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Press Briefing, August 19, 2007

Multi-National Force-Iraq

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ/GOI PRESS CONFERENCE WITH REAR ADMIRAL MARK I. FOX AND BRIGADIER GENERAL QASSIM ATTA, IRAQI SPOKESMAN FOR FARDH AL-QANOON.

LOCATION: THE COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, BAGHDAD, IRAQ
DATE: SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2007

GEN. ATTA: Good afternoon. Thanks for an invitation by Admiral Fox to attend this joint press conference so that we can present our achievements during the past week. At the beginning, you've witnessed that during the past week there were some good achievements done by Operation Fardh al-Qanoon through providing good security the visitors of Imam al-Kadim on 9 August and it's actually a normal thing that generally reason for the success of this operation and we presented to the media some of the major reasons for the success of this operation and we can brief the following points. First, the good preparation of the plan, a good coordination between the supporting ministries and the security system, and three, by incorporation of the people and their commitment to listen to the security orders issued by commanding operations in Baghdad. Also the presence of the commanders and by the intelligence information and good the reaction. Six, the aerial backup by the multinational forces and by the Iraqi air force. Finally , the good performance are responsible for conducting these operations.

These are the major points that succeeded the operation in Adhamiyah and we pray the role of the Iraqi army and the Iraqi national police and the cooperation of the people are showing the security forces. During the past week, we found a chemical weapon cache that includes over thousands of ammonium nitrates in Habene neighborhood by the 5th brigade in the Iraq army as you can see in the picture. The [inaudible] brigade at the Iraqi army managed to detain 49 terrorists who tried to launch an attack on the security forces in Abu Ghraib District and they also [part 2 ended] ...in addition to many other explosives. The 4th Brigade also foiled a kidnapping operation of four people who are actually employees at the ministry of health at the Fardh neighborhood. The fifth point, we have the al Muthana Brigade managed to diffuse a car bomb that was driven by the dean of the minister of agricultural in Abu Grahib District. The 4th Brigade also managed to detain 65 terrorists and seized a large amount of weapons and explosives.

The security operations are ongoing right now for the Iraqi army and al [inaudible] neighborhood and al Jamia neighborhood also and we witnessed a good improvement in those neighborhoods. And we've also invited the municipality services and other ministries so that they can provide services to these areas. And this resulted in detaining Muhammad [inaudible] who is Arabic and the amir of al-Qaeda amir in al-Jamia neighborhood in addition to five of his assistants. On the services level, our teams are working on reconstructing the bridges that were damaged by the terrorists attacks like Al-Sarafiya bridge and the bridge of Muhammad al Kazim that is near the minister of finance and the tunnel of Mosul square and these teams achieved a good amount of work at these bridges to be reopened again.

Concerning the provinces, there are still security operations in Diyala neighborhood and also in Samarra and also in Anbar Province. There is a good cooperation between the people and the security forces in these provinces.

The detailed activities of the operations from August 6 through August 12, we killed 29 terrorists and detained 287 wanted terrorists. And also we detained 273 suspects, freeing 11 kidnaps, diffusing 55 IEDs, also diffusing eight car bombs and finding 2,029 different kind of weapons from small to heavy arm, and finding 41 different kinds of weapons, and 57 rockets. Also we found wires and 16 vehicles that had no license and 1,000 kilograms of TNT. This is one of the major things that have been achieved from August 6 to August 18. And I will give space now to Admiral Fox so that he can present his briefing. Shukran.

ADM. FOX: Thank you. Good afternoon and as-salaam aleikum. I'm always honored and pleased to appear with my good friend General Qassim. I'd first like to take a moment to offer condolences to the families of the victims of the devastating and murderous bombings last week in Nineveh Province, and recognize the tremendous support and outreach from the government of Iraq, provincial and local leadership, Iraqi security forces, and most importantly the Iraqi people themselves. This horrific attack intended to terrorize and divide is instead uniting all Iraqis regardless of sectarian beliefs or ethnic backgrounds. As you know, Prime Minister Maliki launched a full investigation into the unprovoked attack and Iraqi security and Coalition forces will not rest until those who perpetrated this reprehensible act are brought to justice.

The prompt visits by the minister of health and deputy prime minister and the humanitarian assistance they've facilitated will help speed the much needed reconstruction and healing in northern Iraq. Most importantly we have seen examples of Iraqis, of all creeds and backgrounds, reaching out to their brothers and sisters during this particularly difficult time to help those injured and comfort their families by providing meals, bottled water, medical supplies and access to medical facilities.

This high-profile attack clearly demonstrates the very nature of our enemy, one senselessly attack and kill innocent people to intimidate, to achieve news coverage, and to incite violence. And as we have anticipated, this is an attempt by al-Qaeda to overshadow progress achieved by the Coalition and Iraqi security forces. The Iraqi peoples courageous response to such an attack only strengthens our resolve to continue and to complete our mission. Multi-national force Iraq's offensive surge of operations continues to pressure terrorists keeping them off balance and denying them safe sanctuary. And the Coalition forces are not surging alone. The Iraqi security forces are stepping up and improving everyday building capacity and combat capability, gaining the time needed to establish local security and restore stability. The Iraqi security forces are tough, they're engaged and they're in the fight. And despite the challenge faced by the Iraqi security force recruiting is robust. For example, 9600 young men in al Anbar volunteered to serve in the Iraqi police. In Diyala, 3,600 young Iraqi volunteers have been vetted and are in training with another 2,400 volunteers awaiting processing and screening. As of August 17, more than 227,000 Iraqi police had been trained and the government in Iraqi in partnership with the Coalition has developed a training program capable of producing at least 44,000 police annually. And the Iraqi army is growing as well with 165,000 Iraqi soldiers trained, with 10,000 new volunteers currently in basic training and just as important the government of Iraqi and Coalition have developed a training program capable of training 76,000 soldiers annually.

These patriots are making a difference. I'd like to highlight a couple of noteworthy events from this week. On Wednesday, in Diyala Province, citizen volunteers stood side by side with the Iraqi police to fight off a coordinated attack of 40-60 al-Qaeda terrorists trying to enter the southern Buhriz area of Baqoubah. The ensuing battle left 21 terrorists dead and several more wounded. At least two of the attackers were wearing suicide vests which detonated prematurely before reaching their intended targets. This level of cooperation between Iraqi security forces and local citizens is another clear example of Iraqis coming together to defeat al-Qaeda.

Our operations are not limited to actions against al-Qaeda alone. Iraqi security and Coalition forces received several tips from locals that militants were moving weapons through Baghdad in emergency vehicles. During a random search on Thursday this week, Coalition forces discovered five members of criminal militia extremists transporting 107-mm rocket in an ambulance. They attempted to conceal the rocket by hiding it under one of the individuals pretending to be a patient. We have reason to believe that this group maybe responsible for a rocket attack on Coalition forces earlier in the week. Our message is clear. We will go after anyone who operates outside the Rule of Law, who targets the Coalition, or attempts to undermine the government of Iraq.

While the attacks on Tuesday in northern Iraq are both tragic and potentially discouraging, the real story here is the unifying effects these attacks have had on the government, the security forces, and the people of Iraq. All of these show true Iraqi courage to the world. But let's be clear. We still have a tough fight ahead and as history shows, the enemy is ruthless and inhumane and willing to stoop to any level possible to try to disrupt our progress. We remain committed and focused on the mission to help establish a secure, stable and self-governing Iraq that is representative of and responsive to all Iraqis. And now, we'd be happy to take your questions.

GEN. ATTA: Thank you dear friend Admiral Fox for this briefing, for the operations conducted by the multi-national forces, and now we will be glad to receive your questions.

Q Question to Brigadier General Atta. Do you think that Operation Fardh al-Qanoon is being run by the Iraqi forces especially that we see in the streets that the American forces are always ahead of the raiding operations even the Iraqi soldier has some fear in these operations, so do the Iraqi forces take lead in these operations?

GEN. ATTA: Taking the lead in operations in Fardh al-Qanoon, ever since it started and the prime minister said that the leadership should be Iraqi one hundred percent and Baghdad was divided into 13 sections run by Iraqi officers. And we can't hide that there is a coordination and cooperation by the Iraqi forces and the multi-national forces regarding the exchange of intelligence information, providing backup, and also providing logistic backup to the Iraqi forces once needed. And the leadership now is being run by the Iraqi forces and by Iraqi commanders with coordination and consultant with the multi-national forces. Shukran jazilan .

Q Question to Admiral Fox. What are the details of the armed troops that you've captured and that are actually moving rockets. Could you give us some details of those who are moving or transporting that rocket, that 107-mm rocket?

ADM. FOX: Unfortunately all I have is what I shared with you. We are still doing an investigation and assessing exactly the details of those individuals that were using an ambulance to move the 107-mm rocket throughout Baghdad. But I don't have any additional details for you right now. We'll follow on once we've got anymore information.

Q Question to Atta. You mentioned that there is a good progress in operation in Ramadi and this is due to the cooperation of the people with the security forces. Could you give us some numbers of the progress there and what the role of the tribes with the security forces in that place?

GEN. ATTA: Details of the improvement at the security level, I think that the minister of defense and the minister of the interior- they have given details. But if we compare, and we always say that if we compare Anbar Province now with what it was six or seven months ago, we could say that there is a huge decrease in terrorists operations and there is a good improvement at the security level in Anbar Province. And also this applies also to Diyala Province. And recently I've received a call by the commander of operations in Samarra who told me that there is a good cooperation by the people of the tribes in Samarra City and in a short time, many terrorists have been detained and weapons caches also have been found and senior leaders of al-Qaeda in Samarra were also detained.

Generally speaking the terrorists groups now have a less influence nowadays. Yesterday there was a tape recording for al-Qaeda in al Jamia neighborhood and I've listened to that recording and he told me that the terrorists groups are facing some difficulties. But in Anbar Province and in Baghdad and Samarra and Diyala, they are having a much less influence than they had before.

ADM. FOX: I have one thing I could add to that I think. I was in Ramadi on Thursday and attended the sheiks conference and I think it's very clear and really an encouraging thing to see the way that al-Qaeda has overplayed its hand. Al-Qaeda wound up indiscriminately killing people from all walks of life out there to include members of the tribes. And the tribal sheiks and those people have now come together realizing that the best hope that they have is to come together in unity and to operate in cooperation with the Iraqi government and with the Coalition. And it was a remarkable thing to see almost a hundred sheiks come together with all the entourage out there at Sheik Sutar's compound on Thursday. This is their idea. They're coming together and they understand that their best interest are not being served by the terrorists in al-Qaeda.

Q This is for Gen. Atta. Could you tell us more about the concerned citizens groups, who they are and what their connection is with the Iraqi security forces in the area especially we've heard from some Iraqi army commanders that they're uneasy about these concerned citizens because they see them as a potential other militia in their battlespace.

GEN. ATTA: Could you please repeat the question?

Q The question is we've heard from Iraqi army commanders that they're uneasy about having these concerned citizen groups in their battlespace because, you know, in their eyes it could constitute another militia, another armed group that's not in their control. What do you say to that and how do you deal with it?

INTERPRETER: There are some statements by some Iraqi commanders in the field that they are not comfortable with seeing that tribes are carrying weapons in those places and this influence their operations.

GEN. ATTA: This is a very important question. Thank you for asking this. Arming the tribes was by suggestions by the tribes and the multi-national forces. And the whole thing was presented to Prime Minister Maliki and orders were also issued by the prime minister since he was the commander of the armed forces to form a committee at the office of the prime minister. And this committee is concerned with putting some orders to approve the recruitments of these people of those tribes and the ministry of defense and interior. And this was announced in an official way. Now, the arming of the tribes should be through that committee which is an official one and that committee from both ministries of defense and interior and from the national security force. The conditions are the same that we apply for everyone who wants to join the minister of defense and interior. And the whole operation is being supervised by the Iraqi government. Thank you very much.

Q Baghdad witnessed today and yesterday huge security operations and traffic jam. Is there a new operation that has been done?

GEN. ATTA: The spread of the security forces, well everyday we have operations in every section in Baghdad and many places in Baghdad witnessed terrorists operations. We have operations in several places and uh Operation Fardh al-Qanoon is not over. We have important plans and operations that is going on and our responsibility is to deploy more forces and to continue the inspections and the raids from one section to another. And this is part of Operation Fardh al-Qanoon.

Q Question. [inaudible] It was announced many times that the security forces received machines to inspect the bombs and explosives.

GEN. ATTA: We've announced in previous press conferences that the ministry of interior imported several machines that will detect the explosives and we have details of these machines and the commander of operations in Baghdad with the leaders in Karkh and Rusafa district and I was over there also we made a tour so that we can put these machines in both Karkh and Rusafa District. We distributed these machines in all the districts according of course to a priority. The machines now are working and these machines managed to specifically within the past four or five months, they detected and diffused a large number of car bombs and IEDs and of course they managed to find also explosives inside of some of the houses.

And the second, the ministry of defense also imported some of these machines and they're actually more developed in dealing with bombs and explosives. We've also enhanced the 6th and the 9th Iraqi Army Division with some of these machines. We've provided also the 5th Army Division in Diyala with some of these machines also. And all this is continuing so that- and we hope that these machines will increase so that they will contribute in decreasing the terrorists attacks and finding the weapons and explosives and car bombs.

Q Question. Kidnapping operations of senior conducted operations are still ongoing and recently we have the deputy minister of oil has been kidnapped.

GEN. QASSIM: Concerning this kidnapping operation it was conducted by armed groups and everyone who is out the law is actually called a terrorists. Second, the compound of the oil ministry was guard by the FBS guards and the number of those guards were responsible for securing that compound were about 150 and they were informed by the security forces that no vehicle should enter in an unofficial way. The preliminary investigation said that there are information that there is a cooperation between the attackers and some of the FBS guards in the compound. And there is an ongoing investigation between the ministry of interior and the ministry of oil and the commanding operation of Baghdad. And we are following up these investigations and the investigation is it still ongoing. We will present those people to justice once they are apprehended.

Q Steven Farrell New York Times: Can you tell us, which this far into the surge operation, which are the most secure areas of Baghdad and which are the least?

GEN. ATTA: This is part of the military operations that I'm not allowed to give any information about this. But I'd like to say that there are several places or areas in Baghdad that witness the good improvement in Baghdad including these places are the Karkh District in Haifa Street, Alwaii, al Kadhimiya area, al Gazaliah area there's a good improvement there. And Rusafa District in most of the cases in New Baghdad, Sadar City. Now the security situation in Adhamiyah is much better than it was a month ago. There is a good cooperation and a coordination between the people an Adhamiyah and the security forces. And this cooperation resulted in detaining so many terrorists groups and al-Qaeda leaders and also finding large amount of weapons and explosives that terrorists intended to use for operations against the civilians and also this improvement resulted in providing services and to this area and the commanding operation there makes visits everyday and Baiyaa neighborhood is much better than before. There are still some areas so that we can't contradict with the civilian like al Dora neighborhood is still ongoing, like Al Saydiya it is still ongoing, the clearing operations are still ongoing and of course we have also al Jihad neighborhood and Abu Ghraib is much better than it was. This is just in a general way without even getting into details.

Q You mentioned that security is improved in Sadar City and I wanted to ask about the volunteer, this effort of getting local citizens to take part in the security. Is any of that happening in Sadar City and also in any other, you know, most of this effort has been focused on Sunni areas; is any of these concerned citizens coming up in the Shiite areas? And also has there been any reaction or interference from, political reaction or interference from inside the government in the operations in Sadar City and some of the Shiite areas?

GEN. ATTA: Concerning the security operations and the fact that it targets one place other than another, we've said that operations are targeting every part in Baghdad with no exception. Second, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon includes all those who are above the law regardless of their background, of their religious backgrounds. And we've witnessed during the past weeks that the residents whether in Sadar City or in Gazaliah neighborhood or al-Amu neighborhood or even in Baiyaa neighborhood the original residents and not those who came recently, they're the ones who want an improvement in those places and they want a cooperation and they make a good cooperation with the Iraqi forces and multi-national forces so that they can rid these areas from the terrorists groups. And the good cooperation resulted in good results in many places like in Adhamiyah neighborhood and Sadar City and also in Baiyaa neighborhood. And Hayy al Jamia neighborhood also in Karada neighborhood. and this is based- and we target everyone without looking at their background because they are all terrorists for us.

Q What about the part of the question about whether there has been any interference or reaction from inside the government?

GEN. ATTA: We've said ever since Operation Fardh al-Qanoon started that the operation has nothing to do with any political side and it has nothing to do with any political structure from any parliament, from the parliament or from any party. We follow orders by Prime Minister Maliki since he is the commander of the armed forces and we have also security sides like the ministry of defense and the ministry of interior and the minister of national security and we work in an independent way from any political pressure.

Q Question concerning al-Khalis neighborhood in Diyala Province. This area is still being targeted by mortars and several people have been died and wounded and the place where these mortars are being attacked and the persons responsible for these attacks is linked with Izat Aduri (sp) and also we have another area so where is actually operation and what the Iraqi forces are doing in those places?

GEN. ATTA: I wish Admiral Fox could answer this question since he is the spokesman of the multi-national forces and all around Iraq. I just talk about operations in Baghdad.

ADM. FOX: If I've got the question correct in terms of its related to indirect fire attacks. Can I get you to restate the question just to make sure I fully understand it?

Q The question is al Khalis area or neighborhood in Diyala Province is still being targeted by mortar attacks from another place called Arab Azis Homed al-Farage (sp) which is an Arab Wahhaba mendeal (sp) and yesterday five people were wounded and many others were also wounded due to these mortar attacks. So any comment?

ADM. FOX: First of all we have taken, we take serious the nature of these indirect what we refer to as indirect fire rocket and mortar attacks very seriously. And in fact, we have special teams that we have been using to go after the cells and the groups of people who do these attacks. And we've had great success quite frankly in taking down a number of these cells that are responsible for mortar and rocket attacks. I don't have any specific information on the ones that you just mentioned to me. I'll pull the string and check on that. But I would like to highlight that this is a good example of the nature of the enemy that we're fighting that indiscriminately targets innocent people and they launch these rockets and they shoot these mortar rounds into populated areas sometimes trying to target Coalition other times just indiscriminately killing innocent people.

And so, just as al-Qaeda overplayed its hand in Anbar in attacking indiscriminately against all people, so too do we see that these secret cells and these criminal elements are also overplaying their hand in attacking innocent people. And then they will hide among innocent people and try to draw fire back. And that's the nature of the enemy that we're fighting. So, we take the threat seriously and we have a number of different steps that we are using to include surveillance techniques and methods and other ways to determine where these people are and how they're employing their weapons and the ways to stop them. We've taken down a number of these mortar attack teams and indirect fire teams here in the Baghdad area in particular.

Q Yes I was wondering if one of you could say how large the Iraqi army needs to be in order to really take control of the country and take control of Baghdad and how far, there were some numbers thrown out in terms of the current size but how much further do we have to go and how quickly can that happen to be at the capacity that it needs to be at?

ADM. FOX: I'll give this one a shot here. Um, as I described in my opening comments, there has been a great deal of effort applied towards creating a training system for the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police. And one of the issues that we are looking at right now or actually I should reverse that, the Iraqi army and the Iraqi government is looking at with in particular the Coalition but Minstiki is the organization that is the support, train, and equip organization that's the part that helps the Iraqi army and they are looking very carefully at exactly what size that army needs to be. We have experienced, the Iraqi army has experienced casualties on the order of two-three-sometimes four times that of the Coalition and so the loss of casualties of killed and wounded and other sometimes members of the Iraqi security forces have been relieved of their responsibilities based on loyalty or based on performance. So there is a certain kind of attrition that's there that needs to be replaced. And the specific size of the Iraqi army for the future I think is still, you know, they've gone from 10 divisions and there's actually, they're looking at ways to grow the army and to make it capable of handling the increased size of the security threat that it'll be facing. I don't have a specific detail right now because that's a work in progress quite frankly.

Q Yeah actually on that same question, I'd like to get General Qassim Atta's response. How large does he think the military his Iraqi security forces need to be, the police as well as the army and how much longer will that take? And secondly, along the same lines, given all the talk about improved security do you believe you are at a stage where it would be safe or wise to begin diminishing the number of U.S. troops at least in the Baghdad and Anbar areas?

GEN. ATTA: Concerning the size of the Iraqi army, the Iraqi army now is working in all parts of Iraq. We have 11 divisions. In Baghdad, we have the 6th Division and the 9th Division in addition to the 11th Division and this is only from the Iraqi army. And we are witnessing an increase in the size of the troops whether in the Iraqi army or those who are working within the ministry of interior. And recently, a commanding operation has been formed like the commanding operation in Karbala and a commanding operation in Basra and a commanding operation in Samarra due to the security crisis and problems and challenges that we're facing. We expect that the troops will be increased during this year and they will be deployed in a good way.

Concerning the improvement on the security level in Baghdad, we've said ever since we've started that there will be a good improvement due to the deployment of many Iraqi troops in Baghdad also the backup presented also by the multi-national forces and the equipment presented by those forces and developed vehicles, all this contributes in a tangible way in the security improvement that we've witnessed during the past six months, ever since Operation Fardh al-Qanoon started in Baghdad. We expect that the Iraqi security forces will be constructed in a professional way. And when we reach the exact number that we want and the exact ability and capability that we wish, there will be a diminishing of the multi-national forces that are actually now backing the Iraqi forces in different sectors in all sectors in Baghdad.

ADM. FOX: One final question sir.

Q Al Karada neighborhood recently suffered from bombings and attacks. Now they're suffering from road blocks and this is a residential place and a very commercial place, so is this the only security procedure that you could do to secure this area?

GEN. ATTA: This is a really good question and we wish the journals could ask this question. Recently, the terrorists groups they were desperate and due to the defeat that they're facing and based on the cooperation between the security forces and the Iraqis so they went to these places and they started to target these areas. Temporary solutions that everyone should know in Karada neighborhood that these attacks are actually horrific and many women and children were killed during these attacks. And when a terrorists attack targeted a residential area there and there is an interest of course shown by the Prime Minister Maliki through presenting emergency aids to those people and the commanding operation in Baghdad also went to those places in Karada neighborhood and we know that Karada neighborhood is a commercial area and an important area in Baghdad. As a temporary thing, until we can deploy enough troops, so as a temporary thing we blocked some of the ways so that we can prevent the terrorists groups from infiltrating to these places and conducting terrorists attacks against the innocent civilians. We hope that the citizens in that place could understand these procedures because it's for the best interest for the people there. And of course we understand that there are difficulties performing and transportation but all this is for the best interest for the people there. Of course, we, yes we could block away and there could be a traffic jam but the most important thing is that we can save innocent people and this is just a temporary procedure until we can redeploy more troops in Karada neighborhood.

At the end I thank all of you for attending this press conference. And I'd like to thank Admiral Fox for his invitation or this weekly or monthly invitation to make a joint press conference so that we can present to you one of the most developments of the operations so that we can give you more update in a good and a safe way. And we hope to see you again in the future.

END.