brought in two tanks and nine BMPs as a part of that overall operation to give them some additional firepower. And they only used the coalition forces in a supporting role to help cordon off the area and then to provide some close air support, as was requested from them during the operation. But that in fact was an entirely Iraqi-run operation, with coalition forces truly just in support of the operation.
MAJ. WEBER: Sir, we got a question over here.
Q Lauren Frayer from AP. You talked about an incredible increase in the use of EFPs last fall, and you said you couldn't give us numbers on how many American or Iraqi soldiers are killed by those. But can you talk in broad terms about what proportion of weapons are found in Baghdad are believed to be from Iran, and what that tells you about -- whether it's increasing or not and what that tells you about the political situation here?
GEN. CALDWELL: I have not -- I don't know if you can address that, Marty. I personally have not seen data that --
Q Is it half? Is it 10 percent?
MAJ. WEBER: Ma'am, it's very hard to put an actual figure on that. The sheer number of caches that -- are come across -- we can do the research and maybe come up with some type of trend. But to go out and say with any certainty right now any type of percentage, I just couldn't do that.
GEN. CALDWELL: Yeah -- Q Is it a minority of weapons that they're finding? (Is it enough ?) ?
MAJ. WEBER: Ma'am, as far as enough -- it's -- we see a good -- it's a good balance between stuff that was here pre-Saddam regime and the stuff that we're seeing. But the unique and significant thing about the stuff that we're seeing now with the Iranian signatures is the year of manufacturers. The lot numbers that show in 2005 and 2006, that is stuff that was not here prior, when you had Shi'a insurgent groups who were fighting, you know, the Saddam regime.
This is the stuff that has been coming to this country since coalition forces have, you know, come in and liberated Iraq. It's a genuine concern of ours for our coalition forces out there from a force protection standpoint.
GEN. CALDWELL: And the reason we get concerned is the -- I'd have to go back to get the exact number, but it's well over 60 percent of our casualties are the result of IED type-related events. And a substantial portion of those, between October through December, resulted in American and Iraqi security forces being killed.
We did -- in fact, were able to directly trace back to Iranian manufacture. And that was the reason for coming out with it, because of the steady increase in the amount of, not casualties, but actual deaths that were a result of those EFPs, explosively formed penetrators, being used against American and Iraqi security forces.
Q Are you saying that as a change, that there are an increasing number of Iranian-manufactured weapons on the streets of Baghdad? Is it a sign that perhaps the other stockpiles are getting low and insurgents are looking elsewhere for weapons? How do you explain that change?
GEN. CALDWELL: I would say, as we trace this back, our concern becomes that what we're seeing is that there are groups that are receiving training in Iran, and then weapons and munitions to supply them with the most modern and capable weapons and munitions that are available are then being smuggled into Iraq and being utilized by these groups against the Iraqi security forces and the coalition forces. And that's where the concern comes in.
I mean, for them to be able to have used the EFPs with the lethality that they were achieving between October through December required training. That was not something, for various reasons, you can -- I mean, not to get into all the tactics and techniques and procedures that we were able to back-track on, but that required some very skilled training to be able to use them and employ them like they were being used. It was not something that somebody could have just picked up and done on their own.
MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question on this side of the room?
Q (Through interpreter.) You talked about the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam regime. You talked about the democratic Iraqi government and the constitution. But you talked about problem. Do you think that the killing of 750,000 Iraqis and 3 million Iraqis who fled Iraq because of the chaos, do you think -- do you call these problems, or do you call them failure?
GEN. CALDWELL: I call them challenges and difficulties that this country has to deal with. And it's something nobody wants to see. It's something that everybody does want to address. And we're obviously taking those first deliberate steps within Baghdad.
You know, regardless of who you are in Iraq, whether you're Sheikh Shitar (ph) out in Al Anbar province, like we heard him say in January, or you're a political figure sitting here from whatever particular party in Baghdad, everybody has said that we have to secure Baghdad. And as Baghdad goes, so will the rest of this country.
And so the prime minister has put together a plan. He's designated an Iraqi commander in charge of that plan. General Abboud has moved out and he's got an operations center set up, and it's functioning and directing the operation of all the forces here in the city. And it is starting to show signs of progress.
But what's key to all this is the sustainment of that progress. And it's the long-term sustainment that has to be established. And when the people see that -- I mean, you know, we hear anecdotal reports of some families moving back in. But until you see larger numbers of that type of thing occurring, you know, nobody's going to be satisfied.
It's going to still take time. There are still some deaths. There are still some murders and executions that are occurring inside of Baghdad. There will still be an attempt by al Qaeda to get car bombs into the city. We still see suicide deaths being used to circumvent the barrier plans and the police checkpoints that have been set up.
So there are still difficult times ahead, but the important thing is -- the question is, do we see signs of progress being made? And over the last 60 days, you can look back within Baghdad and you can see signs of progress being made. But we're not there yet.
MAJ. WEBER: Sir, we've got a question back in the back.
Q Thanks, General. Larry Kaplow with Cox Newspapers.
Could you address the rate in coalition force casualties recently and how that -- I mean, obviously you have more people out in the streets. But how does that compare to what you expected when you began this? And I know you guys do modeling and try to study these things. How does it compare to what you expected?
GEN. CALDWELL: Larry, we do have an increase that we have seen, obviously, in coalition force casualties that have occurred over the last 30 days. And it's something we anticipated could occur as we had more forces down inside the city and greater numbers than previously were operating there before. So we knew that was a possibility.
Obviously we take every measure to preclude any deaths of any security forces, whether they be Iraqi or coalition forces. But it's something we continue to watch very carefully. And as we, you know, look at how the deaths occur, we're still finding the overwhelming majority of them occurring because of IED-related type activities.
MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question on this side of the room?
Q (Through interpreter.) From Al Hayat.
General Caldwell, everyone knows that the Iranian intelligence is a strong intelligence. About these weapons -- does the Iranian government know about the smuggling of these weapons, or are they smuggled by the militias? And if you discover this weapon cache in (Al Jihad ?), and you know that the militias in (Al Jihad ?) are not supported by Iran because they are Sunnis.
Do the Iranians support all the militias in Iraq? And if the Iranians are smuggling these weapons to a country to interfere in its domestic affairs and to fight against the coalition forces which is in Iraq, according to the Security Council resolution?
GEN. CALDWELL: We have, in fact, found some cases recently where Iranian intelligence services have provided to some Sunni insurgent groups some support. We do continue to see the Iranian intelligence services being active here in Iraq in terms of both providing funding and providing weapons and munitions.
We also know that training still is being conducted in Iran for insurgent elements from Iraq. And we know that as recent as last week from debriefings of personnel. What I can also tell you from the -- which concerns us very much. I mean, you know, the government of Iraq has been very clear that they want to have the ability and they should have the ability -- the people of Iraq should be able to determine their own destination without any outside interference from any foreign country. They have asked that from their neighbors. And we would hope at some point their neighbors would respect that.
MAJ. WEBER: We had a question on this side.
Q General, Mike Schuster from NPR.
Can I follow up that answer of yours? You said that you do have intelligence that Iranian intelligence has provided training for insurgent elements in Iran for insurgent elements from Iraq. Do you mean Sunni insurgents or Shi'ite militias, or both?
GEN. CALDWELL: The only training that I'm aware of that's inside in Iran that has occurred is for Shi'a extremists. But there has been some -- what I was referring to, there has been some support provided to some Sunni extremist groups by Iranian intelligence agents, not anywhere near the degree that it's obviously being done to Shi'a extremists, but there are now some confirmations we've been able to make.
MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question on this side?
GEN. CALDWELL: Yes, ma'am.
Q One time you said death and violence is bad enough in Iraq without outside influences. And another time you said no outside influence should be here. Could you elaborate on that, first? And second, I'm not really familiar with ordinances. Do all ordinances in the world -- is everything on them written in English?
GEN. CALDWELL: Go ahead, Marty.
MAJ. WEBER: No, ma'am. Generally what you see are countries that want to market their ammunition and arms on the international market will put the stenciling markings in English.
Q Okay, thank you.
MAJ. WEBER: Yes, ma'am.
Q As far as outside influence goes, I was talking specifically about the Iranian interference here within Iraq. And I was also talking about the Syrian influence. You know, we have talked previously and we still continue to see the number of foreign fighters that are able to flow through Syria into Iraq occurring, varying levels of 40 to 60 a month that are able to work their way from the country of Syria into Iraq.
It was interesting, the operation that just occurred, Operation Doolittle, as the debriefing is going on, of those that we were able to capture from that operation. You know, we had talked about -- you know, we verified 14 were killed by going to the morgue and actually seeing those bodies. Twenty-four were reported killed, but we got positive confirmation on 14 so far. And we have 20 detainees, of which 12 were wounded.
In the debriefing of those detainees, we have, in fact, established from two of them now that they did receive training in Syria.
MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question on this side?
Q Alissa Rubin, New York Times.
Two questions. I wanted one more clarification on the Iran -- the weapons caches. Are you seeing a steady flow as you find them, roughly, weapons that come from Iran? Or has it gone up or gone down overall? You mentioned that period from October to December when it was escalating. What's it done since then, just in terms of a general trend?
And then the second question is on Fadal (ph). There were numerous reports and witnesses who said that the Iraqi army came into or near to a mosque, so that part is a little unclear, but they killed two people, executed two people who had just recently been praying. I don't know the exact circumstances and wondered if you had any information whether those people were trying to flee, whether it was just crossfire; anything you know about that.
GEN. CALDWELL: Alissa, what we've done, we've gone back in to establish, based on the reporting, the open-source reporting that said that, to establish where the nearest local mosque was. It was outside of the area of the operations. It was where the outer cordon really was. It was the closest mosque we could find. There was nothing at all we could do to confirm. We have checked and are unable to confirm that reporting. So there's nothing that we can show that that actually did occur.
The important thing to understand is that operation started at about 6:30 in the morning. By 6:45, gunfire had erupted. And then, as we said, it went on to about 1:30 in the afternoon. In fact, it was about 1:45 when they finally -- or almost 2:30 when they finally recovered that rocket pod off the one Apache helicopter that had jettisoned its rocket pod. So they went in and recovered that. And then all fire had ceased and they moved out of the area.
Do you have any idea about the other one? Do you have any statistics about weapons flow, Marty, that --
MAJ. WEBER: No, sir. It goes to the previous question where we really can't establish with any certainty that trend or any numbers.
GEN. CALDWELL: Alissa, we'll go back and look at that. You know, obviously we're bringing in so many caches every week around the country. I'm not sure the data base that we use. I'd have to go -- I've never asked to go in and look at that to types and amounts that we're picking up. I can go back. We'll look at that and see if we can give you something with respect to that question.
MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question on this side of the room?
Q General, this is Monte Moore (sp). I'm from Stars & Stripes.
I was just asking if you could elaborate a little bit on the type of training that folks are getting in Iran, if it's sniper training or placing the EFPs or launching rockets. Can you explain that any further?
GEN. CALDWELL: All three. What we do know is that -- again, this is from debriefing of personnel that we have recently detained, that, in fact, have provided us this information and that we have verified through some other sources too, so that we have it through multiple means.
But, in fact, they do receive training on how to assemble and employ EFPs. There has been training on specialized weapons that are used here in Iraq. And then we do know they receive also training on other just general tactics in terms of how to take and employ and work a more what we call complex type attack where you see multiple types of engagements being used, from an explosion to small-arms fire to being done in multiple places.
MAJ. WEBER: A question on this side, sir.
Q Tina Sussman from the LA Times.
This rocket, the 107-millimeter rocket, is it correct that you said you found it lying in the back seat of the car, the Mercedes?
MAJ. WEBER: Yes, ma'am.
Q It was just sitting in the back seat?
MAJ. WEBER: Yes, ma'am.
Q And you said -- is this one of the ones that you say was presumably manufactured in China and then has been repainted and -- is there anything more you can show us, essentially, that enhances the idea that it has come from Iran?
MAJ. WEBER: No, ma'am. The characteristics I've given you are characteristics that we use as explosive ordinance disposal technicians to positively identify munitions by country of origin.
GEN. CALDWELL: Tina, I think most of it was looked at in terms of us and the fact that we found the 60-millimeter mortars there, which we know are manufactured in Iran, and the 81-millimeter, which we know is manufactured in Iran, where most of this region uses 82- millimeter mortar rounds, not 81-millimeter mortar rounds. MAJ. WEBER: Is there a question on this side?
Q (Inaudible.) This could be a bit of a repetition for you, but since it's quite a delicate issue, could you just exactly repeat when you said that Iranian intelligence was giving support or is giving support to Sunni insurgents, if I took it right, of the whole --
GEN. CALDWELL: You just want me to be exactly on the record. (Laughs.)
Q Absolutely.
GEN. CALDWELL: Yeah. Now, we do have some recent intelligence reporting out that does, in fact, tell us that Iranian intelligence agents have provided some support -- and we have not gone into the details of that -- to some Sunni -- some Sunni extremist groups. And that's all we've said about it so far.
MAJ. WEBER: Sir, we've got time for two more questions.
GEN. CALDWELL: Okay.
MAJ. WEBER: And one over on this side.
Q Two things, General. Number one, can Mr. Weber maybe quantify the number of rounds that were fired in the house where the black Mercedes was? And also, any more detail on the training that the Shi'a extremists are receiving in Iran? Does your debriefing reveal that there were uniformed Iranians providing this training and on Iranian army bases, or any sort of detail on that?
MAJ. WEBER: Sir, with regards to what was found at the house, specifically what you see on the table here was the Iranian items that were found at this cache. There was, in addition, a couple of additional RPG rockets, Bulgarian in manufacture. There were some approximately 1,000 to 2,000 rounds, I believe, of small arms, (762 ?) rounds. There were also five hand grenades, I believe. Again, sir, it was just a conglomeration.
There were a couple of initiation systems for IEDs found, as well as -- I'm trying to remember correctly -- that was essentially what we found, sir. There was one (55 ?) round found as well, and some Iraqi ammunition that was found as well.
GEN. CALDWELL: As far as the training goes, we have generally just stayed at the more generic. We do know, through the debriefings, we have had an indication of where perhaps some of this training takes place in Iran. And we continue to just generally provide the information, mostly through their surrogates. This training is conducted there. Q (Off mike.)
GEN. CALDWELL: Of the intelligence services.
MAJ. WEBER: Sir, we have time for one more question.
GEN. CALDWELL: Okay.
Q General, do you have any information on who owned the Mercedes where the weapons were found and who owned the house where the car was?
GEN. CALDWELL: They are, in fact, looking for the occupants -- occupant or occupants of that house right now. They may have picked them up today -- I'm not sure -- or late yesterday. But they had not, as of the time -- I had not received a report they had them in detention yet when I walked in here.
Okay, thank you very much.
END.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
