UNITED24 - Make a charitable donation in support of Ukraine!

Military

Press briefing with Rear Adm. Mark Fox, Communications Division Chief, Multi-National Force - Iraq, and Brig. Gen. Qassim Atta Al-Moussawi, Operation Fardh Al-Qanoon spokesman, June 20, 2007

Multi-National Force-Iraq

JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH REAR ADMIRAL MARK FOX, COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION CHIEF FOR MULTINATIONAL FORCE IRAQ; BRIGADIER GENERAL QASSIM ATTA AL-MOUSSAWI, OPERATION FARD AL-QANUN SPOKESMAN SUBJECT: ONGOING OPERATIONS BY THE COALITION FORCE IN THE AMARAH REGION IN THE MAYSAN PROVINCE AND THE STATUS OF OPERATION FARD AL-QANUN LOCATION: COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, BAGHDAD, IRAQ TIME: 7:00 A.M. EDT DATE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2007

(Gen. Qassim's remarks are through an interpreter.)

GEN. QASSIM: Thank you for my friend, Admiral Fox, for his invitation at this conference for this combined conference. And we ask, God, that you would help us in achieving and would be achieved to convey to the media, and thus to the people.

Our military operations are still ongoing in many places in Baghdad to pursue the terrorists. And our forces have been reinforced by additional troops that are trained in a very good way. In addition to that, supplying these troops is still on with weapons, with machines, and state-of-the-art equipment so that it will be able to conduct their missions the appropriate way. Also we have troops that are coming from the multinational forces to continue the logistics support for our troops.

As you know, the terrorist groups have targeted yesterday al- Khalani mosque with a truck bomb that carried about 50 canisters of gas, in addition to a large amount of TNT. This criminal act led to the death of so many people, so many innocent people, and many others who were wounded also, in addition to huge damage that caused to the wall of the mosque. And we went there yesterday to see the mosque, and we witnessed the damage that happened to it due to this attack, which is a historical figure in Baghdad.

So with all these challenges, these terrorist attacks will not make us stop our operations in Baghdad, and also to move forward with steady steps. And we have also accomplished, with the superb multinational forces and from our people, we've accomplished so many things. And I'm going to give you a presentation of these achievements.

These are actually the damages that you can see of al-Khalani mosque, and we've witnessed that directly, and also damage on the building. Last week the Eighth Brigade and the national police managed to seize so many weapons caches, as you can see in front of you on the screen.

Can we see the slide concerning the weapon cache now? Also, the Eighth Brigade -- yes, this is a (key ?) vehicle that was also seized by the Eighth Brigade and the Iraqi national police in Rusafa, and this brigade also managed -- or actually this battalion is working under the national police, and they managed to capture two terrorists who had a huge amount of TNT in Palestine Street.

We also managed to free five kidnaps in our operations. And the First Brigade also from the 11th Division, the Iraqi army, managed to free one of the professors who works at the Technology University in Kamsara (ph) District after one of the houses was raided, of course, according to intelligence information and tips from the local residents.

The total accomplishment that was done the past week, we've killed 32 terrorists and detained 170 others, and also detaining 65 suspects and freeing five kidnaps and defusing eight IEDs; also defusing 17 car bombs, finding 2,000 different kind of weapons, and also 140 different kinds of weapons, 500 types of weapons also, and 15 missiles also were found, 12 cars with no license, and information indicating that the terrorist groups intended to use these cars for criminal acts and also seizing eight tons of the TNT, highly explosive material.

This is just a briefing for operations in Baghdad. I will give now the lead talk for Admiral Fox. Thank you. ADM. FOX: Thank you, General Qassim.

Good afternoon. I'm privileged to be with you today on behalf of the men and women of the Multinational Force Iraq. And I'm very pleased to be here with my good friend, Brigadier General Qassim, Iraq's military spokesman for Operation Fard al-Qanun.

All of the additional requested forces for the surge are now in place and are simultaneously conducting coordinated core-level offensive operations throughout Iraq. Coalition forces are strong and focused and are concentrating our effort and might against the extremists, taking the fight to where they are, going after the terrorists to deny them sanctuary, and taking back neighborhoods in order to build a secure future for the Iraqi people.

Together with our Iraqi colleagues, we are pursuing the extremists and maintaining the initiative. As you've seen in recent news reports, several military operations are ongoing throughout Iraq. In Baqubah, the Multinational Division North launched Operation Arrowhead Ripper to pressure al Qaeda terrorists operating in that area.

The Third Striker Brigade Combat Team, Second Division, conducted a quick-strike night-time air assault that involved approximately 10,000 soldiers, a full complement of attack helicopters, numerous strikers and Bradley fighting vehicles, and extensive close air support.

Multinational Division Center is conducting Operation Marne Torch, a major operational offensive to prevent insurgents from entering the southern Baghdad belts and to deny the enemy sanctuary by preventing the terrorist elements from moving bomb parts and materials into Baghdad.

Iraqi and coalition forces are conducting carefully planned and executed operations, demonstrating their resolve to deny terrorists safe havens. We'll continue to pursue these terrorists wherever they go, not simply pushing AQI or the extremists into other areas, but attacking their networks and damaging their ability to wage horrific and calculated violence against the citizens of Iraq. And we know the enemy will attempt to disrupt our efforts, as evidenced by yesterday's horrific attack in Baghdad.

I want to express my sympathy to those who were killed or injured, the families of those who were killed or those injured in the deadly and senseless truck bombing near the al-Khalani mosque in Rusafa. We share the outrage of the Iraqi people against this despicable attack. And this is the first press conference that we've been able to have as well since the attack last week against the Samarra mosque, and this comes on the heels of that bombing last week, and we condemn that roundly. The government of Iraq, though, acted swiftly and courageously with a strong sense of leadership after that attack, and they effectively took control of the situation and prevented a repeat of the violence that Samarra suffered last year when the Golden Mosque was first attacked in February of 2006. And ongoing operations are proving just that. From weapons caches to foiled bridge and checkpoint bombings to tips we receive from the tribes and citizens, we are on the offensive to dismantle these secret cells and networks.

Let me emphasize an important point. This will be a tough fight and one with challenges and hurdles. But our forces are on the offensive, and we are attacking the enemy. At the same time, though, we face a summer of hard fighting. But I'm confident that there's good prospects for continued progress in the months ahead and that hopefully can be matched by progress in the political and economic areas here in Iraq, and again, given us hope for the way ahead.

I'm always encouraged by the friendship and rapport and solid working relationship we have with our colleagues in the government of Iraq. And I'm honored to appear today with my good friend, General Qassim.

And with that, we'd be glad to take your questions.

Q (Through interpreter.) (Inaudible.) It's a newspaper.

A question to the brigadier general. We would like to know from you how the car bomb that carries so many explosives, how did it get into Baghdad, despite the huge amount of checkpoints and the machines, the car-bomb detecting machines?

GEN. QASSIM: The issue of the car bombs and their entrance to Baghdad -- well, the minister of Interior, in cooperation with the operation command in Baghdad, have started to distribute some of the machines that detect the car bombs, and these machines were put in certain places. And this is just the first step.

Our first analysis for what happened yesterday is that this truck or this vehicle has been supplied with half-ton of TNT, and it was actually a truck. And it was also loaded with 50 gas cylinders and it was loaded in a very close place to the incident, the bombing. And a while ago our security forces raided Sheikh Umar Street, and we found -- because there are factories in this street of spare parts and technical and electrical parts. So we found it in this street, Sheikh Umar Street, and also the cemetery of the Sheikh Umar, we find huge amount of weapons and explosives.

The terrorists moved from that place and came to the Khalani mosque, and he made it in a way so that he will not pass through checkpoints, except the only one that is near the mosque. And this operation -- and this suicide operation, he could have blew himself up in any place, and because suicide operations are considered something that you can't control. And all the efforts now are to stop the car bombs, but the suicide bombers and the difficulty of controlling him because he is already dead.

Q (Through interpreter.) Question from Nina (ph) Agency; a question to Admiral Fox.

You said that we attended a conference with the Sadr bloc, and they said that the American forces in Amarah city targeted these civilians. So how would you comment, or what is the comment of the American troops for this incident?

The second question for Brigadier General Atta. What is the stance of the Iraqi forces of these attacks? Thank you.

ADM. FOX: The operations that took place over in Maysan in Amarah recently were targeting elements of the network that have been smuggling explosively forced penetrators and weapons into Iraq for use against the coalition and Iraqi security force. And these operations were conducted in the -- they were prepared, planned and executed with the cooperation and awareness of the Iraqi security force.

These operations also were very precisely planned and they were also very precisely executed. And we've seen the reports in some of the media that there were civilian casualties, and we've double- checked our records and have had no reports whatsoever of any civilian casualties in those operations over in Amarah. There were a number of terrorists who were killed in that operation, but there were no civilian casualties that we saw any report of whatsoever.

I'd also remind you that it's a continuing focus, from our perspective, on force protection considerations in that any time we see that there are networks or supply chains that provide the parts and the support for the explosively formed penetrators that are coming from Iran, we're going to take the appropriate action and we're going to target them. And so this is one example of operations that were conducted and intended to do just that.

GEN. QASSIM: I can't answer any other questions.

Q Jalal Kalidi (ph) from Iranian TV. I have two questions.

Brigadier General, where are you from protecting the mosques? Because we see that the Khalani mosque had been bombed; we don't see any cement barriers.

And the second question is to Admiral Fox. Yesterday when we went to the mosque and we've seen that, we asked one of the persons there and police, they said that the American forces were in that particular place half an hour ago near Sinak Bridge, and they photographed the area and square. Could you clarify this or anything you know about this incident?

ADM. FOX: The answer to your question -- I don't know any specifics about the allegations or the activities that you've just described. I would remind you that the reason that we're over here right now is to secure and protect the people of Iraq and to take those steps in this operation.

We understand that in this kind of fight that the center of gravity in this conflict is the Iraqi people. And so the actions that we're taking and the operations that we're conducting are focused on protecting and providing support for the Iraqi people. That's why our operations in Baghdad are structured the way they are, with the joint security stations in which the coalition force, the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army are operating together persistently, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in Baghdad.

So I don't have any specific details of what you refer to, but I can tell you that the focus and the objective of our operations in Baghdad and in Iraq are to protect and secure the people of Iraq.

GEN. QASSIM: Concerning securing the mosques and the religious sites, after the incident of Samarra, there was a curfew that was imposed in Baghdad for four days, and this was a precautionary decision by our leadership. And this decision was very important. And what proves that this decision was succeeded, that the people started to cooperate with the Iraqi security forces and we deployed many security forces near the mosques and the operation was conducted by a suicide bomber. And there was a checkpoint near the incident where the bombing occurred, and even one of the soldiers at the checkpoint was killed and many others wounded.

But you cannot control the suicide bomber. And as I told you, you can't control the suicide bomber, even in stable countries. We do our best to put some barriers before the mosques, and we've just started to do that, because we had a tour in that incident near that place. And there were orders to make a barrier near that place. And some of the mosques, they overlook a main street. So if we cut the main street by putting barriers, this will cause a huge traffic jam.

We put a priority in operation in Baghdad so that we can remove as much barriers as we can. So despite these challenges, there are so many roads that are blocked in Baghdad, and there are about 88 streets that are blocked in Baghdad. And we had set a plan to open these streets and to remove the cement barriers so that we can make traffic much easier and so that we will make it much easier for the people to go on with their lives. And that is what we wanted to do and we are going to do in the next months. So adding cement, as I said, will create a traffic jam. So after any kind of operation or any kind of bombing, we study that so that the same thing will not happen in another place. Q (Through interpreter.) We have half a million Iraqi security forces from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior, and about 140,000 MNF soldiers. So all that, and terrorism still keeps going and the kidnapping is still on. So how would you comment?

GEN. QASSIM: I think that the number that you mentioned is not exact.

Now, the number of the kidnaps and operations are not like that. So please allow me so that I can -- the number of the casualties of Iraqi civilians is much less than that.

So if you go back four years ago, I was a member in the former Iraqi army. The Iraqi divisions that used to serve in the former Iraqi army, they are about 58 divisions. They have control over Iraq from east, west, north, south, in all circumstances. But now the formation of the Iraqi army, in order to be exact, we have 11 divisions, 11 military divisions.

The study says that an army should be built so that it can secure the situation in Iraq. It should not be an army of fights and wars, but just an army of peace. And the issue of fighting terrorism is sort of a special kind of fighting, which is far away from the specialties of the former Iraqi army.

So after the former regime was toppled, so many terrorist groups -- after that, so many terrorist groups were able to get into Iraq and conduct these criminal acts. And now war against terrorism is irregular, and the matter is not quantity but quality. And the issue is of supplying those soldiers with good weapons and also training them for special kinds of fighting.

When we come to evaluate the operation of Baghdad, and in order not to exaggerate, so if we ask any person, or any home-made car bombs that used to go off before implementing this operation, so we leave the answer of this question to the simple civilians.

How many people used to die due to the sectarian violence? The statistics now here at the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Interior, they confirm that before conducting these operations, security operations in Baghdad, the death toll of the sectarian violence reaches about 90 to 100 dead bodies every day.

After implementing the operation, this number decreased in the first days where we had one or two bodies every day, and sometimes three in a single day. These are facts. These are facts, not in the way of any kind of exaggeration. This means that we are moving forward in the right path.

Displacement -- there used to be so many people that are displaced from their homes in different places in Baghdad, and displacement is also sectarian. And after implementing the operation, thousands of people were able to go back to their homes who were actually -- they were displaced.

And the other important thing is that we've stopped the displacement operations. There are reactions. And we've clarified, ever since the beginning of the operation, that we've achieved a good result through this operation and we've deployed so many forces, and we always reinforce our troops.

And I think that the coming period will be much better than the one that passed. And the four coming months will be much better, yes. And that will be, of course, by deploying the right amount of forces by the Iraqi and the MNF, and also by providing and supplying us with good weapons and also through a weapon of the -- a plan through the Ministry of Defense to bring armed vehicles, new armed vehicles, and also to increase the number of the forces so that it can -- we can bring back the former members of the Iraqi army.

So if we bring all this together in the right, this will enhance the security for sure throughout the next period. But of course, I have to say that the terrorist groups may try to do other methods to target the civilians, so that's why we're trying to make the operation in Baghdad as flexible so that it can adapt and adjust itself with the changes.

ADM. FOX: Could I add one thing to that? Only just this month have all of the reinforcing brigades and forces actually flowed into the country, into Iraq. And so it's going to take a certain amount of time now to conduct these operations and to see the results from them. And it's not a light switch. You just don't turn it on and see immediate changes overnight. But in the same breath, you're going to see persistent operations simultaneously conducted, well-coordinated throughout all of the different provinces in all of Iraq.

And so I think that the thing that's different right now is the fact that we're now seeing the true surge in its full force and it's going to take a certain amount of time for that to actually show its results.

Q Sir, I'm Demata Pogar (sp). I'm with the Hungarian national television and I have two questions if you wouldn't mind answering them.

So what would you call as a success in connection with surge? So what would be -- what would you call a success?

And the second question is, how would you explain the fact that, more than four years after toppling Saddam Hussein, even the Green Zone is not a safe place?

ADM. FOX: I'll take that one. First of all, I would refer to the operations that we are conducting -- and you're going to see steady pressure on all of the different elements of al Qaeda and the extremist groups within Iraq. And what you're seeing now is we're now conducting operations in areas where there had been safe haven before, there had been no coalition presence or continuous operations there. And that's why you're seeing the uptick, if you will, in the total operational tempo, if you will, and the higher number of incidents and violence and causalities. And we said, it's going to get harder before it gets easier.

Now, in due course, after you've conducted these operations and after you've gained the confidence of the Iraqi people -- and I go back to that, because I think that's the most important part of this -- our job here in fighting this fight is to create the time and the space for the Iraqi government to come to grips with the hard political issues they've had to deal with. And we've said before, there is not a military solution to this. A military or security related effort is essential to be able to get to the point where we can reach the political and economic solutions here, but we know we can win and have won every single fight, every battle, but the ultimate solution to this is going to be a political and economic one.

And so that's success when we reach the point where the Iraqi government is acting as a total partner in every way and their people are able to go to the local coffee shop or take their children to the park and live their lives in a way that a free and open society wants to.

In reference to your question about the international zone, I'd also remind you that first of all, you know, Baghdad's a very large city and you know, for 6.5 or 7 million people. And the radius of any -- some of the weapons that are used against us, it's an enormous area of places where people can shoot these weapons into the international zone. And so it's one of these cases -- that's the precise reason, in fact, why we're conducting the operations here in Baghdad that we are. To be able to secure -- our plan is to be able to clear and then to hold and then to build. And so what we're doing is after having cleared, we have increased amounts of interaction between the security forces of the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army and the coalition force with the people of Iraq. And then as that interaction continues, they get the confidence from the daily contact with the security forces. And with that contact comes additional cooperation.

And so what we're seeing is increasing numbers of evidence of cooperation on the part of the Iraqi people telling us where weapons caches are, where improvised bombs are hidden and that sort of thing. But we're also fighting a thinking and barbaric and indiscriminate killing enemy. So success for them now means that all they have to do is have a spectacular car bomb attack next to a mosque or that they destroy some sort of a venerated object -- a shrine or a mosque. And so what the opponents of our efforts are doing are they're trying to reignite that cycle of violence between people in Iraq. And to the credit of the people of Iraq, it's not happening. You don't see the same level of the spiraling violence here where there's the revenge killings and the sectarian revenge and the tit-for-tat kinds of violence. And you also see some encouraging signs as well. Just last week -- it was overshadowed by the Samarra mosque attack -- but there was the Iraqi Inter-religious Congress that met last week. The first time in 37 years that people, religious figures from all faiths came together. It was right here in Baghdad.

And they condemned -- you know, their accords included rebuilding Iraq and denouncing al Qaeda and condemning violence and condemning the spread of weapons and speaking about a unified Iraq.

That success is when you see religious leaders coming together and speaking and condemning on what they're seeing here. You also see some examples here of UNESCO signing an accord with the government of Iraq that is now devoted to the rebuilding of the Samarra mosque. And so the Iraqi people are incredibly brave and courageous and resilient. And so it's an honor for us to be partners with them as we go through this tough period of time.

Q Thank you very much.

I just wanted to clarify something that was said earlier. Did you say, is it correct that you're planning to dismantle -- I believe you said 88 concrete barriers that are set up around the city in the coming month? Is that correct? And given what's been happening, do you think that's a wise idea?

The other question I had for Admiral Fox is: Do you keep a number on the attacks -- the mortar and the rocket attacks on the Green Zone?

ADM. FOX: I'll take the second half first. Yes, we do. I mean, we keep a very close tab on that, but I'm not going to discuss it for the very reason of I'm not going to give the people that are shooting any bomb update assessment or any information about how effective they might be or what they're doing. But yeah, we keep real close tabs on that.

Q Can you tell us if it's going up or down?

ADM. FOX: We keep real close tabs on that. It's clear that there's an attempt to get lucky shots and to get -- you know, there's unquestionably an increasing pattern of attacks here against the international zone. There's no doubt about that.

GEN. QASSIM: Concerning the cement barriers: And one of the proofs of improving the situation and the securing situation is removing those barriers. In Haifa Street -- of Haifa Street was a fighting scene. And after this street was clear, the cement barriers were removed. And many forces were sent to that place and many streets were open again for traffic and for pedestrians and it became one of the safest and secure places in Baghdad after it was one of the hot places.

And removing any kind of barrier or any kind of security barrier is an improvement for security development. And we did that in some places in Baghdad. And this result, I mean, in bringing the situation in Baghdad to its normal way. And planning to remove them has been based on some studies that they will be gradually -- we will be removing those barriers on a gradual level and according to the kind of improvement that is being achieved in that place. And next week we're also planning to remove so many -- some other barriers in other places in Baghdad.

Q You're talking about media and exaggeration. You have to be exact. Media is not exaggeration. The second thing is that you've talked about studying the situation after any kind of bombing. Don't you think that Operation Fard al-Qanun has become an operation of action and reaction? Thus from another side, what you've talked about concerning controlling 15 missiles within last week -- don't you think that this amount of missiles is small in comparison to the missiles that fell on the international zone -- especially that's repeated every week?

And the second question is to the admiral -- oh, we have too many questions. To the admiral, yes. Concerning the American troops that are now the fight brigades. Do you think the troops will put an end to the violence in Baghdad, and especially those troops now instead of being in Baghdad they're starting to head into Diyala. Don't you think that this is a game by the terrorist groups so they can pull the American troops out of Baghdad into Diyala?

GEN. QASSIM: Concerning the operations in Baghdad, the media in language, of course, we always -- these things are being different kind of media. Most people -- I never hesitated of saying any kind of facts. We have Sharqiya TV and we have Rafidain TV. Those are two channels. So after imposing curfew in Baghdad with a full control and full discipline by the Iraqi troops, of course, with the cooperation -- with a good, fruitful cooperation by the Iraqi people so that they won't let any or give any chance for the terrorist groups to conduct their operations.

So just to be honest with you, the channels, they broadcasted that the Al-Rubai'i mosque, which is in Zayouna, and I'm sure everyone -- every Iraqi has seen that -- that the Rubai'i mosque was targeted and it was -- militias set fire in those mosques. And those militias are actually working with the government and everything happened in front of the Iraqi forces. And the al Sharqiya and Al Jazeera and Rafidain said this.

So after that, in one day -- so just to be clear. Please, just let me finish. I invited all the media -- during the curfew I invited them on a tour on the second day and we went with no preparation to Al-Rubai'i mosque. The imam of the mosque is actually Egyptian. And he's been staying in Iraq since 1964. And the commander of the 9th Brigade was also with us.

And we went into the mosque and we went into every single part of it and we also prayed in that mosque -- inside the mosque itself. And even the imam himself talked in front of the media that there was no kind of targeting or no kind of fire inside that mosque. And Sharquiya TV and Jazeera, they were calling to the people so that they can go and help or give help, because the mosque is now being targeted. So where are the facts? So that's why we took the media so that they can go and see that for themselves.

Let me tell you that we have to separate between the truth and the bad intentions. So when we deal with media, as a military person, if we're being a civilian, as a military person -- hey, military person. They tend to just give facts as they are. And all the numbers that we presented today are honest numbers with reliable sources, reliable official sources from the ministry. So when we supply you with facts, there are some other sides that work on the analysis or work on suggestions. We don't work on analysis or suggestions. This is the work of the media.

As spokesmen, we just announce the facts in an honest way to the media. So this swift reaction of the security forces in Iraq, they conduct offensive operations. They conduct southern offensive operations. During the operations or prior to starting this operation, there were -- they were just defenses, but now we're offensive. And the operation -- let me give you an example that some people have been abducted by some hard men. And within half an hour, we managed to free them. We managed to free them within just half an hour after they were kidnapped. Of course, based on some intelligence information and a swift reaction by our forces, so we were able to free them. We found IEDs, car bombs, et cetera. So this swift, this quick reaction has to do with it.

Yes, for every action there's reaction and we know that. And we expect that from the terrorist groups. So that when we know that we will start inventing some new methods, but we made our operation is flexible so that we can adjust the operation itself to any kind of attack. And the issue of finding missiles. Many of the missiles are actually called indirect fire that are being targeted or are being sent from you all know that the distance of launching the mortar -- the distance that it takes the mortar to be launched and then to fall in a specific place.

So these mortars that are being launched from residential places, the MNF, they could easily -- because they have that through the satellites, through the aerial photos. They could target they could react quickly. But the thing is that these things are coming from residential places. And if they did that, we would have so many civilian causalities. We always get information and even -- the MNF have information about the mortar launchers. And every day we know where these mortars are being launched exactly. And most of the operations that are being conducted by the MNF through attacking the places from where these mortars are come are actually known. But I'm not trying to say that -- but finding so many weapons and so many missiles will surely disrupt the terrorists. And every day when we find a new weapons cache in Amiriyah, like we did in Amiriyah yesterday or in Al-Jamiyah neighborhood or in Sheikh Umar or in Medayan (sp) or any other place in Baghdad. So when we find those weapon caches, we reduce the chances of the terrorist groups of taking control of these weapons.

Yes, last question.

MODERATOR: Two more questions.

ADM. FOX: Actually, the second half of the first question here.

GEN. QASSIM: Sorry.

ADM. FOX: It's okay.

The issue here of your concern about troops moving out of Baghdad based on the fact there are other operations. Actually, the issue is this: The reason that we are able to now conduct these kinds of operations as robustly as we are is because of the five reinforcing brigades and the other reinforcing enablers that have come in to allow us to still conduct operations in Baghdad. And in fact, if you think about the Iraqi security force, it is more robust and capable than it's been before and it continues to improve. And the addition of the American forces -- the five reinforcing brigades that came into Iraq to conduct this -- is now the key that gives us the ability now to conduct such a large operation in Diyala and still have operations ongoing in Anbar and up north in Nineveh or in Baghdad or in the belt and that sort of thing.

And the other point I think I'd like to raise with you or at least -- you know, I hear this discussion now of well, we're playing the chase the -- we chase the terrorists wherever they go. And now that we've made some progress in Baghdad that they're now going into other places. I don't completely buy that.

If you remember, last year, you know, Zarqawi had said the caliphate was going to Baqubah -- that was the capital was going to be in Baqubah up in Diyala -- shortly before he was killed. And that was well before we started seeing improvements in Anbar. But now you hear this, well, we've gotten things squared away in Anbar so now, therefore, obviously the operations -- because we've kind of cleaned up Anbar -- are now moving up in Diyala. But in fact, Diyala was hard and we were dealing with problems up there last year well before we ever reached the point where we had turned the corner in Anbar. So I don't completely buy the thesis that we're chasing terrorists wherever they go.

I will say that we will go and we will conduct operations focused on terrorists wherever they are. And you saw that in Amarah recently, as I just alluded to. If we know that there is a network, if there are cells, and we know that it represents a threat to the stable government of Iraq or the coalition force, we're going to take the appropriate steps and we're going to conduct operations with our Iraqi partners, with the Iraqi security force. But the advantage now of having these forces in theater now in this surge -- the surge now -- we are conducting offensive operations in a very wide scale, corps level type of operation simultaneously.

Q Hi. I'm John Anderson from The Washington Post.

Admiral, I'm wondering if you can give us any kind of additional information about what's going on in Arrowhead. Any kind of a progress report that would say how far you've advanced into Baqubah. How much of Baqubah coalition forces controlled at the beginning and how much they do now. The number of IEDs cleared. The number of munitions fired -- found. The number of insurgents captured. Anything like that.

ADM. FOX: I'd love to be able to help you with that, but right now I don't have that information because we're still too early in the operation to be able to give you that level of detail. It will be forthcoming as the operation unfolds, but unfortunately I don't have that for you right now.

MODERATOR: Final question.

Q (Through interpreter.) Ali Omada (sp), Sumaria TV.

We have two questions. First question: There's no doubt that Operation Fard al-Qanun has started in a good way and achieved some good results. Nobody can deny that, but there's some kind of a sluggishness after that. Is it because of the interference of the MNF and the work of the Iraqi army? According to what the people say -- especially in Amil neighborhood -- because the MNF had a very negative stance there.

And the second question, for Admiral Fox, concerning Amil neighborhood in a tour with General Atta, there was a kid who was six years old. He lost his leg because of a bullet that was shot by the MNF and there were witnesses. And there was a child, a kid, he was 13 years old. He was killed by a fire by the MNF. So have you -- why is this? Why this bad method of using people and also using the immunity that has been given to you by the Security Council?

GEN. QASSIM: Ali, you have a good idea about the operation in Baghdad. Ever since we started the operation of Fard al-Qanun, we've said that the operation has no closing date. And it started on February and it went on in many places in Baghdad and every day I make tours in Baghdad. And we've witnessed that -- and everybody witnessed that there is good progress in the security situation. And to be exact, in Haifa Street -- and you all know the situation and how was it in Al-Alwiya and Haifa Street. It was a closed area. It was isolated. But now it's normal and we've outlined it as a green area. And in other places or in other districts, like in Ghazalia. It's much better now in Ghazalia district. In Yarmouk is good also. I took the media on a tour in Yarmouk. We have services there now. The people went back to their homes -- the people who were displaced, of course. And also in Amil neighborhood and in Bayah neighborhood. Last months those places witnessed some really criminal acts because the terrorists managed to sneak into those places and those groups managed to use the mosques in operations. And when we detained one of the terrorists in Fatah Harasha (ph) mosque in Bayah district. And we asked them, why are you here? And he said, I'm not from Bayah. I'm not from here. I'm from Dora and I came here to practice jihad.

All the terrorist groups that are now in -- or that were in Al- Amil or in Bayah -- so all the information indicates that they are from places outside these places. And we've deployed so many troops there and we've changed the troops there also. The security situation now is under control there now. The role of the MNF there is not to hinder the Iraqi forces, but to support and train and arm the Iraqi weapons. And of course to support them in military operations.

Of course, there could be some problems, there could be some difficulties in our work -- especially because I told you we're working on an irregular war against al Qaeda. The security operation now has priorities. And these things are being discussed every week by the presence of the minister of Defense and the minister of Interior and by General Petraeus also, who's the commanding general of MNF in Baghdad in Iraq. Also by Dr. Mowaffak Rubaie, who was the national security adviser. We set priorities for every district.

As a general evaluation for the plan, ever since it started, the general evaluation is that the plan is working in a good way and as it was scheduled.

Thank you.

ADM. FOX: The plight of children in war is a horrible one. And I'm not familiar with the specific example that you gave me, but I take it at face value that there are innocents that have suffered in the midst of this conflict. But I'd like to take this opportunity to contrast and compare the nature of the forces that are fighting.

We're facing a force here that indiscriminately kills, who plants bombs in crowded markets, attacks hospitals, schools, mosques and there's a group of people over here wearing military uniforms in the United States and the coalition force who are there to prevent that from happening.

War is a really horrible situation and it's our job now to protect the Iraqi people and to be able to create the time and the space for the Iraqi political process to take root. And so I think it's important to -- I understand and I hear your comment about the nature of an innocent person who's been injured or even killed in this conflict. But I think I would use that as an opportunity to put it in a context of who's fighting and what we're trying to accomplish here. And the idea of a representative form of government and that the people can live here in a free nation and determine their own future and not be subject to terror attacks I think is something that all of us agree is worth fighting for.

Thank you very much.

END.



NEWSLETTER
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list