PRESS CONFERENCE/OPERATIONAL UPDATE
MAJOR GENERAL DAVID PERKINS, DIRECTOR FOR STRATEGIC EFFECTS, CJ9, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ; DR. ALI AL-DABBAGH, SPOKESMAN FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAQ; AND AMBASSADOR ADAM ERELI, U.S. EMBASSY COUNSELOR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS
DATE:
PARTICIPANTS:
MG DAVID PERKINS, DR. AL-DABBAGH, AMB. ERELI AND REPORTERS 1-16, INCLUDING COURTNEY KEELY, FOX NEWS; JONATHAN BLAKELY, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO; AND TIM COX, REUTERS
(PH) = PHONETIC INT = INTERPRETER REPX = REPORTER 1-16 DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: In the name of God Most Merciful, the Iraqi government expresses comfort to the plan of withdrawal that President Barack Obama has announced that included the withdrawal of the combat teams or troops, and it will end in August of 2010, and we'll only have troops to support and train our forces until the end of the Security Agreement in December 31st, 2011. We have agreed with the United States government that a total of 12,000 troops will withdraw until September of 2009 in certain areas. And in addition to that, we'll have 4,000 British troops will withdraw in July of 2009 according to the agreement between Iraq and the UK government. And the plan has been put together and has been (inaudible) through the committees that's been put together in order to coordinate between the committees, the operation committees. And we have subcommittees, specialized committees, and there are about 15 committees. And this is the temporary or interim committee to, to deliver the IZ, and also the sub- -- the Logistics Support Committee and the committee for the transition of security and has subcommittees from the non-operation committees, and this is the -- deals with detainees and the -- and the delivering or -- the areas and the export/import and the jurisdiction, and also the aviation or control of the aviation and -- And these committees has put together in order to smooth transition and smooth implementation for the agreements, Security Agreement, and we've -- and we've released 1300 detainees, 150 every day, and we -- The checkpoints in the IZ's have been received to -- the Iraqi Security Forces to cover the security of the -- those checkpoints. And as far as the strategic frame agreement between the Iraq -- Iraq and the United States of America, that was six committees working with the high or Supreme Coordination Committee and working on the diplomatic efforts and political efforts, and according to work on cooperate (sic) as far as the education and, and IT. And missions are coming back and forth in Iraq in order to coordinate efforts between Iraq and to coordinate visits and delegations, a lot of delegations coming to Iraq to consolidate the relationship between Iraq and the other international community, and Maliki, the Prime Minister's going to, to visit other countries in order to strengthen relationships between Iraq and other countries. In April the Prime Minister's going to visit France, Russia and UK in order to provide -- in order to coordinate efforts between Iraq and those countries and provide the best interest of Iraq and to have economical relationships with those countries. And also he will visit Amr Musa and he will visit -- Amr Musa is going to visit Iraq and will also -- the Yemenian (ph) government president's going also to visit Iraq in order to consolidate relationships between relationships between Iraq -- I'm very glad to join His Excellency Adam Ereli and General Perkins. And I will now defer to His Excellency Adam Ereli to brief us. AMB. ERELI: Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Ali. I'm here to talk about the civilian side of things. General Perkins will talk about the military side. As you know, and as Dr. Ali mentioned, two agreements went into effect on January 1st: The Security Agreement which covers the presence and authorities of U.S. forces in Iraq, and the Strategic Framework Agreement which seeks to develop our bilateral relationship in the areas of trade and economics, education and culture, judicial cooperation and law enforcement. The goal of the SFA, I think it's important to underscore, is very simple, and that is to strengthen ties between Iraq and the United States in ways that benefit the people of both countries. And we've -- we've really accomplished quite a bit in the last two months since this agreement entered into force. And I wanted to highlight for you some of the more notable achievements. First of all, on January 13th, Secretary Rice and Prime Minister Maliki held the first Higher Coordinating Committee meeting under the Strategic Framework Agreement, and they agreed to establish the joint coordinating committees that Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh mentioned. And most importantly, I think, the two sides agreed that we really wanted to start producing concrete results that we could show both our people within the first six months. So -- So since then, since that meeting on January 13th, all the joint coordinating committees have begun their work, and they've actually accomplished some important things. For example, under the Joint Coordinating Committee on Education and Culture, which I chair for the American side, we've sent seven presidents of Iraqi universities to the United States. They left last month. The purpose of the trip was to establish relationships with U.S. counterparts and to conclude partnership agreements with U.S. universities. As a result of this visit, Oregon State University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the presidents of Babil University and Dhi Qar University that will provide for faculty and student exchanges. Separately, Appalachia State University has signed an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to provide teacher training and curriculum development assistance for the region's higher education sector. In addition to this, from January 24th to the 30th, the Government of Iraq brought to Iraq 24 representatives of American universities to Baghdad and Sulemaniya to begin recruiting Iraqi students to come study in the United States as part of the Prime Minister's higher education initiative, which, as you know, will fund 10,000 scholarships annually for Iraqis to study abroad. In the field of culture, we had an exciting visit last week in which representatives of the National Park Service and Winterthur Museum in Delaware came to Iraq, met with Iraqi officials of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and agreed to establish an Institute for the Study and Training of Cultural Preservation in Erbil. This is a major, I think, development that we're all very proud of. Beyond education and culture, in the field of economy and services, it's worth noting that representatives of U.S. banks, JP Morgan and Citibank and others came to Baghdad on January 28th, participated in an international banking conference that explored correspondent banking relations that would deepen commercial ties between Iraq and the international community, business community. Citibank has already established correspondent relationship services agreement with Iraq's Warka Bank that allows clients of both banks to execute cash payments, wire transfers and trade transactions to both corporate and retail entities in all Iraq's cities and provinces. We're preparing with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a visit to Iraq of a business delegation from the United States that will introduce trade and investment opportunities here to American companies. In the field of agriculture, 12 officials from the Ministry of Agriculture will travel to the University of California for training in horticulture, crop production, greenhouse management and post-harvest handling. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has selected another four Iraqi officials to study seed production management -- that's seed production and management, excuse me -- at the University of Minnesota. The officials will study new plant breeding techniques and seed testing that aims to boost Iraq's wheat and barley harvests. In the area of law enforcement and judicial cooperation, U.S. and Iraqi authorities are developing a judicial security plan to protect Iraqi judges from threats and intimidation. We're also developing a plan to improve prison conditions. In this regard, this month we will hand over to the Government of Iraq, the new Shamshamal prison. This new facility was built by the United States government at a cost of $30 million, and it will add 3,000 beds to the capacity of the Iraqi Correctional Service. The point here is that a lot is happening. Our two governments are working together closely and productively to enhance opportunity, improve the quality of life, and strengthen public institutions. We obviously have a long way to go; much needs to be done over the next several years. But as these examples show, we've gotten off to a good start. MG PERKINS: Shukran. I think it's indicative to note that today we have broad representation up here with Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh, the Prime Minister's spokesperson, Ambassador Ereli, really discussing, as he mentioned, some details with the Strategic Framework Agreement. And then I'll discuss some of the details of the Security Agreement. And I think that's indicative as to the breadth and depth of the strategic partnership between the United States and the people of Iraq, the Government of Iraq, and it is very long-ranging in that there will be many interim goals which we will set and undoubtedly achieve. And so this will be an ongoing process. And today we're sort of just giving you an update of where we are with respect to some of the intermediate milestones and some of the recent decisions that have been reached. As you all know, about a week ago the President outlined some milestones and some definitions of mission as we operate with regards to the Security Agreement. That agreement has all U.S. forces withdrawing from Iraq by the end of 2011; that is still our goal, and that is what we are working toward. He set in place some intermediate objectives, and I'll talk about decisions that have been made so far to accomplish those. As Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh stated, between now and September, we have -- General Odierno has discussed with his subordinate commanders and we've done an analysis of both U.S. forces and Iraqi forces, and we'll be reducing by two brigade combat teams here on the ground in Iraq. We'll also be reducing a number of various enablers. Enablers are a thing such as military police, engineer units, logistical units, transportation units, those things that support and enable the combat units. We're also recently completing the withdrawal of an F-16 squadron that is not going to be replaced. And so by next September we will have reduced from 14 brigade combat teams to 12 brigade combat teams, again, along with the associated enablers. We are also going to be reducing by the British brigade, down south, will return back to the UK and not be replaced. So what this gives you is the total of about 12,000 U.S. forces reduction and 4,000 British forces reduced as far as total end strength goes. Important to note that in the process of this, we will not leave any seams with regards to security. General Odierno is working with his subordinate commanders right now; we will reposition assets throughout the country of Iraq. We will do this in coordination in the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi Security Forces based on the threat level at various locations, how we can mitigate that, how we can cover those areas. This is a model that we have followed previously up until now. Already from the height of the surge until now, we have reduced our forces by over 20 percent, and in the process of that, handed over a large number of areas to the Iraqi Security Forces as they have increased in capability in numbers, and at the same time reduced our number of violent attacks by 90 percent. So we know how to do this. This is not the first time that we have reduced our forces, nor is it the first time that we have moved forces around on the ground. And again, all of this is made possible because of the dramatic reduction in attacks and the increase in the overall security here in Iraq. And these were all recommendations made by General Odierno, were taken into account as the President went through his analysis to determine some of these intermediate goals that he laid out last week. In addition to that, we have already turned over 30 area and facilities to the Iraqis by the beginning of January. And by the end of this month, we will turn over an additional 44 area and facilities. So by the end of March we will have turned over 74 facilities, operating bases and areas that the U.S. had previously been occupying and using to conduct operations, will then be under the control of the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Security Forces. And I think with that, probably the best thing is to open up to questions to any of us up here. Yes. REP1: (Inaudible) with the Associated Press. Where in the BCTs (inaudible)? MG PERKINS: Well, the specific units out there, the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division will be one that's leaving. And then the other brigade equivalents are a series of marine battalions and units that go with them. But again, important to note that as we move those forces out, we will then readjust forces on the ground to mitigate any security concerns. REP1: Will any of them be coming from the Mosul area? MG PERKINS: Pardon? REP1: Will any of -- I'm sorry. Any of the BCTs, will they be from the Mosul area? MG PERKINS: The ones we're focusing on right now are not. Yes. Yeah. Back here in the second -- REP2: (Inaudible) This question is for Dr. Ali; I actually have two questions. One with the budget (inaudible) Iraqi (inaudible) is that going to affect the country's transition to improving the Iraqi Security Forces, including purchasing equipment and expanding just the number of forces themselves, if that means you may actually have to slow down some of those plans? And then my second question is how the Iraqi government feels about its new relationship with the U.S. government, with the new administration, if there's a concern that Iraq is being seen as less important than in the past as focus turns more to Afghanistan and Pakistan and other places; and the commitment, including financial commitment, obviously troop commitments, goes down here in Iraq. Thank you. DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: I want to say that we have problems with the budget because of the oil. We -- The Iraqi (inaudible) the Council of Representatives are trying through -- by restructuring the, the budget, to, to fulfill all our needs. There are -- certain sectors are not going to get affected. One of them is the purchasing of equipment and the expansion of the Iraqi Security Forces because it's a big responsibility, which we have a big responsibility which is taking over the security responsibility after the American forces leaving Iraq. And we have to have the right number of equipment in order to have -- be self-reliant and self-sufficient -- and after 2011. And of course other sectors, as far as electrical sector, sector and we're trying to find resources to, to fund the security, electricity. Water is also our major sectors, and essential sectors that the Iraqi government is focusing on so we won't be affected by the budget. As far as our relation with the new administration -- American administration, I think we are focusing when, when the American administration is not focusing anymore on Iraq, or Iraq is not on the spotlight anymore, it means this is a good thing for Iraq. The Iraqis has a sovereign government and elected government and democratic government that is working on building its institutions. And I think when America is focusing on Afghanistan or Pakistan that means there is a problem in Afghanistan. And I think Iraqi man and one -- his own responsibilities and I think now we need the support of the American forces. But at the end of the day, we Iraqis have to rely on ourselves to build our country. REP3: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: My question is to the general and Adam Ereli and to Ali al-Dabbagh. As far as the briefs that you have just given, all the achievements that's been done through -- in the past few months. But there is one big -- only one problem is the Iraqi people. Iraqi people are actually the elements that actually control all the agreements and everything in Iraq. Is there any plan where you can explain the plan, the withdrawal plan to the Iraqi people that's going to withdraw by the end of 2011 and it would not stay just like it stayed in the Gulf Region and where -- that's for the cooperation, or future cooperation between Iraq and the, the U.S. government. Iraqi people, simple Iraqi people think that there is some sort of, you know, America has some sort of greed or/and interest in Iraq. But you can explain that -- How can you explain that to people? Is there any plans for -- that's set or put together by the American government to explain that to the Iraqi people? DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: I think that the implementation phases, and we have explained the phases that we have gone through between January 1st and so far. The steps of the implementation of the American -- the agreement between Iraq and the U.S. has been done in the right way and the correct manner, and its -- this timetable or this schedule is -- shows that there is a strict implementation to the agreement. And the Iraqi government has no intention to accept any sort of forces in Iraq after -- beyond 2011. We have no intentions to have any bases or foreign bases for foreign forces in Iraq after -- beyond the year of 2011. And I think this is clear and we have explained that in the agreement. And we are in the phase of implementation for this agreement, and I think this is going to be an experiment for us to test the gestures and the intentions. And we have seen very accurate implementation and follow-up and tracking. And the Iraqi government is, is comfortable that, with the agreement and we know that the American agreement -- also -- American side can explain it. AMB. ERELI: Your question is very good. And you know, throughout this, throughout this process -- and I was around, obviously, during the negotiation. And there was a lot of, obviously, doubt and suspicion and questions about this agreement and about U.S. intentions both in Iraq and in the region. And we worked from our side, very, very hard to try to explain what was in this agreement. And I think it's important to note that this agreement is public. There's nothing secret about it. And we tried to educate the Iraq people. Dr. Ali, General Perkins and myself, about what are -- what the purpose of the Security Agreement is -- was as well as the Strategic Framework Agreement. Because we recognized that people were, were suspicious. And it's interesting that even though the agreement is completely open, that there was a debate in the Iraqi parliament about it, that there were TV shows about it, that Iraqi ministers were on the media about it, and that everybody's had a chance to read it. It's interesting that there are still questions. What is the United States really up to? And I guess that's understandable given the history of the region and given what the Iraqi people have gone through, you know, in their modern history with foreign powers in their country. And that's why we want to break from the past and we want to, we want to establish a new kind of relationship that Iraq has never had with a foreign power: One of sovereign equals where we work together for the benefit of both our peoples. And that's, again, that's why we're talking about it. That's why, frankly, I think Prime Minister Maliki, President Bush, and now President Obama and Secretary Clinton want to show Iraqi people the facts. What are the tangible, material, concrete benefits from these two agreements? And why these agreements are good for the Iraqi people and the American people and why they're not about the United States stealing Iraqi resources or the United States having permanent bases or the United States trying to dominate the region. So for example, it's why I say in two months -- only two months -- what have we done? Well, we've reduced -- as General Perkins said, we're reducing two combat brigades. Entry control points are now controlled by Iraqis. We've released -- We've gone from, we've gone from 15,000 detainees to 13,000 detainees in two months. We're releasing 50 thou- -- 50 detainees a day. That's -- That's real. That means something. And we're trying -- we think it's important for you to communicate that to the Iraqi people. But more than just the military, there's the civilian side. There's helping Iraqi education, helping Iraqi business and investment in Iraq. Helping protect judges so that they're not intimidated, so that they can -- they can rule and prosecute Iraqi wrongdoing against Iraqis. So all these things are very real. Now, not just in Iraq, but in the region: We have agreements with all the countries there about the U.S. presence. The U.S. presence -- The U.S. is not present in any country that doesn't want us. And our presence is governed by a bilateral agreement like Iraq has that says "United States forces can do this and they cannot do this." And that's a contract. And it's a contract that both sides honor. And I would suggest to you, if you would look around the region, the united -- or around the world -- U.S. forces have been in Germany since 1945, in Japan since 1945, in Korea -- and, and in the Gulf since 19 -- since the 1940s. We wouldn't be there if we weren't good partners, if we broke our word or if we did not honor, honor the pledges and agreements we've made, we wouldn't still be there. So the fact that we're there, I think, is a sign that the partnerships work. REP4: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: (Inaudible) forces' mission in Iraq is different from the forces, the American forces in other places when this is something we should notice and -- in the Security Agreement. You're talking about withdrawing the American forces from Iraq as the Iraqi forces are ready and fully equipped air force and ground forces and -- to protect this country after the withdrawal of the Coalition forces or Multinational Forces from Iraq? DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: The Iraqi Security Forces under -- Right now is we're still don't consider the Iraqi forces ready and until today we are -- we need some time and that's the government's vision to -- that the Iraqi forces need to get equipped, and that's why we have contracts and we have the training contracts, equipping contracts. And by the end of 2011 I think we will be able to, as the Iraqi Security Forces should be able to provide security for the country and the people. REP5: Hi. Courtney Keely from Fox News. I have a question for Dr. Dabbagh and also for Major General Perkins; they're similar but separate. Dr. Dabbagh, the Ministry of Finance has asked for all Iraqi translators to give their family names and personal identification in order for tax purposes. I've talked to DynaCorp in the contracting joint venture that contracts these Iraqi local translators here, and they said they will comply with taxes, but they will endeavor to keep their translators safe, and they will not be releasing their names. What's the official Iraqi policy on this right now? Will you make them release their names and their family names when they fear for their safety and say they still could be in danger? Major General Perkins: While there's a bottleneck at the State Department with visa applications, these translators continue to be on the streets. Some of them can't visit their families, there's still fear that there could be bad guys out there easily in their neighborhoods that can retaliate. They feel they could be abandoned and out of jobs by June when the U.S. military is supposed to move off the streets of Iraq. What kind of reassurances can you offer for their anxiety and fears? DR. AL-DABBAGH: Shukran. (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: Thank you. Any security company working in Iraq has to fall under the standards and the rules and regulations of the Iraqi rules and the Iraqi government's so that according to the new agreement would not -- the new agreement doesn't give any immunity to any, to any company. They have to give their names; they have to release the names, their weapons and they have to fall under the rules and regulations of Iraq. We have given our clear opinion that the Blackwater company has not -- they have no right to violate rules anymore, and any company has not to violate -- should not violate the Iraqi rules. And this is going to be applied to all the companies. We welcome any company that wants to work in Iraq. We have any problems -- we don't have any problems with those companies. But they have to fall under the rules and regulations of Iraq. REP6: (Inaudible) question is will you make Iraqi translators that work for the U.S. military and are contracted by American companies -- you say because they work with U.S. military, some people could see them as collaborators still. They don't trust some of the ministries, and they don't trust their name being out there. Are you going to make an American company give the name of these local Iraqis to the Ministry of Finance? DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: There is an article in the agreement that asks the American government to release the names of their -- names of their employees from Iraqi -- whether Iraqis or non-Iraqis. And the Iraqi government's going to deal with it with secrecy and provide protection to all those individuals so they won't be violated. MG PERKINS: With regards to the Iraqi translators, obviously they provided a very valuable skill to us here. We could not have done what we've done so far without them. So we are very appreciative of all that they have done. We are well aware of their concerns. There is a well established program for them to get their visas. We are working through that, and the State Department is actually increasing the capacity to process those. Rest assured we are not going anywhere this June. We will have our combat forces removed from the cities, but we will still be here in fairly large numbers. So we will be here and then of course the State Department will be here well after the military is here. And so there is no intention to put them on unnecessary risk. And we work very closely with both (inaudible) and the State Department. And I don't know if Ambassador Ereli has any additional comments from the State on this. REP7: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: Dr. Ali, in the past week there was -- there was -- Hashemi Rafsanjani was here from Iran, and there were 70 political entities that actually criticized this visit and -- what they're called the Iranian interferences and (inaudible) Iranian interferences. Have we dis- -- have we -- have the Iraqi government discussed this with the Iranian guests? General Perkins, in the past five days there were spikes in violence; what were the reasons behind those spikes in violence? Is it because -- the violence (sic) attacks and do you think the Iraqi security is still fragile? DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: The visit of Rafsanjani was a special visit and it was -- he was invited by Talabani, the president, and we did not talk about any of those issues, we -- there were -- there are actually committees, specialized committees, to talk about these things, about the maritime borders and land borders and, and -- the Rafsanjani visit, again I say was a special visit, and it was a private visit, and it was an official visit, but it was a private visit when we did not talk about anything between -- about the Iranian interference between the government and Rafsanjani. MG PERKINS: Yeah, with regards to security: Obviously security is greatly improved and it has moved from very unstable to a stable situation. And we are working hard with Iraqi Security Forces to make it durable and enduring. What we see is, as you said, a couple of tend to be more high visibility terrorist attacks. Most of them had the typical al Qaida signature. We are by no means complacent. We know that al Qaida, although greatly reduced in capability and numbers, still is desperate to maintain relevance here in Iraq. Although if you take a look at the types of attack, I think it does give you some insight into where al Qaida sees themselves, what they see their current threats are and how they respond to them. And by that I mean most of the al Qaida-driven attacks are being done by people that are recruited internally from Iraq. So the success that the Security Forces, the Coalition and the U.S. have had in interdicting the flow of terrorist fighters is evident. So you're seeing recruitment inside Iraq rather than foreign fighters coming from outside Iraq. They tend to prey on some of the more vulnerable members of society: women, widows, things such as that. And they tend to target generally two types of targets out there. One would be what we would consider a soft target, a market, innocent women, children and things like that that are easy to get at, again because of the reduced capability. It's very difficult for them to penetrate what we would call a more hardened target. And so the fact that they go after these soft targets, again, is indicative of their reduced capability. Or they attack signs of progress. Today there's reporting out there of an attack at a police academy. Well, again, probably no better sign of progress here in Iraq. You have Iraqis that are volunteering to put their life on the line to act as policemen, to be part of the security forces, to stand up to these type terrorists. And that's a direct threat to them. So again, if you take a look at the focus of their attack, you get an insight into the things that bother them. The things that bother them are people living a daily life as you would see in a market, restaurant; or Iraqis taking charge of their country, moving forward with security, moving forward with democracy, moving forward with economic progress. So al Qaida and other terrorists are still active; they're trying to maintain relevance. They have much less capability. The numbers of attacks are dramatically off; however, they are still there, which, which is the reason why the Strategic Framework Agreement, which is a long-term strategy between the U.S. and Iraq, and the Security Agreement that we were just talking about here this morning, are so important that we continue to partner with Iraq, we continue to build, teach and mentor the Iraqi Security Forces so they can increase their capability to continue to prevent these types of attacks that we see. REP8: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: The Amr Musa visit and Abdullah Gul's visit, when is it going to happen? Have you coordinated any of those visits? DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: The visit of President Abdullah is going happen this month. It was supposed to be this month, but we couldn't -- it couldn't happen because of technical problems. And they -- the government -- This relationship is very important between us and Turkey, Iraq and Turkey is very important. We are looking forward to the visit to activate the signed agreements with Turkey in order to expedite the process of working and cooperation between us and, and the Turkey. There are so many things that need to be -- in order to take -- or start, it needs, it needs to be initiated by both Iraqi -- Iraq and Turkey. And this is going to give a big boost to both countries. And I think we do have agreements that in order to sign between us and Turkey. And I hope that both parties can be able to prepare everything to be signed when the president visits, the Turkish president visits Iraq. REP9: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: My question is -- joint question is for both His Excellency Adam Ereli and Dr. Ali Dabbagh. The prisons. Prisons in Iraq, I think it's just to, to -- it's just a prison. Is there training courses you can put in order to requalify those people? Some people are there just to -- because of they're under -- they're suspected to be something. And they're good people but they're there. And some of them have good ideology and some of them have bad ideology. And if there are no real training courses there so -- where they can get requalified. We can train them, we can -- and so that when after they get released, they can be supported and can be able to get back to normal, to live in their normal life and being good citizens. So, so they won't be working against the Iraqi people just because -- because some of them, they have negative thinking. And if you put them in prison and they won't be helped or anything, they will go out and try to work against the government and against the Iraqi people. And they will suffer because they won't have any jobs, and at the same time Iraqi people look at them in a negative way. Thank you very much AMB. ERELI: I think when you are talking about the -- you are talking about the corrections facilities and the prison population, you need to make a clear distinction between those that -- those that are covered under the Security Agreement and those that are covered under the Strategic Framework Agreement. The Security Agreement just covers those that -- those that were detained by the, by the Coalition forces. And that number now is 13,000. Those are all -- All those 13,000 are now under the authority of the Iraqis. And we are holding them for the Iraqis, but we are going to release them. And they should all be released -- either released or put in Iraqi correctional facilities subject to an Iraqi warrant within the next -- within this year. Then there's the Iraqi correctional establishment, Iraqi prisons that are run by the Ministry of Justice. And there's been a lot written about those. And we've obviously -- there's obviously an issue of both criminal elements as well as -- or fear of criminal elements or political violence -- politically violent elements. And the question -- and this comes under the Strategic Framework Agreement. And what we're trying to do in the Joint Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation, the joint coordinating committee, is look at it comprehensively. Number one, improve the conditions in the prison; I mean, there are in Iraq as there are in many other countries, more prisoners than there are spaces. And the conditions in the prison are not what the Government of Iraq wants or what, or what, frankly, international standards are. So we've got, we've got a job to do in terms of expanding prison capacity, improving conditions, improving the management of correctional facilities. This is a big job. It's a big job in any country, but it's one that we are committed to helping Iraq work through as part of the Strategic Framework Agreement, and that's why I mentioned the Shamshamal Prison as evidence of increasing capacity to improve conditions. There's also training of law enforcement officials to, you know, on procedures and practices to -- of good correctional facility management. But there's also the larger question, frankly, and it's not just a criminal one, of national reconciliation and, and reconciling certain parts of the prison population to political changes and becoming, becoming productive members of society. That's something that the Government of Iraq is working on. I think it's a very -- it's a very complicated issue; it's an issue that, frankly, the Government of Iraq understands a lot better than us. And I think the Prime Minister and his government and the judicial officials and the political officials are taking real steps to, to make progress. But it's complex, it's difficult, and, you know, that's something really, frankly, for Iraqis to do. DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: There is a project or a program the Iraqi government is working on in order to provide that after -- or following care to those who get released to -- by the -- and to provide opportunities to train them by the Minister of Social Affairs, Labor and Social affairs and the Iraqi government so they won't have to go back to what they were doing before. So Abu Ghraib is now -- is restructured again. And in order to put the schools, school to who wants to, who wants to get back to school and get back to studying. REP10: Dr. Ali, yesterday the Prime Minister invited or he said that the door is open to whoever cooperated with the, with the former regime to get into the Rec- -- National Reconciliation. And General Perkins, you said there is no doubt that there is a sleeping cells for those militants and al Qaida, and that's going to cause challenges and -- and is it going to be challenging to the Iraqi forces after you withdraw from Iraq? And do you have any lists of wanted people, and are you going to give it to the Iraqi government or not after you leave? DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: The people who are doing political work in Iraq, that's what the Prime Minister is saying right now is whoever is -- opposes the Prime Minister can actually work and do his political work in Iraq instead of not contributing to the political process, he can still -- even if they were opposing the government. The political process has proven that anyone can get involved in the political process if they are not seeking violence. So this is the country for all and there is an opportunity, an equal opportunity to everyone to participate in the building of this country, whether they were with the government or against the government. MG PERKINS: With regards to the terrorist cells, clearly there's not just sleeping cells, obviously active cells. And the important thing to note is that even right now under the Security Agreement the United States does not conduct any unilateral actions or unapproved actions that have not been approved by the Government of Iraq. So all the activity that we are conducting now out there against the terrorists are done for the most part in conjunction with Iraqi Security Forces. So we have a free flow of intelligence already with regards what the targets are and what the threat is out there. And it's also important to note that obviously we will be conducting combat operations until the end of August next year. And then at that point in time we will still be conducting extensive training and mentoring with the Iraqi Security Forces and focus counterterrorism operations until the end of 2011. So that's over two years left still of a very close partnership with the Iraqi Security Forces against these terrorist cells. And a major portion of that has to do with, as you just mentioned, the sharing the intelligence, of developing systems so that they can perform intelligence surveillance and put together the linkages between all these groups. Because that is one of al Qaida's strengths is their ability to network, and the linkages between their financiers, their recruiters, the people that build the IEDs, and that is one of the big things that we're focusing on with the Iraqi Security Forces is the ability to develop that capability so that you can get into these networks and pull them apart. REP11: Hi. Jonathan Blakely from National Public Radio for General Perkins and Dr. Dabbagh. I mean, obviously violence is tremendously down in the past year and in the past several months; there's no denying that. But is there a reason for this specific spike? And I'm speaking of the last -- let's say two, maybe three weeks -- you've had something somewhere in the country almost daily. And if you throw in Hilla, the market, and today's bombing -- obviously you've had the, the big ones which you can perhaps pin on al Qaida, but you've also had smaller, more targeted ones. Is there something specifically going on right now? Can we still link this right now, perhaps, to the provincial elections now that that's starting to get underway, the folks are being seated and work is starting to be done? Is there something else triggering this specific spike? Clearly something, if you will, is in the air right now. MG PERKINS: You know, generally speaking, with very difficult problem sets like the terrorist attack here in Iraq, there's generally not one answer and there's not one silver bullet to solve the problem. So there's no one reason that I would pin it on and say, this is the reason for any number of increased attacks. But I will offer up a couple of facts and observations as we've seen it. Again, what -- if you even look historically prior to this, when al Qaida senses that it is under extreme pressure and it is losing momentum, it works very hard, again, to gain relevance and regain momentum and -- because historically, if they, if they are not effective, if they are not getting highly publicized attacks, what happens is their recruitment goes down, their financing goes down and all that. So they sort of have to, again, show relevance and some level of success. The success that has challenged them, for instance, is since the first of January we've been operating under the Security Agreement. So the Iraqi government, the Iraqi Security Forces have been in the lead and things have gone exceptionally well. So that does not bode well for al Qaida. At the end of January we had a very successful provincial election. Compared to 2005 where you had over 300 attacks on election day, 44 people killed, we had an election day here on 31 January where no attacks interdicted any of the election activity despite many public proclamations by al Qaida how they were going to prevent the elections, how they were going to terrorize both candidates and people going to vote. And the fact that you had over 14,000 candidates actively campaign and take part in the elections and were not intimidated by al Qaida, obviously this was a major blow to al Qaida's reputation in being able to terrorize the population. And again, as we continue to move forward, the reductions that I just announced today, the progress that Ambassador Ereli talked about as well as Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh, these are all things that put sort of public pressure on al Qaida with regards to them continuing to lose ground. And so if nothing else, that puts pressure on them to somehow show their relevance, become more desperate. And if you look over the long term, even the last month, the average numbers of attacks continue to be very low which, from a relative point of view, sometimes when there is an attack, it is a spike because the average daily attack is so low that that spike jumps out much higher than if the average attacks were here. So it is also somewhat an indicator of success that, unfortunately, previously, attacks of the magnitude that we've experienced the last couple of weeks, wouldn't have broken the daily noise levels as a spike. But again, none of this is taken for granted. The benefit of it is since we have these somewhat isolated attacks rather than the high average number, when these attacks occur, it allows us and the Iraqi Security Forces to put a lot of analysis capability on that attack, do the forensics of the attack, try to pull it apart, see what was the cause and effect, where did these people come from, who are their support cells. And it lets us really get at the network much easier than when you have an average of 190 attacks a day, which is what we had sort of at the height of the surge period. So again, I think indicative that al Qaida feels threatened; they are getting desperate. They want very much to maintain relevance -- all the more important that we continue our strategic relationship with the people of Iraq, with the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi Security Forces to purge this threat from Iraq. DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: Agree that the al Qaida has received a lot of hits in Iraq and a lot of -- and those security violations and attacks that happened today, that's not going to undermine the security improvements that we have achieved so far. But the Iraqi government needs to also prepare themselves and prepare and try to see those forces, Iraqi forces, the Iraqi government is studying if we have any infiltrations within our security forces. And we're going to try to fill all the gaps that we have. REP12: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: My question is to Dr. Ali al-Dabbagh and His Excellency Ambassador Adam Ereli and General Perkins. Is there any challenges -- challenges -- internal challenges and external challenges and as being practiced because of the -- on implementation of the -- to -- American agreement or the Iraqi/American agreement? And if -- is the Iraqi/American agreement is being implemented as far as putting the, the committees together and when to -- to -- and when the American forces are going to withdraw from the cities, completely withdraw from the cities? DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: Of course there are challenges, but the Iraqi government has said the word and the Iraqi government has said the word too, about the agreement, that the Iraqi government and the COR thinks that this is the better alternative to deal with the friendly forces that supported Iraq. And that's why, therefore, there would be no threatens to -- and there's no force that can change the intention of the Iraq- -- and the desire of the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government to build a close relationship between the two sovereign governments and two... AMB. ERELI: I'll just agree 100 percent with what Dr. Ali said. I mean, there's no change in strategy. Our goal from the beginning has always been a strong, stable, independent Iraq that can be a force for good in the region, that can provide opportunity and prosperity to its people, and that will be a, a strong partner for all of us. And these two agreements, the Security Agreement and the Strategic Framework Agreement are designed and intended to bring those, those goals about. And as far as the withdrawal of U.S. forces go, I think General Perkins can address that. MG PERKINS: Well, and as they both discussed earlier, there's clearly challenges with anything this complicated. But I think if you take a look at the results just of the first two months, in many cases it has -- those results have exceeded our expectations because the complexity of this is really quite enormous in that starting the first of January, all responsibility and authority to conduct any security operations fell to the Government of Iraq, the Iraqi Security Forces. But as well, any other number of things: air space control, frequency control -- so we literally are meeting on a daily basis through any number of committees and working groups, with U.S. and Iraqi leaders to not only discuss things like the handover of the control of the Green Zone or hand over the palace or Basra airport or all these things that have already occurred, but how are we going to conduct traffic control, air space control; it's being done now jointly under Iraqi authority with assistance from the U.S. Frequency management. Which frequencies does the U.S. use? Which ones the Iraqis use? So all this stuff sometimes is not nearly as exciting and interesting, but it's almost eminently more complicated. Things like, you know, registering vehicles, drivers' license -- I mean, all these things are worked through on a daily basis. And the fact that we've gone through the first two months, have really overcome some significant hurdles, have some very significant measures of success out there, I think bode very well for most importantly, the great attitude both sides have brought to this. Both the Iraqis and the U.S. agree that it is in both of our interests to have this very strong, long-enduring strategic partnership; we've got to figure out how we work it through, a work-through of all the technicalities involved here. But even just the, you know, the President's remarks a week ago, the decisions we've made here today, show that everybody is in complete compliance with the intent of both the agreements. There is a complete commitment on both sides to pull this off, to make sure that not only do we comply with the letter of the law, but probably more importantly, with the spirit of both agreements. And that is really what is going to, I think, set up the long-term strategic partnership. Because in the end it's really based on mutual trust. REP13: Thank you. Have you agreed on the, the number of bases, and which bases you will be pulling back to, say, come June; and I take it further down the line there will be even further pull-back to bases. Was this a negotiated agreement, or did both sides realize the same thing, or what can you say specifically about that? MG PERKINS: Yeah. The way that we go about this is the same process that we go through any of these other joint decisions. There is a committee that focuses solely on the basing, the basing aspects of it. You -- As you can imagine, there are hundreds of facilities and areas out there. And what we do is sit down with all these -- and again, it's a joint committee with the Iraqis and the U.S. -- and we work through, first of all, the security strategy; in other words, what forces do we need to have where, how big are the forces? What do the Iraqi Security Forces do? What do the U.S. security forces do? Once we decide that, then we have to take a look, okay, what support do we need for those? Well, we have to have basing for logistics forces; we have to have basing for medical support; we have to have -- base for the combat units. And then you start taking a look at requirements and you say, what do we have and where are the best places to best them? With regards to the cities, the Security Agreement outlines and we are fully on the road to this, that we will withdraw all our combat forces from the cities by June of this year. And we are moving down that. As I said, by the end of March we will have already handed over or closed 74 facilities and areas. And those were done in compliance not only with the Security Agreement, but in conjunction with the Iraqis. What you'll see a lot of times is there is a base where the U.S. is operating out of; the first phase generally is we bring in the Iraqis, and it becomes then a joint base. But they are in charge of it. So for lack of a better term, we are a "tenant unit." So then they get used to running the base, they understand the security. We are there to help them along. And then we just pull out and turn the entire thing over to the Iraqis. In some cases they don't want to use the base anymore; it is excess to their requirements. And so we close it or they have -- they use it for something else. So it's a multistep process; we look at security plan, we then take a look at the basing plan. And then we talk with the Iraqis and say, what do you want to do with this? Do you want to use these warehouses to store grain, or do you want to use these warehouses to store munitions, or what do you want to do with it? Depending upon what the Iraqis want to do with it, then drives the turnover process. So it's a very complicated process, but it is one that is well understood by both sides, and again, it's worked on a daily basis. REP14: Tim Cox from Reuters. Two questions for Major General Perkins. When you say that you're going to be pulling all of the combat troops out of cities by June, how is that going to be a realistic goal for Mosul given the security situation there? And if it isn't, is there a way that you can somehow fudge the agreement so that you stay? And I guess the second question: When you talk about lowest -- the levels of attacks being the lowest on average for a long time, since when, exactly, are they the lowest? Thanks. MG PERKINS: The first one, there is no intent nor will there be any fudging of the agreements. So I can clarify that. When we say "withdraw our combat forces out of the cities," that refers to where they are based and where they stay. That does not mean we won't conduct operations in the cities. Again, according to the agreement, all our operations have to be conducted in coordination with and with the approval of the Government of Iraq. So as we look across -- and those are being done now. So for instance, all of the security operations that U.S. forces are being -- that are being conducted in Mosul right now, those are not unilateral U.S. operations; they are done in most cases with the Iraqi Security Forces, but as a minimum, with the approval of the Iraqi government. And that will not change in June where we position forces. In most cases we are out of the cities already. So I think it is important to understand that not basing them in the cities is not equal to not conducting combat operations in the cities. They will be based out of the cities, they will conduct combat operations anywhere that the Iraqis ask, ask us to conduct combat operations. With regards to the lowest level of forces: The 90 percent reduction is at the height of our security attacks, and then when we take a look at the averages, it is the lowest since the, the summer of 2003 is our previous lowest point, about August, September of 2003. DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: (Inaudible) -- seams or gaps after the withdrawal of the American forces from the inside of the cities, and this will happen through the coordination and cooperation between the two sides here, the American and the Iraqi. REP15: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: According to the quiet atmosphere that we have seen in Iraq and because of the help of the Awakening groups, what's happened to the Awakening groups? Why they haven't been assigned to the MOI or MOD until now? DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: We have seen the Awakening groups been, been assigned to work in -- as welders and, and -- in the American base. There is a number that's been agreed upon in Awakening groups and moving to or transitioning to the Iraqi Security Forces. The Iraqi Security Forces will take whoever that's qualified to be part of the Iraqi forces. And it's not all the Awakening groups can move and transition to become Iraqi Security Forces. There is 20 percent of those Awakening groups can move into the Iraqi Security Forces. The Iraqi Security Forces have a serving capacity where they can assign those Awakening groups to work and be part of them. And there's also civilian jobs where the Awakening groups can take as well. REP16: Dr. Ali, could you talk a bit about the recent tensions between the Kurdish government and the central government and how that could affect future security prospects here with some Kurdish officials even predicting there could be a war eventually if both sides don't resolve their differences? And then, General Perkins, what is the U.S. military role in those disagreements? Because obviously both the Iraqi government and the Kurdish government are allies. And some Kurdish officials have even expressed a desire for the Americans to put a large base in Kurdistan as some sort of, perhaps, buffer between the two. And just to get a sense of what, what the U.S. military is also involved in on that. Thank you. DR. AL-DABBAGH: (Speaks in Arabic.) INT: The Kurdish government and the federal government in Iraq and Baghdad, and there are certain things in the Constitution and differences in the Constitution that has not been resolved and -- through a war. We will have to agree; we have to -- we have the dialogue. And we have no choice, no alternative but to actually sit down together and, and apply the Constitution. And we both need to work together and -- to deal with each other's -- (inaudible) central government and the Kurdish government, we will not have to confront with the Kurdish government and, and this is not going to be a choice. MG PERKINS: I think what is reassuring, as Dr. Ali said, is from the Prime Minister, other leaders here in Baghdad as well as the Kurdish leaders have both said from the highest level that force is not the way to solve any of this and that it would not benefit anybody. With regards to the role of the U.S., we operate, again, under the authority and permission of the Government of Iraq. We don't choose sides in any of these things. Our desire is for a peaceful resolution. And we have seen this move in a productive manner; for instance, during the elections in some of the disputed areas, we worked both with Peshmerga forces, Iraqi army, Iraqi police, to develop a joint security plan that was a combination of Peshmerga and Iraqi army and Iraqi police to work together to secure -- to secure the polling places during the elections in some of those disputed areas. And it went exceptionally well. So we think that is a model to, again, solve some of these other problems. Quite honestly, one of the biggest contributions that we can bring to the table is that we can help both sides see themselves, so to speak, and so when accusations have been made about movement of one side's force versus the other, we have reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities that we can show what "ground truth" looks like. So if one side makes an accusation that is un- -- not true about movements of forces, we can lay it on the table and say, see, this is where this is; this is where this is. So we can sort of establish a base truth for where the negotiations can go forward. So the ability, I think, for the U.S. to be a neutral observer in this, facilitate both sides, be a trusted partner, I think has already proved a very productive -- and that will be the role we will play in the future. Thank you AMB. ERELI: Shukran. DR. AL-DABBAGH: Shukran. [END]
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