Weekly press briefing with Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, spokesman, Multi-National Force - Iraq, June 6, 2007
Multi-National Force-Iraq
WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE WITH BRIGADIER GENERAL KEVIN BERGNER, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ TOPIC: UPDATE ON SECURITY OPERATIONS LOCATION: THE COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, BAGHDAD, IRAQ TIME: 7:00 A.M. EDT DATE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2007
GEN. BERGNER: Hello, everybody. "As-salaam aleikum." My name's Kevin Bergner, and I'm honored and humbled to speak on behalf of the brave men and women of the Multinational Force as their spokesman. I look forward to working with all of you as continue to bring this important story to the rest of the world.
I'm new as a spokesman. I'm not new to Iraq. I was here in 2005, serving in Mosul. So my friends up north know me as a Moslawi.
I have great respect for my Iraqi friends and partners, and after seeing firsthand their courage, their sacrifice and their commitment, I am truly inspired and honored to come back and work with them. I now look forward to our work together here in Baghdad.
I have a few points I'd like to make, and then I will take your questions. There has been much discussion this week about progress and measurements of progress, so let me start by providing some context. We are still positioning the forces that commanders requested for this operation. Today four of the five brigades committed to this operation are here in Iraq as the fifth brigade is arriving. Within the next couple of weeks, we will see all five brigades, plus their enablers, begin operating within their sectors.
As we have seen with our other forces in the fight, once they're in position, they may take another 30 to 60 days to fully establish themselves with their Iraqi counterparts and the people in those sectors.
It is completely understandable for people to want some definitive assessments of how things are going, but it is still premature to be arriving at judgments and conclusions and too many predictions at this point in the operation.
A key point that all commanders have stressed as Operation Fard al-Qanun continues to develop is that there has been progress made by our forces here on the ground, though much work is still ahead. Their collective sense is that the trends in Baghdad are better now than they were certainly in January or February.
One reason that they are better off is that the joint security stations and the combat outposts in and around Baghdad are having an effect. The focus of these security stations, as you know, is to integrate the Iraqi army, the Iraqi police, the coalition forces, and do that where they have the best opportunity to improve the population's security.
The Iraqi people in various places have also begun to take a stand against al Qaeda.
For example, the terrorists in Amiriyah have killed Sunni sheikhs, they've indiscriminately killed innocent people, they have shut down access to banks and other municipal services, and the people in these neighborhoods are now taking a stand to separate themselves from al Qaeda. Indeed, Iraqi citizens are courageously fighting to rid their neighborhoods of these killers.
In Fallujah, al Qaeda is killing Sunnis again. It would appear that al Qaeda is desperately trying to reassert itself. Yesterday, a car bomb killed some 15 people and wounded another 25, many of them women and children. This is one of the reasons why the tribes of Anbar are joining forces to fight al Qaeda.
This is a tough fight. And despite the courage of the Iraqi people in standing up to al Qaeda and other extremists, it will continue to be a tough fight. We have more troops going more places, making more contact and contesting areas that had not been challenged for some time. And as General Petraeus and the other commanders have all stated, things here will likely get harder before they start to get easier.
As we make progress, it will not be like flipping a light switch. It will be gradual, it will be nuanced, it will be subtle. Some will be very difficult to detect. It will be uneven. But some of the progress we are seeing bears mentioning, and I want to talk about three in particular.
Transitioning provinces to Iraqi control. Just last week, three provinces in northern Iraq joined four other provinces in southern Iraq to bring the total number of seven provinces out of the 18 in Iraq to achieve Iraqi control, which is an important distinction. In Al Anbar this past week, a police academy reopened in a joint ceremony where the minister of Interior from the central government joined forces with the local provincial officials to re-establish the capability to train the young men of Anbar to serve their government and their people in enforcing the rule of law and protecting them all from the extremists. And as I mentioned a moment ago, we also see Sunni groups now who are fighting al Qaeda.
As I mentioned earlier, Sunnis in Baghdad and elsewhere are stepping away from al Qaeda in a similar way as we've seen in Al Anbar. But I say it again: This is a tough fight. And while we can point to signs of progress, it's too early to make judgments. We are also increasing the intensity of our operations and achieving significant results against the extremists, and I'd like to highlight a couple of recent tactical operations that were specifically focused on the vehicle-borne IEDs and indirect fire cells that are killing so many people.
Three weeks ago in northern Iraq, coalition and Iraqi forces uncovered a ring of car dealers and other businesses owned by al Qaeda, who were supplying cars, materials, and financial support to the extremists. Five days ago during a planned operation, coalition forces stopped a suspected vehicle north of Fallujah and discovered it was a car bomb being readied for an attack. That car with the explosives in the trunk is seen in this photo.
That same day, combined forces of Iraqi police, Iraqi army, supported by the coalition, broke up a truck bomb cell near Fallujah. During that operation, Iraqi security forces found two fully operational truck bombs carrying over a thousand pounds of explosives that were being readied for employment by extremists. In these photos, you can see the building that they were using as their factory, you see the trucks that were fully operational and ready to go, and you can see the explosives in the bed of those trucks, which were going to rain disaster on some poor people.
Yesterday, coalition forces killed a terrorist leader and detained three other suspected terrorists during an operation here in Baghdad to disrupt another bombing network there. Mohammed Mahmoud Abu Qassim Hussein al-Mashadani (ph), also known as Abu Abdullah (ph), was the terrorist killed during the operation. He was known al Qaeda emir in the Hay Al-Jama'a area of Baghdad and part of the deadly vehicle-borne improvised explosive cell.
Some key links in the VBIED network have been removed, and we will continue to assault those networks to stop their indiscriminate attacks against the people of Iraq and the coalition. The enemy is also using indirect fire attacks to terrorize the Iraqi people, to target the coalition and to target those in the international zone who are working so hard to try to help the people of Iraq.
This weekend, coalition forces identified a group of extremists setting up rockets on an athletic field in Baghdad. These rockets were being aimed at the international zone. I'm going to show you a video tape that begins with an aerial view of the rocket launch position and the vehicle that was being used to support it.
Before we let it roll, I want to make sure you can see that these are the line of rocket launchers. This was the vehicle that was used to emplace them, transport them and support their emplacement. And what you're watching is the engagement of those rocket launchers and its supporting vehicle. You'll see aviation assets engage the van that was being used to transport the rocket launch system. And then you'll see one of those rockets cook off. It did launch. It did not injure anyone. And then you'll see the other explosives, both in the van and the remaining ordnance that's sitting on the line of rockets, begin to detonate and explode.
Okay, you can turn off the video. Thanks.
Operations like those are taking place every day across Iraq as coalition and Iraqi forces increase the pressure on the extremists in order to improve population security and provide the government of Iraq the opportunity to move forward.
In closing, let me reiterate that it is still too early to begin making judgments and predictions. We're focused on the current fight. And our focus here, the Multinational Force, is on increasing the pressure on the enemy and helping the Iraqi people stand up and take charge of their own destiny. It is a tough fight that will likely get harder before it gets any easier.
I want to close on somewhat of a personal note and talk to all of you as the journalists here in Baghdad. And I'd like to just say that we also appreciate the difficulty of your work, the importance of your work, and commend your courage in covering this very tough fight in some very dangerous circumstances.
I thank you for coming. And I now look forward to your questions.
Yes, sir.
Q (Through interpreter.) A question from Al-Arabiyah. General, after talks that took place between Washington and Tehran here in Baghdad, there was a preliminary agreement to form a committee. Do you think that there is a change between the Iranian stance as far as your accusations to them that they're backing insurgents in Iraq?
GEN. BERGNER: I grew up in Texas.
And one of the things that I grew up understanding was, say what you mean and then mean what you say. And so within that context we hope that Iraq's neighbors, in particular Iran, will mean what it says and take the necessary steps that they have committed to, to help the government of Iraq and the people of Iraq stop the flow of money, weapons, training and fighters that are terrorizing the Iraqi people and targeting the coalition force. And so, I think, there is a great willingness that Ambassador Crocker has shown to engage in productive discussions. But it is very much time to follow through on those discussions with the right actions.
Shukran. Yes, sir.
Q (Through interpreter.) After carrying out the Baghdad operation security and the pressure of terrorists in Diyala, terrorists have moved to Mosul. What are the procedures have been conducted in Mosul? And especially there are not enough security forces in Mosul.
And the second question is, concerning the displaced families, especially the Christians, what are the procedures that have been conducted by Multinational Forces concerning this issue?
GEN. BERGNER: I'm sorry. Can you just say the last part of the question again?
MR. : Sir, the question was, in Dura area the Christian are being expelled from the area. They're asking them to convert into Islam, or you have to leave. So what the MNFI have to say about that?
GEN. BERGNER: Yeah, okay, first, let me talk about the displacement, what you described as the moving threat in Iraq, and its impact on Mosul. Our commanders are fully aware that as they apply pressure in a certain place that it will sometimes result in the movement of the threat to somewhere else. And that's why you will see that there is an intense and broad application of force that is not just here in Baghdad but also in the belts surrounding Baghdad. That also includes areas up the Tigris River and up the Euphrates River valleys. And so the commanders on the ground understand the nature of the enemy and the tactical requirements that that's going to create.
As a Moslawi, I will tell you that what's different today that wasn't there in 2005 is that there are 13,800-some police, under the leadership of a very courageous police chief named General Wathiq. There are two Iraqi army divisions, the 2nd Division in al-Kindi and the 3rd Division in al-Kisik, led by two very capable Iraqi army generals.
And so the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police in Nineveh province are very different than they were when the last time you remember insurgents targeted Mosul. And so I have great hope and confidence in the Iraqi security forces, who are still well-supported by coalition forces in Nineveh province.
And your last part of the question in terms of the displacement of people in Dura, this is a problem; it is a problem that we take very seriously. Displacement of the population from any neighborhoods is one of the reasons that this strategy and the approach that we now take is so centered on population security, because unless you establish joint security stations and combat outposts and you provide those residents the confidence and the commitment, they are going to be inclined to leave when the intimidation and the attacks on them reach certain levels. So we take it very seriously, and that is why we are taking the kind of strategy that we are.
Q Sir, a follow-up to this question, and then a separate one. UNHCR, in the past 24 hours, has said some 4 million Iraqis have now been displaced by the war. Broadening his question, do Multinational Force Iraq have a responsibility to return those people to their homes?
Separately from that, you said it's too early to make a determination on the surge, but that, quote, "trends are better now than they were." Last month, according to the Interior Ministry, some 750 bodies were found across the capital. This month, in the first five days, 133 bodies. That would speak to the trends actually getting worse.
GEN. BERGNER: Let me start off with the first part. The displacement of Iraqi citizens is one that the government of Iraq and its partners are very concerned about. And as I mentioned earlier, specifically with regard to Dura, a big part of our strategy is on turning around the conditions that will allow people to feel safe in their neighborhoods and stay where their homes have been for many, many years. And so we're doing all we can as the multinational force to change those conditions and achieve a level of stability that will allow people, first, to stay, and then eventually to return to their families, to their homes.
In terms of the overall statement that I made about January, February to where we are now, I think if you just looked at it as a trajectory and where things were going, my main point was that trajectory has significantly changed. And as I also pointed out to you, that doesn't mean it's going to be a steady downward trajectory. It's uneven, and it will periodically spike up, like we saw with violence in May. And it will require tactical commanders to do just what they did with General Odierno and General Petraeus, which is take a look at what caused that, and then take the necessary adjustments so that we get it back going in the right direction. So it's not going to be a straight line or a steady, linear kind of result; it will be uneven and we'll have to adjust as we go.
Yes, ma'am?
Q I've got two completely different questions.
GEN. BERGNER: Okay.
Q The first one is, what new developments are there, if any, on the hunt for the five British hostages?
And secondly, with the growing body of parliamentarians sort of petitioning for a timetable for troop withdrawal, how do you think that political climate is going to affect the review of the U.N. 1546, I think 1723 resolution next week in New York and then going forward again when they sort of look at it at the end of the year?
GEN. BERGNER: And you're talking about the political climate in the U.K.?
Q No, no, no. In Iraq.
GEN. BERGNER: Okay.
Q There are a growing number of parliamentarians here wanting a withdrawal timetable, so how that affects these talks.
GEN. BERGNER: We continue to develop information and intelligence dealing with those five civilians who were abducted from the Ministry of Finance. We are receiving information both from the Iraqi people and the Iraqi security forces and taking all the necessary actions that can be taken to pursue their safe release and to learn more about who abducted them and to pursue them as well.
We have all devoted a great deal of our national treasure and our blood to help the government of Iraq create a democratic government where they debate things and where they discuss things and where they have free opinion and freedom of expression of that opinion, and where their government wrestles with difficult issues. And all of us that serve here, many of us from other democracies, understand that and understand that that's how the political process here works.
And so I would answer your question by saying the Iraqi people are discussing an important issue and one that is complex for them and has big implications for them. And so I wouldn't leap to too many conclusions, because that's a discussion and a debate that's still under way and it's one that has a great deal of importance on many different fronts. So we'll wait and see how the political process evolves.
Q Hi, General. Damien Cave from The New York Times. On a follow-up to that, I wanted to -- the additional troops were brought in, part of the idea was to create an environment for reconciliation -- political reconciliation for the Iraqis. And what's your assessment of how that's been going? And is there anything specifically you can point to as signs of progress there? GEN. BERGNER: Damien, I would offer a couple of things first. And you guys that have been covering this story and the challenges in Iraq for a while know this, but I'm going to say it anyway. The levels of violence and the political violence that were imposed on the people of Iraq for the last 30 years are a difficult thing to step back from. And so there's a challenge there for the people and the government of Iraq that is really significant.
Within that, the government is engaging, as you've heard President Talabani and the prime minister both say -- they are engaging a variety of groups to help bring them away from violence and help encourage their commitment to the political process. Some of those discussions are also taking place at the local level. And as people are willing to step back from the extremists, both the government of Iraq and its partners are trying to help the moderates reach out to those people and chart a way ahead. It's really complex. It's very much a mosaic. The circumstance in the north, the circumstance out west, the situation here in Baghdad, the situation down south -- they're all very different in terms of which bridges have to be built and which roads have to be traversed.
So my own sense is they are working on it, and it's tough going, but they are definitely working on it, and we're doing everything we can to help them find a way ahead. I think they understand how important it is.
Q But is there anything that you can point to as progress? There were some examples that you gave --
GEN. BERGNER: Yeah. Well -- yeah, I think what you see happening in Al Anbar is one small aspect of that, where the people of Anbar have basically said we are separating ourselves from al Qaeda and we do want to have a police force that we can trust, we do want to have our sons serving in the Iraqi army's 7th Division, we do want to work with the central government and see Minister Bolani go out to help them open a police academy. So I think all of those things are signs that a group of people are now stepping away from a circumstance that was going nowhere and want to reconcile and work with the central government.
Yes, sir.
Q (Through interpreter.) General, I have two questions. The first question is, have you identified the part that has been involved in kidnapping the five British?
And the second question: There are some families of the detainees that are in Bucca prison, and those families complain that their sons are being abused by the guards in those prisons. So how would you comment, or what is the comment of the Multinational Forces about this? Thank you.
GEN. BERGNER: The answer to your first question is, we are still developing information and intelligence on those who were involved in the abduction of the civilian contractors at the Ministry of Finance. And we're pursuing it very diligently.
In regard to Bucca, I think it's important to first point out that the International Committee of the Red Crescent, other human rights organizations take a very a active role in watching all of those kinds of facilities. We take a very serious responsibility to overwatch and provide for the human rights and the humane treatment of all those who are detained under coalition control.
And so I will tell you that I -- we will always take those kinds of reports seriously. We will always look into them. But I think there is a significant amount of transparency, and there is no question that we have learned the importance of that transparency and the importance of very strict oversight in how we conduct our detainee operations. "Shukran."
Yes, sir?
Q (Through interpreter.) I'm conveying a question from the Iraqi street. And many of the things that we see on TV -- that the Multinational Forces have apprehended such and such terrorists -- and back in the former regime, it was enough to apprehend one person and that will lead you to another group of terrorists. Does that mean that this is a weakness in the Iraqi forces or the Iraqi security forces? This is a question from the Iraqi street or the Iraqi people.
GEN. BERGNER: You're going to have to help me understand that one just a little bit more to make sure I answer the question you wanted me to answer.
INTERPRETER: Okay, sir. This question is from Iraqiyah Television, but he is asking this question on behalf of the people in the street of Iraq.
GEN. BERGNER: Right. INTERPRETER: He is saying that during the past regime, Saddam Hussein, it's enough to capture one terrorist, and through that terrorist you could find out where are the rest of the terrorists and the cells. So do you think there is a failure from the coalition side or the Iraqi security side that they are not able to capture all these terrorists? This question -- once again, he is reiterating that it's from the Iraqi people.
GEN. BERGNER: Yeah. I think the important point to make in this regard is, the extremists who are intimidating and killing the Iraqi people have been defeated in other countries in the Middle East.
They have chosen to make Iraq their central front, and so there's a significant amount of effort being forced on the terrorist efforts here in Iraq. We are working very closely with the Iraqi people and with the Iraqi security forces to counter that, and so I hope that the people in the street who you asked this question for will understand that the reason this is so difficult is because there is such a concerted effort that's being made by these extremists to undermine the stability and the democracy that the Iraqi people have chosen to pursue.
So that makes it a tough fight, and as a I said earlier in my remarks, this is an enemy whose ideology and whose tactics are horrendous. They're ones that are being rejected by the people in the street that you mentioned, and that gives us all hope, that gives us all a certain amount of encouragement when we see the people in the street who are now part of the solution in helping work with their security forces and ours in dealing with that very significant threat.
Yes, sir.
Q (Through interpreter.) One of the most important issues of the insecurity in Baghdad is that there are no machines of detecting car bombs in the streets. When will we see these machines or cars that detect the car bombs in the streets?
GEN. BERGNER: Yeah. Actually, I saw one of those machines just the other day when I was driving around Baghdad. There was a machine whose whole purpose was to scan and look for explosives and find those. So if that's what you're talking about, I actually have seen some of those that are in operation.
We're using a whole range of equipment and tactics and intelligence and information to try to find those car bombs before they can be unleashed onto people of Iraq and the coalition. And as I showed you in some of these examples, that combination of training, of tactics, of equipment and most importantly cooperation with the Iraqi people is helping both the security forces and the coalition interdict many of those bombs.
Yes, sir.
Q General, Paul Tait from Reuters. You mentioned in your opening remarks it could take 30 to 60 days after the fifth brigade hits the ground for it to be fully established. That potentially kicks it out to the end of August, which won't leave a lot of time for Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus to make their assessment for Washington. Is there any chance that assessment will have to be kicked back?
GEN. BERGNER: I've heard no discussion of that, Paul. And my comment to you was not to make that suggestion; my comment to you was simply to set the right context in understanding that even once a unit arrives, there is a period of time before it is completely effective -- as effective as it's probably going to be -- in its environment. It doesn't mean it's not effective and it's not making a difference and it's not contributing; it will be.
But I know from my own experience up north that, as we transitioned units, there was a period of weeks and sometimes a month or a little more where they really have to -- they are still learning who they're working with, they're still learning where the points of leverage are, they're still learning how to partner with their partners in the security forces. And so that's what I was getting at when I said there's a period of time, after they're in place, before they are truly as effective as they're going to be, okay? It wasn't to suggest that we're kicking the can.
Yes, sir.
Q (Through interpreter.) Is there support given by the MNF to Sunni groups to fight al Qaeda? And what is the ratio or the percentage of this backup to Sunni groups by the MNF?
GEN. BERGNER: The Multinational Force and the government of Iraq have been reaching out to a range of groups to help those who want to step away from violence and to bring security to their neighborhoods to achieve that. And so if you looked across Iraq, you know, we have worked with groups out in Al Anbar province, that the sheikhs have come forward and asserted the leadership to lead their people away from al Qaeda, and they have gained the support of the Iraqi government, and they have, through the Iraqi security forces, built a good relationship with the coalition. And so it's important that every group in Iraq have the opportunity to step away from the violence and align themselves with the moderates and to work towards and through the political process and not the force of arms.
Shukran.
Sir.
Q One step further. Is it fair to say in places like Diyala, whereas two years ago, groups that may have been -- places like Diyala, just taking it one step further -- is it fair to say maybe two years ago, a group that was your enemy is now becoming your friend to fight al Qaeda, and is it possible that some of those groups you're now arming to fight that fight for you?
GEN. BERGNER: When you look at the circumstance now and the government of Iraq's outreach and the government of Iraq's efforts to pursue reconciliation, one of the things you're struck by is it takes a lot of courage.
It takes a lot of courage to reach out to groups that maybe you didn't trust before, maybe were hostile before. And if you're going to really pursue reconciliation, then that's the kind of courage that the government of Iraq and others are going to have to have in order to help people step away.
Now, those arrangements are complex, and the obligations and the expectations on both sides are important to be laid out. And so that's why this is hard, but that's also why it's important to do it. And the government of Iraq and the Multinational Force supporting them have got to consider what those choices are and they've got to consider how they're going to find the courage to make those kinds of arrangements.
Q (Off mike.)
GEN. BERGNER: I think that's happened in a lot of places, yeah.
Yes, ma'am?
Q Leila Fadel from McClatchy Newspapers. I wanted to ask specifically about Amiriyah. The fighters in that area were telling me they're from the Islamic Army and they're working directly right now with the battalion out there. But there was also a statement issued, I think on Monday, saying that they're still dedicated to driving out the American and Persian-Iranian occupation. Is there any contradiction in working with these men in Amiriyah when they still have this ideology?
GEN. BERGNER: Well, I haven't seen the specific report you were mentioning. I will say that that's really at the center of what I was talking about, which is why this is so complex, because they're going to make decisions and commitments on certain levels as a first step, and then the challenge is to take the next step and then to take the next step. And exactly how far each of these different groups is willing to go is not always clear when you start to take that first step. And they may not know themselves. And that's why this requires a certain amount of courage and a certain amount of willingness to start moving in that direction, because you don't know until you start moving in that direction what the prospects for success are.
Okay, we have time for two more questions. (Pause.) Okay, well I'll just give you another statement, then. Let me just close by saying I really do appreciate the importance of what you do as the Baghdad collection of journalists. It's important to get this story out, and we want to work very closely with you. And if you do that, it means a great deal and it's important to all of our countries to understand it clearly, concisely and the way you help bring it across.
This will be a tough fight. It's one where, as we said before, it's going to get harder before it gets easier. But it's also one where you're going to see a level of intensity and a level of effort on the part of the Multinational Force that is remarkable in and of itself.
So, great to represent these young soldiers in all that they're doing. I'm humbled by the chance to do that. And it's been a pleasure to be with you this afternoon.
Thank you very much. Shukran jazilan.
END.
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