NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 |
April 7, 2003
Release Number: 03-04-76
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
POOL REPORT FOR TRIP OF GENERAL FRANKS VISITING TROOPS IN IRAQ
POOL REPORT FOR TRIP OF GENERAL FRANKS VISITING TROOPS IN IRAQ
All times based on Qatar clock.
This report and the accompanying interview transcript were reviewed by Jim Wilkinson before they were transmitted. Some comments and observations were excised.
AN NAJAF, Iraq, April 7 - Gen. Tommy R. Franks planted his boots on Iraqi sand today for the first time since the war began, visiting British and U.S. ground forces. He spent roughly seven hours in the country.
His purpose was both to get first-hand briefings from senior field commanders and to demonstrate that much of Iraq is now firmly in the hands of the forces he commands.
He declined to describe his visit as a statement of his new authority over much of Iraq. He said that he enjoyed face-to-face contact with officers and soldiers, to gauge their morale and to bolster his own.
"I think it would be almost impossible for anyone to see those kids and recognize where they came from and what they've done over the last two weeks and look at their mental state and morale and not feel pretty good about it," he said in an interview aboard his plane after leaving Iraq. "I was pretty damned impressed."
He said that the timing of the visit was partly related to the improving security situation in Iraq, partly the favorable weather and partly the fact that commanders and units he wanted to visit were accessible in a single day.
He said he had learned things about how the remaining Iraqi forces were fighting and organizing their resistance that will cause him to make some adjustments in his battle plan. He suggested, but did not say, that the information led him to believe the war could end sooner than he had anticipated, but he refused to discuss any timelines.
"There's some insight there that permitted me to form some opinions about how long it might last," he said in the interview. "And I probably won't tell you what those opinions are. It was encouraging. It was encouraging.
At his last stop, here in An Najaf, scores of Iraqi citizens came to the curb to watch as his nine-vehicle convoy drove the 10 minutes from a landing strip to a school that elements of the 101st Airborne Division were using as an operating base. Many of the civilians waved and blew kisses and children gave the thumbs-up sign. It is unlikely that any of them knew that the supreme commander of the war was in one of the Humvees with blacked-out windows.
In brief remarks to reporters before leaving An Najaf for Bahrain, where he was to spend the night, General Franks said, "If you drive up and down these streets and you look at these Iraqis you recognize how they feel that they can come out now from behind the terror and behind the rape and behind the generations of difficulty they've had in this country, I think it heartens a traveler like me. I think it also heartens these people in this unit who are doing the work."
He said that coalition forces "have an awful lot to be proud of." He added, however, "We recognize that the hardest part of all this may in fact be in front of us, not behind us. I think what we'll all count on is that we're going to continue to do this until not only the war is won but also the peace is won."
General Franks's day-long journey stopped short of Baghdad. That city is not yet considered safe enough for a commander's visit.
General Franks is a forceful, physical man. He greeted officers and enlisted men alike with hugs, arm slaps and chest thumps. Throughout the day, he was clearly energized by the reception he got and the fighting trim of the forces he visited. He left the battle zone more persuaded than ever that his plan was on track and that the regime in Baghdad was near collapse.
General Franks left his headquarters at Camp As Sayliya outside of Doha, Qatar at 8 a.m., flying out of the Qatari Al Udeid Air Base aboard a C-40, a customized version of the Boeing 737-700. He was accompanied by six senior staff aides, communications officers and a small but heavily-armed security contingent.
The party included his political adviser, David Litt, the former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates; Brig. Gen. James Schwitters, who is in charge of security for Central Command; Navy Capt. Van Mauney, General Franks's executive officer; Col. Sidney Oaksmith, chief of the general's senior advisory group; and Jim Wilkinson, the director of strategic communications for Central Command. All aboard the aircraft carried full chemical protective gear, although it was never used.
Near the end of the 75-minute flight to Kuwait, General Franks pulled two folded aerial photographs of Baghdad from his back pocket.
"Do you want to see the context of what's going on?" he said. The photographs had been overlaid with blue shapes showing the positions of American Army and Marine units in and around the capital. One of the maps, known as a Combined Operating Picture, showed the city ringed in blue.
"Baghdad is completely isolated by U.S. combat units," General Franks said.
A second picture showed a miles-long line of blue rectangles moving from the south into the heart of the city. The shapes represented the Marine brigade that moved into Baghdad early today to seize the Ministry of Information and the Presidential Palace.
General Franks, a satisfied smile on his face, folded up the photos and returned to his cabin at the back of the plane.
The aircraft landed at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait about 9:15 a.m. General Franks was met by Lt. Gen. David D. McKiernan, the commander of all ground forces in the theater, and his director of intelligence, Maj. Gen. Spider Marks. They were both in full combat gear, including flak vests and helmets. General Franks was wearing desert camouflage, but had a 9mm Beretta on his belt tucked in the small of his back.
They boarded an MH-53 helicopter with machine gunners at both doors and at the tail. The floor was covered with a Kevlar mat to protect against ground fire.
The helicopter flew at about 200 feet for the 40-minute journey to Zubayr, the command post for the British 1st Armoured Division which is responsible for the southeastern sector of Iraq. During the flight, General Franks walked to the right door gunner, put his arm around him and looked down at the ground as the helicopter crossed the Kuwait-Iraq border. Two burning oil wells were visible in the distance.
At one point during the ride, Capt. Mauney leaned over and yelled into Mr. Jim Wilkinson's ear over the din of the helicopter's engines, "Our tanks are sitting at Saddam's palace." Wilkinson smiled.
At the dusty landing strip in Zubayr, General Franks was met by Maj. Gen. Robin Brims, commander of the British division. The command post is roughly six miles southeast of the city. The general's party was ushered inside the command tent, which featured several large map tables, laptop computers, communications gear and a television set tuned to Fox News.
The briefing was classified, but a British military spokesman described current conditions in Basra, where the British forces are expanding their areas of control. He said there was a fair amount of looting going on, which forces sometimes try to stop, but not when it threatens the security of the troops. He described organized resistance in the city as "petty."
But he said there was a fair amount of violence in the city that he attributed to "scores being settled." He also added that it might take some time before the populace believes that the coalition forces will stay under order is restored.
"It'll be a while before we use terms like 'totally secure,'" he said. British troops in Basra are still in full combat gear, while troops in Umm Qasr, Safwan and Zubayr several days ago shed their bulletproof vests and helmets in favor of berets.
"We're quite keen to get out of Kevlar and into berets and the hearts and minds of the people," he said.
Mr. Wilkinson said that General Brims went over the British area of operations sector by sector over a large map. He reported on looting in Basra and said that "residents are going into Baath Party places and trashing them," Mr. Wilkinson said. The British officers served tea.
General Franks told the British officers that providing humanitarian assistance must proceed even as combat operations continue throughout the country. "There's a certain amount of winning the peace that has to happen before you can win the war," General Franks said, according to Mr. Wilkinson.
Before leaving the British outpost, General Franks stopped to visit with a group of American members of the Air Support Element serving with the British.
He slapped backs and shook hands and said, "You (expletive) people are winning a war here. Thanks for what you're doing."
One of the service members asked the general, "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing good because of what you're doing here," he said.
Then he asked, "What do you want from me? And don't be giving me any of this (expletive) about putting me on a plane. That'll come. What you're doing now is setting the conditions for this country to have a whole new way of life."
He concluded, "Let the record reflect we're all in your debt. Carry on."
A soldier asked to have a picture taken with the general. "Why would anyone want a picture of me. I'm an old ugly son of an (expletive)."
The general's helicopter lifted off at 11:15 a.m., bound for Tallil air field, where the party switched to a C-130 for the flight into Numaniya. During the helicopter ride, General Franks poured water on the head of one of his bodyguards, who was asleep at his feet on the floor of the aircraft.
The helicopter flew 100 feet off the deck, and passed a number of pieces of destroyed military equipment and empty tank revetments. It followed the Euphrates River part of the way.
The airfield at Tallil was littered with destroyed trucks, a bus, and pieces of tanks. Once aboard the C-130, General Franks motioned that he wanted to eat and a soldier handed him an MRE, which he ripped open with a borrowed Leatherman tool and ate with apparent gusto.
The plane touched down at Numaniya at 12:48 p.m. As the general was walking out the back ramp, he shouted "Showtime!"
General Franks was met by Lt. Gen. James Conway, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which is arrayed around the northeast, east, and southeast sides of Baghdad. A Marine briefer showing General Franks the division's positions and its combat objectives began by saying, "The 1st MEF is kicking ass today, so we're happy." He then walked the general through a number of current and future operations which cannot be revealed. He also talked about how the Marines were conducting aerial surveillance of the battlefield using unmanned reconnaissance drones, F-18's, P-3's, U-2's, Predators and "national coverage," referring to spy satellites.
General Franks then moved into a more private briefing in which the Marines listed their accomplishments to date, including the securing of the Rumaila oil fields in the early hours of the ground war. The Marines have also been pleasantly surprised by the effectiveness of close air support.
General Franks was told that after 10 days of combat with the Marines, the Iraqi Baghdad division "now stands at zero per cent capability."
Among the other lessons the Marines have learned, according to Mr. Wilkinson, who attended the briefing, were that all enemy command posts are near schools, hospitals or mosques. The Iraqis have an enormous amount of ammunition and small arms. Rocket-propelled grenades are especially plentiful.
One of the most effective ways to weaken the regime and win the confidence of the population is to destroy Baath Party headquarters. And the greatest humanitarian need now throughout the Marine sector is potable water for civilians.
General Franks asked the Marines what had been their greatest success. Destroying the Baghdad Division, one Marine answered. "We set them up. We hit them for several days. And when we got there they were destroyed."
Another Marine said that the Iraqis' fiercest fighters were the "Bedouins."
In a brief interview, General Conway praised the British move into Basra over the last several days and said it was a critical step. "If they can hang on there that'll shorten the war by a week or two."
He said that Iraqi forces are so disorganized that they cannot mount meaningful military operations, although they are capable of guerrilla attacks and other unconventional threats. "He may hurt us but he can't cut us," he said.
He also said that he had learned that it is important to destroy Baath Party headquarters and tear down statues and posters of Saddam Hussein, as a sign to the population that the regime is falling.
"Those message are more important to the Iraqi people than we as westerners realize," General Conway said.
Before leaving the Marine encampment, General Franks addressed a couple hundred troops assembled in the dust.
"There's never been anything like what you've done," he told them. "May He keep you in His hands. May he take care of you. Get it done and we'll be moving on. That's all the speech I have. God bless all of you."
General Franks shook hands and posed for pictures with a number of Marines, like a politician working a rope line. One Marine shouted, "Keep beating up those reporters. We love it."
General Franks then flew on to An Najaf, where for the first time he saw Iraqi civilians. He said later he was particularly impressed that not only children but adults came out to wave at the passing caravan of military vehicles. "What I was able to see in An Najaf was very powerful, not just the military piece, but on the street," he said in an interview after leaving An Najaf. "And not just the children, because children are, as I saw in my days in Vietnam, they applaud the large military machinery and all that. But when you see people, adults, to include older ones, and you don't just watch what they do standing beside the road, you see what are they doing. And there's some insight there that permitted me to form some opinions about how long it might last. And I probably won't tell you what those opinions are. It was encouraging. It was encouraging."
At the local headquarters of the 101st Airborne, General Franks pinned bronze stars on Sgt. James Ward and Sgt. Lucas Goddard, for gallantry in action near An Najaf on April 2-5.
"There's something that's real special about standing with heroes," he said. "And I don't just mean these two young sergeants. What I meant was you. All of you, half a world away from your home. It reminds me of a comment by General Patton - 'I'm a simple soldier. I don't pick where I go. But I win where I go.'"
He then spoke of the Iraqi people. "Their days of being raped and murdered at coming to an end." He concluded, "Your country is proud of you. The guy next to you is proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'll long remember being able to come up here to say thanks. That's all the speech I've got."
General Franks was then given a short tour of the weapons found in the school that was serving as the division's headquarters. A large pile of destroyed small arms was in the middle of the courtyard.
Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the 101st, and several other officers then gave General Franks a detailed briefing on combat operations in the area and on efforts to engage the local population. A special forces soldier described trying to coax Imam Sistani, the leader of the Shia, into discussions about rebuilding Iraqi society after the fall of the Hussein government. "Sistani doesn't want to show his face yet," the special forces soldier said. "He'll only talk through his son."
General Franks asked a number of questions about how to involve local leaders in the rebuilding effort. And he warned that there are likely to be more suicide bombings and other such actions by "guys who want to give their all for Allah."
A member of the 101st briefing team said that soldiers had captured a one-star Iraqi general the day before who had 21 binders of information about Iraqi forces. He also provided the Americans with names of potential suicide bombers in the area. He also said that weapons and ammunition had been found in 110 schools in the An Najaf area.
General Franks noted that other government agency operatives and special forces troops had been active in the area "for a while now" and had provided a good intelligence base for securing the city of An Najaf. But nearby towns, particularly Hilla and Karbala, remained dicey.
"Hilla is a black hole," General Petraeus said. "It's a Sunni town. We had a hell of a fight on the road into there the other day."
General Franks agreed that the division had a lot of work left to do. "Every one of these towns is different," he said.
General Franks was clearly impressed with the division's approach not only to military operations but with its civil action plan as well.
"I just want to say your approach is brilliant," he said.
He also noted that he had heard from a number of different commanders today that enemy forces tend to congregate at Baath Party headquarters and compounds used by the security and intelligence services. That makes for easy targeting he said.
"The enemy creates his own battle space that plays precisely into your hands," he told the airborne officers.
He left An Najaf at 3:45 p.m. for Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, where he picked up his C-40 for the short flight into Bahrain. He was to meet with Shaikh Hamad, the King of Bahrain, tonight.
John M. Broder
The New York Times
End report
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