Media Roundtable: BG Lanza, June 29, 2009
Multi-National Force-Iraq
Brig. Gen. Stephen Lanza, Spokesman, Multi-National - Iraq, speaks to the media.
REPORTERS FROM THE BBC-ARABIC AND AP INTERVIEW BRIGADIER GENERAL STEPHEN LANZA, SPOKESMAN, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE - IRAQ
DATE: June 29, 2009
PARTICIPANTS:
Brigadier General Steve Lanza and a BBC-Arabic reporter, followed by an AP reporter, neither identified by name.
REPORTERS 1-2
REP1 = REPORTER 1
INT = INTERPRETER
[PH] = PHONETIC SPELLING
INT: [Speaks in Arabic and then continues in English.] Hello, Brigadier General. This is the translator.
BG LANZA: Good afternoon.
INT: Can you hear me well?
BG LANZA: Yes, good afternoon.
INT: Yes, good afternoon, sir. So, can you hear me well?
BG LANZA: Yes, I can hear you fairly well.
INT: Thank you very much, indeed.
BG LANZA: Thank you.
INT: [Speaks in Arabic and then continues in English.] There’s some sort of a delay and—I’m talking to the guest. Alright. [Speaks in Arabic and then continues in English.] Alright. Yeah. Can you speak a little bit slowly for the sake of simultaneous interpretation?
BG LANZA: Yes, I can speak slowly.
INT: Alright. Not too slowly, but moderately.
BG LANZA: Hello. Can you hear me? Test, 1 – 2 – 3 – 4.
INT: So, can we make a test, a brief test, sir?
BG LANZA: OK.
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: Do you think that the Iraqi forces are now capable of taking control of the security fight?
BG LANZA: I think you asked me if the Iraqi forces are capable of controlling security in Iraq. Is that correct?
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: Yes.
BG LANZA: Yes. First of all, we definitely believe that the Iraqi Security Forces are ready to take security in Iraq. Additionally, we, the Coalition Forces, are fully committed to implementing the security agreement with the sovereign nation of Iraq.
INT: That’s a fine pace. Thank you very much, indeed. Alright.
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: What about, sir, the U.S. military base? You are going to keep between two Sunni and Shi’a communities, between Khadamiyah[?], I think, and other cities. What’s the name of this base?
BG LANZA: The discussion, really, is not about the names of the bases. The fact remains that we are prepared to fully implement the security agreement. We’ve been doing this on an iterative pace in conjunction with signing the security agreement from 1 January of this year. And so far we have turned back over to the Iraqi government 151 bases. We’re in the process right now of completing that, and by tomorrow, we’ll have all combat forces and all combat troops out of the city for the final implementation of the security agreement.
INT: Alright. We are coming through, sir, but speak slowly, a little bit slowly.
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: Back to [unintelligible] on you, sir. Now we are on air. First of all, the U.S. troops leaving the main U.S. cities...Iraqi cities. Will...are you going to redeploy the forces in Iraq?
BG LANZA: We are fully implementing the security agreement that was signed between our two sovereign nations in January of this year. As a result of implementing the security agreement...
INT: But[?]...do you think...?
BG LANZA: ...we have turned over over 151 bases to the sovereign nation of Iraq.
INT: Excuse me, sir.
BG LANZA: Yes, please, go ahead.
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: [Speaks in Arabic and then continues in English.] Mr. Stephens, I would like to ask you about the pullout. Is there any sensibility that you are going to go back to Iraqi cities at the request of the Iraqis?
BG LANZA: We have pulled all our combat troops out of the cities in accordance with the security agreement. In accordance with the security agreement, at the request of the Government of Iraq, there will be a small amount of U.S. forces in the cities to train, advise, and coordinate with the Iraqi Security Forces.
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: Do you think that the Iraqi forces can take over the security file?
BG LANZA: Yes. We believe that the Iraqi Security Forces are capable of taking over all the security files in terms of providing security to the people of Iraq. They have the capacity and they have the capability in which to do that.
INT: What about the uptick in violence?
BG LANZA: I think...
INT: [Speaks in Arabic.]
BG LANZA: ...yes. To answer your question, the issue is, yes, we have had some high-profile attacks, and the high-pro-...and while we have had those high-profile attacks, it’s important to understand that security overall in Iraq has improved greatly and the conditions are right for us to turn over security to the Iraqi Security Forces as stated in the security agreement. And the government, the sovereign nation of Iraq, is prepared to control their military so they have the lead on providing security for the Iraqi people.
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: General, there’s [unintelligible] for the U.S. forces. When it comes to security, in term of what...in terms of ...you[?] are picking up barriers between Sunni and Shi’a communities to the [unintelligible] of the Iraqis themselves.
BG LANZA: I’m sorry. Can you repeat the question, please?
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: The Iraqis on the street are angry of recent measures taken by the U.S. Army like separating between Shi’a and Sunni communities by security barriers.
BG LANZA: Mm-hmm. Yes. OK. Was that your question?
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT:
Yes, that is my question.
BG LANZA: OK.
INT: Is it right to split[?] between Sunni and Shi’a communities?
BG LANZA: The question remains right now that the Iraqi Security Forces have the lead in providing security for the Iraqi people. It is the Iraqi Security Forces and the Iraqi government that will determine what measures and what means are taken to secure and protect the Iraqi people. We stand ready to support the Iraqi Security Forces and the Iraqi government in whatever they may ask us to do.
And I believe we have.... Go ahead.
BBC REPORTER: [Speaks in Arabic.]
INT: We would like to thank you very much, indeed, sir.
BG LANZA: It’s been my pleasure to talk to you today. Thank you very much, and have a great day. Thank you.
INT: Thank you. Thank you, sir.
BG LANZA: Shukran jaziilan. Ma'salaam.
BG LANZA: OK. Is the mike off? OK. We can’t do that one again.
It was interesting. The questions he was asking me have nothing to do with MNSTC-I. So if General Milano was going to do this interview today, the questions she was asking me had nothing to do with MNSTC-I.
AIDE 1: That was BBC-Arabic. There’s a BBC-American at the end.
BG LANZA: Oh, and that’s the one General Milano was supposed to do?
AIDE 2: Yes, sir. That’s the one that we added...
BG LANZA: But I hope she knows....
CURT[ph]: Hello, General. This is Curt[ph] at [unintelligible]. Can you hear me?
BG LANZA: Yes, Curt[ph]. I can hear you. Good afternoon.
CURT[ph]: Good afternoon to you. Hey, Saga[ph], are you still there?
Alright. I had connected AP but I guess he dropped off. He’ll give me a call back.
BG LANZA: OK. So I hope they’re not asking me MNSTC-I questions because...
AIDE 1: They know that...
BG LANZA: ...they know that I’m not the MNSTC-I person.
AIDE 1: Yes.
BG LANZA: OK. Am I on?
AIDE 3: Yup, you’re wired.
BG LANZA: Oh, OK. Thank you. Thank you very much. And the next one after this is...
AIDE 1: It’s a phone call with...
BG LANZA: With...
AIDE 1: ...Online [Unintelligible]....
BG LANZA: The [unintelligible] Report. And then after that is BBC. And then after that is possibly the AFN. Possibly. The only thing, it would help correct some of the perceptions of troops. It would help reinforce—which is the only thing I’m thinking about is to reinforce. Remember the radio spot we did? That gets the message out to a lot of soldiers.
AIDE 2: Yes, sir. Oh, it’s a great tool.
BG LANZA: Quickly. That those young troopers listen [unintelligible]. I mean just as a tool.
AIDE 2: Yes, sir.
BG LANZA: Talking about the zoo. Just throw popcorn at me or something, I guess.
[Laughter.]
BG LANZA: Hey, Lindsay. Where are we doing the BBC? They won’t do it outside?
LINDSAY: Sir, just right outside the CPIC here. Russell’s going to choose a site when they get here. [Unintelligible] environment.
AIDE 2: AP has a slight delay; a few minutes...
BG LANZA: OK.
AIDE 2: ...on their end.
BG LANZA: OK. Make sure the port-a-potty is not in the background, Russell.
[Laughter.]
BG LANZA: We don’t want that.
RUSSELL: Yes, sir.
AP REPORTER: OK. We’ll get ready to record here, sir. If we can start out, just kind of an overview of what this deadline, the June 30th deadline means. Can you lay out for the people here exactly what we’re going to see tomorrow? I know you said it’s not going to be some...like a puff of smoke and the troops will be gone.
BG LANZA: [Laughs.] Yeah.
AP REPORTER: But lay out for us exactly...
BG LANZA: Sure.
AP REPORTER: ...what it is that this deadline means.
BG LANZA: Sure. What this means right now is the full implementation of the security agreement that was signed by our two sovereign nations on 1 January of this year. And tomorrow is the culmination of months of hard work to turn over all the joint security stations in the cities to Iraqi Security Forces as our combat troops have left the cities. So what you’ll see tomorrow not only is the full implementation of the security agreement, but also as a result of the security agreement, there will be a small amount of soldiers that will continue to be in the cities to train, coordinate, and advise the Iraqi Security Forces at the request of the Iraqi government.
AP REPORTER: Do you have any idea—I know we’ve talked about that it’s hard to pin down how many forces will remain in the cities. You know, is it possible to have kind of a ballpark of...
BG LANZA: Right.
AP REPORTER: ...what amount of trainers and things we’ll see?
BG LANZA: Yeah. I think what I can tell you is we have 131,000 soldiers here, and throughout Iraq the numbers will be extremely small, I mean a very small percentage, without getting into the exact numbers for operational security reasons. But it’s really important to talk about the changes that are going on in the cities. First of all, the change from a combat mission to a stability mission. But most importantly is that the Iraqi Security Forces have primacy over security and the Iraqi government is truly executing their sovereignty.
AP REPORTER: General, if we can look at the role of the Iraqi forces, now, at takeover. Can you give us, first off, an overall idea, how ready are they for this, to take on this responsibility with this deadline?
BG LANZA: The Iraqi Security Forces are ready to take on this mission. They have trained very hard. And I can tell you from having been here in 2005, the changes and the improvements that I personally have seen have been dramatic. There’s over half a million men in the Ministry of Interior. There’s almost 200 battalions in the Iraqi Army. They are trained, they are equipped, and they have the right enablers. And we still have the mission to provide them the support that they need to conduct their mission and we’re prepared to do that.
AP REPORTER: Do you anticipate, General, in the...in, let’s say the first few weeks after this all becomes official, would you expect there to be calls for help, some quick calls that there is a situation here, can U.S. forces come in and help out? Do you folks anticipate that happening in the first few weeks?
BG LANZA: Sure. I expect there’s going to be challenges. There is always challenges when you have violent extremisms that want to attack the progress that’s been made here. And that’s a sign of the country actually moving forward. And there are a variety of groups here that would want to drag this country backwards with all the progress they made. We stand ready to provide the support that the Iraqis need, whether it be through intelligence support, medical support, logistics support, or transportation to enable the Iraqi Security Forces to complete and conduct their mission.
AP REPORTER: General, if we can go into some detail on some of the earlier points you made. First off, the training and advising role that the U.S. forces, you know, will be assuming more so now. Can you give us a little more detail on that, on what kinds of help the Iraqi forces need and what you folks are ready to provide?
BG LANZA: Sure. We have the best trained military in the world. And our advisers will be working directly with the Iraqi leadership, directly with the Iraqi soldiers. The intent is to continue to increase their capability to do missions while at the same time expanding their capacity. So whether it be through aviation support, whether it be through logistical support, intelligence support, medical support, our soldiers stand ready in the cities to train, advise, and coordinate with the Iraqi soldiers. But it’s important to remember that they have the lead on security operations and while combat forces are out of the city, those individuals that are in the city will be directly responsible to supporting the Iraqi Security Forces in their mission.
AP REPORTER: As far as the U.S. troops that are outside the cities, General, to conduct operations there, do you also need permission from the Iraqi forces or are you folks more or less free to do as you please outside the cities?
BG LANZA: We will not be doing unilateral missions any more. Now, while outside the cities, we’ll be prepared to conduct full spectrum operations. But everything we do is in full coordination, full transparency, and in partnership with the Iraqi Security Forces and the Government of Iraq.
AP REPORTER: To get back to what we said before about responding to calls for help, how quickly could a specific U.S. force outside one of the cities be ready to move in and assist if that call does urgently come from the Iraqis?
BG LANZA: The Iraqis have put some very stringent measures in place for command and control and coordination with us. They have developed their own command-and-control centers within the major cities that are directly linked to our operations center. So we’ll have a direct feed from the Iraqis to us to be able to respond to any contingency as required.
AP REPORTER: The recent violence that we’ve seen over the last week and a half or two weeks or so, General, with some of the death numbers that we’ve seen, has any of that changed any of the thinking about this deadline or what’s going into it?
BG LANZA: I think I want to make two points here. First, the violence has been extremely unfortunate. Those are heinous, cowardly, and criminal acts against people that just want to live in peace; innocent attacks against women and children, innocent attacks in places of worship and in marketplaces. And what you have here is you have violent extremism that is trying to drive the population towards ethnosectarian violence. But what’s important to understand is that the population has not embraced that philosophy and refuses to do so. In fact, I would say that these attacks have actually galvanized the population against such attacks.
AP REPORTER: Is there the feeling—and I know you addressed this a little bit before—that we will see more violence, say, in the first few days after June 30th and the first few weeks? Is there that anticipation that this will provide an opportunity, perhaps, for the extremists to launch some more attacks?
BG LANZA: I think we’re prepared for any challenges that would occur, and that includes the Iraqi Security Forces are prepared. But make no mistake about it, we are fully committed to implementing the security agreement, and that will be fully implemented as of tomorrow when we turnover control of the security to the Iraqi forces and our combat troops are out of the cities. But there will be challenges ahead, and in partnership and coordination with the Iraqis, we’re prepared to meet those challenges in the next 30 to 60 days.
AP REPORTER: And, General, just to recap again, it...this is one of those milestones on that path to getting the U.S. forces out in a couple of years. How important is this deadline, not only for the U.S. military, but also for Iraq as a whole?
BG LANZA: For Iraq as a whole, this is tremendous. This is a sign that Iraq is asserting their sovereignty. This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for: That a sovereign nation can take control of their military, that the governance that they’re going to exact is able to actually support the population. So what we’re seeing here is two things: A sovereign nation that can execute proper governance to take care of the population. But most importantly, their own security forces that are providing security for the population while we move out of the cities.
AP REPORTER: And finally, General, from a perception standpoint, we’re at...how big do you think this ranks for the Iraqi people to see only their own forces within the city limits?
BG LANZA: Let me tell you, that’s a great question. This is a seminal event for the Iraqi people. When we walk the streets, you can see the pride in their eyes, you can see the flags waving. One little vignette that I can share with you. Just the other day we were at a ceremony at a joint security station where they were turning the station over to the Iraqis. When they played that national anthem of the Iraqis, and the Iraqi people stood with their flag waving and their anthem playing, the source of pride in their eyes with their security forces taking over was tremendous. It was inspirational and the time is right to do this right now.
AP REPORTER: OK, General. I think that should do it. I do appreciate you being available today...
BG LANZA: Thank you very much. It’s been my pleasure.
AP REPORTER: ...sir. I know it’s been a busy couple of days.
BG LANZA: No, it’s been my pleasure. Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
AP REPORTER: Thank you, sir. Take care.
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