Transcript
Highlights -
We're seeing progress towards reducing the number of kidnappings, murders and sectarian violence in areas in which we're operating. Attacks within the Baghdad province averaged about 23 attacks per day over the past week, which is lower than the monthly average for July.
In context, that is less than 4 attacks/day per million population. IMHO about 3-4 times what one would describe as a "High Crime" city.
As the lead elements of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, this task force deployed into Iraq from Germany on August 15th as part of a validation to demonstrate the capability to rapidly deploy units from their home bases to Iraq on a very short notice.
I would note that a Stryker Brigade recently deployed to Germany.
One of the most significant operations took place on August 19th near Kirkuk, and resulted in the capture of a Kurdish bombmaker suspected of orchestrating some of the most horrific bombing attacks we have seen here in Iraq. He is considered to be an explosive expert who produces suicide vests and provides explosive devices and remote control detonation devices. He's also known to have facilitated the movement of high-level al Qaeda leaders in Iraq.
Q Rebecca Santana from the Associated Press. There's reports this morning and late last night about fighting in Diwaniyah, and that 34 were killed, including, I believe, 25 Iraqi army soldiers.
GEN. CALDWELL: I am not at all familiar with that -- not to say that there isn't something going on. I would have get back to you, though. I was not briefed on that one this morning
Diwaniyah is in the Polish Sector, so it's possible the Poles hadn't forwarded their report yet. For the time being, it is anyones guess what the truth is.
There's a Quick-Look project going on right now, where they're going into each of the 27 battalions and doing an assessment both with the leadership, the training, the organization and the commitment of these national police, and making assessments on them whether we have the right leaders in the right positions and going back and making whatever adjustments or modifications are made to those battalions. And then, I know once the Quick-Looks are completed some time in late September, the prime minister has been working on a plan where they're going to then take an entire police brigade at a time and move it to a location and put it back through a refresher training.
The national police were at 98% manning 2 weeks ago as reported
here
This should free up training resources so that the long endless process of weeding out bad apples, and endhancing the training of existing forces.
The quantity part of the ISF build phase is nearly complete, now the focus can shift to quality.
Q Solomon Moore, LA Times. I wanted to just ask you about the military's specific strategy for dealing with the militias. I know that the Baghdad security plan, one of the objectives was to deal with militia-affiliated death squads, and I'm wondering how you're actually going about that and whether you're having to change your tactics somewhat depending on which militia we're talking about
I'm gonna answer Solomon "The Muckraker" Moore's question on part of the good General.
When one is dealing with "Group on Group" violence, and attempting to come to a political solution, highlighting which "Group" is responsible for deaths against which "Other Group" is a really good way to insure that the violence never stops.
It makes it impossible for one side to offer surrender terms(or reconciliation terms) and just as impossible for the other side to accept the terms.
I realize a major source of Revenue for the MSM is covering death and destruction, but endless attempts to inflame death and destruction in the name of generating higher advertising revunues is somewhat immoral, so stop asking, and stop labeling.
The General and the Security forces are trying to STOP violence in Iraq. You are not helping.
Q General, Ellen Knickmeyer with The Washington Post. Operation Together Forward has hit most of the trouble-spot neighborhoods of Baghdad, Dura and Amiriyah and Ghazalia and, I think, other neighborhoods. But one that it hasn't gone into is Sadr City
I'll answer this Question in a manner the Good General never would. Moqtada and his Goons have advertised themselves as the "Glorious Protectors" of the people of Sadr City. They've done everything possible to undermine the Maliki government and inflame sectarian tensions. When Moqtada AlSadr gets down on his knees and begs, Prime Minister Maliki will call over to General Casey, who will check weather conditions in Hell to see if it has frozen over, then and only then will a substantial number of security forces be allocated to Sadr City.
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