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BRYAN
WHITMAN (deputy assistant secretary of Defense
for Public Affairs): General, this is Bryan Whitman
at the Pentagon. Can you hear me?
GEN. BATISTE: Yes, Bryan, loud and clear. How are
you?
MR. WHITMAN: I'm fine, thank you. And thank you for
taking the time today to be with us.
I'd like to welcome the Pentagon press corps this
morning and thank them for coming in at an unusually
early time for perhaps our operations.
Most of you probably know our briefer today, who is
U.S. Army Major General John Batiste. He is the
commander of the Multinational Division-North
Central, and also the commanding general of the 1st
Infantry Division. General Batiste and his division
are responsible for the ongoing security operations
in North Central Iraq, and he's here today to talk
about what his division has been doing. And he has a
few comments that he would like to make, and then
we'll start with some questions from the Pentagon
and go back to Baghdad for the press that are in the
room there. And we'll keep this to about 30 minutes.
General Batiste cannot see us here in the Pentagon,
so when you ask questions, if you could just
identify yourself, that would help him as he knows
some of you out there, I'm sure.
General?
GEN. BATISTE: Thank you, Bryan. And good afternoon,
or morning in the case of the Pentagon.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Task Force Danger and the 1st
Infantry Division combat team, as Bryan said, is
operating in North Central Iraq in the four
provinces of Salahuddin, Diyala, Kirkuk and
Sulimaniyah.
It's my pleasure to talk to you today about the
great work of Iraq security forces in North Central
Iraq and our combined efforts to prepare for the 30
January elections.
After I take a few moments to address recent
activities of the Iraqi security forces and
preparations for the elections, I'd be glad to take
your questions.
I'll begin by saying that on the 6th of January,
Iraqi Army Day, was a quite significant day in North
Central Iraq. Army Day, the celebration of the
founding of Iraq's army in 1921, marked the merging
of the Iraqi National Guard and the Iraqi army.
Along with eight other Iraqi army divisions, the day
marked the activation of the Iraqi 4th Division. The
4th Division consists of four brigades and 18
battalions, to include three recently activated oil
security battalions. The division is commanded by
Lieutenant General Abdul Aziz, a man of courage and
conviction who is dedicated to freedom, an
integrated society and the value of every human
being. Battalions are garrisoned throughout the four
provinces of north- central Iraq and are partnered
with the battalions of Task Force Danger.
The results are remarkable and speak for themselves.
Perhaps most importantly, the Iraqi 4th Division
represents what is and what is meant to be in Iraq.
The soldiers of the division not only reflect the
rich ethnic/religious diversity of Iraq, but they
also imbue with the energy, courage and
determination which the vast majority of the Iraqi
people have for freedom and representative
government. They love their country and they
consider themselves to be Iraqis first. And like the
United States military, which was the institution
that integrated America, the Iraqi army will do the
same for the people of Iraq. The division has
adopted a fitting motto: "unity is strength."
Here you see Iraqi drill instructors, not American,
training a group of motivated Iraqi soldiers at a
training center in Tikrit. The same thing is
happening every day in training centers in Kirkuk,
Baqubah and Sulimaniyah. It is easy to see the pride
and commitment of these great soldiers as they
complete their challenging basic training. We see no
shortage or committed -- of committed Iraqis willing
to serve their country.
The strength of the Iraqi security forces lies not
only in ideals and mottoes, but is demonstrated
every day by the actions of these brave men and
women. To cite just a few of the many examples of
the proficiency of the Iraqi security forces in
north-central Iraq, I'll start with the 205th Iraqi
Army Battalion in the province of Diyala.
During an independently planned and executed cordon
and search in Miqdadiyah on January 4th, the 205th
Battalion captured the six insurgents you see here.
On January 7th, after receiving intelligence tips
from local citizens, Iraqi soldiers independently
conducted a follow-on clearing operation. After a
fierce six-hour engagement, the 205th detained more
than 70 insurgents, IED-making material and a large
cache of weapons. Following the operation, the Iraqi
media reported that security forces are trained and
committed to serve and protect anytime, anywhere.
In the Salahuddin Province, the 203rd Iraqi Army
Battalion has been very aggressive in carrying out
its mission. Alpha Company of the 203rd has been
conducting independent operations to disrupt
insurgent activity prior to the elections. In the
first 12 days of January, this great company
captured 16 caches of weapons and munitions and, in
conjunction with their coalition partners, 77
insurgents were detained during the same period.
In Samarra, the 7th Iraqi Army Battalion, the 2nd
Special Police Battalion and the 202nd Iraqi Army
Battalion have seized 86 caches since October, when
Iraqi security and coalition forces launched
Operation Baton Rouge to successfully rid the city
of insurgents. The 2nd Special Police Battalion has
also conducted 204 deliberate raids in Samarra
during the same period.
To the north, Iraqi security forces in the Kirkuk
Province have been impressive. Last night, the
Kirkuk Emergency Services Unit, part of the city's
police force, and the 207th Iraqi Army Battalion
executed raids on eight objectives in order to
prevent insurgent attacks prior to elections. Four
high-payoff targets and a total of 31 insurgents
were detained.
Recently a police academy was stood up in the
Sulimaniyah Province to train up to 1,000 police
recruits at a time. The academy trains classes which
reflect the ethnic diversity of the region. Coached
by international police advisers, Shi'a and Sunni
Arab, as well as Kurdish, Assyrian and Turkoman
police recruits from north- central Iraq come
together for an eight-week training program of
instruction. Although fielding police forces has
proven to be a challenge, graduates of this program
and others like it in Jordan and Baghdad
consistently stand their ground and defeat the
insurgents. As is true with the Iraqi army, Iraqi
police officers perform superbly when properly
trained, equipped and led. The key is finding the
right leaders, and we have done just that in the
towns and cities in our area of operations. The
Sulimaniyah academy is producing competent and
well-led police.
Across the street, patrolmen from the Department of
Border Enforcement are also trained to properly
secure the border between Iran and Iraq in our
region. The Department of Border Enforcement forces
in both the Sulimaniyah and Diyala provinces have
made remarkable progress with respect to training
and equipping, and are performing well. On a recent
trip to a snow-covered crossing site on the
Iran-Iraq border, I saw firsthand the
professionalism and dedication of these great
officers.
Indeed, a prosperous and democratic Iraq rests with
the country's ability to maintain a safe and secure
environment, and it's a team effort. Here you see
Iraqi security forces working with independent
electoral commission of Iraq officials, provincial
civilian leadership, directors of joint coordination
centers, Iraqi security forces and Task Force Danger
soldiers to set the conditions for Iraq's historic
elections on the 30th of January. Throughout North
Central Iraq, these leaders have come together in
provincial and municipal Joint Coordination Centers
to plan and synchronize their efforts to ensure
successful elections. From the distribution of
ballots and election materials, to the security of
over 1,000 polling sites, to rehearsing
well-developed security plans, these teams have left
no stone unturned. This election will be an election
for Iraqis, run by Iraqis. The bottom line is North
Central Iraq is ready for elections.
Like all military and police forces fighting against
the evils of terror around the world, the Iraqi
security forces have been tested by the loss of
their fellow soldiers and policemen. On January 3rd,
the 203rd Iraqi Army Battalion lost 21 brave
soldiers when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive
device detonated beside their bus. And on January
11th, the Tikrit police force lost six police by
another vehicle-borne improvised explosive device
attack. Here you see members of the 203rd Iraqi Army
Battalion conducting a memorial service which
followed the January 3rd attack which I just
mentioned.
Like other soldiers and police officers around the
world, the Iraqi security forces have honored their
fallen comrades and then carried on their mission
with renewed resolve and determination. This resolve
and determination has enabled the Iraqi army and
police, either acting independently or in concert
with coalition forces, to detain 1,371 insurgents,
kill 170 insurgents, and wound another 36 insurgents
in North Central Iraq since October 1st of 2004.
In closing, my message to you today is that Iraq's
security forces are steadily progressing. Every day
the Iraqi army, police and Department of Border
Enforcement demonstrate their ability to carry out
their mission, while relying less and less on their
coalition partners. Together with civic, tribal and
religious leaders, the Iraqi security forces have
achieved irreversible momentum towards prosperity
and representative government. Based on the
competencies of the Iraqi team, I am confident in
the future of Iraq. We are right where we need to be
in this important mission.
And thank you. At this point I'd be very happy to
take your questions.
MR. WHITMAN: Thank you very much, General.
We'll start over here.
Q General Batiste, Barbara Starr from CNN. Can you
sketch out for us on Election Day in your area, and
even if you can discuss it more broadly across Iraq,
the role that -- the security role that U.S. forces
will play, the security role that Iraqi forces will
play. Who will do what?
GEN. BATISTE: Barbara, as I said in my opening
statement, this is an election for Iraqis by Iraqis.
I have been very impressed in the past couple of
months with the incredible teamwork between the IECI
directors in each province, the provincial governors
and their deputy governors, the Iraqi security force
leaders within each province -- that is,the Iraqi
army brigade commanders and the provincial police
chiefs; and the directors of the provincial Joint
Coordination Centers as they come together to work
through the details of the security plan for
Election Day. They've done this in all four of our
provinces to exacting detail. They know exactly
where the polling stations are and they developed
the plans to secure them.
Not only that, they've worked hard to rehearse the
plans at the provincial level, at the city level,
right down to the police station level. All of this
is going on every day. In the next seven to 10 days,
I'll be attending personally the final provincial
election rehearsals in each one of the provinces.
The job of the 1st Infantry Division Combat Team is
to facilitate this, to set the Iraqi security forces
up for success. And we'll do just that.
Does that answer your question?
Q Apologies, but no, sir, it really doesn't. What
will the role, what will the mission be, what will
U.S. forces do in your area on Election Day? Will we
see them visible? Will they be on the street? Will
they be working hand in hand visibly with Iraqi
security forces? Will they hold back in a less
visible role? What will they do? Who will secure the
polling places?
GEN. BATISTE: Barbara, let me step back in time a
bit to answer your question. And the answer really
started weeks ago. It's all about taking the fight
to the enemy. It's all about taking the fight to the
insurgent with intelligence-driven, deliberate
combat operations to kill or capture the insurgent.
We've been doing that in the 1st Infantry Division
Combat Team and Task Force Danger, as has the rest
of the corps, for a very long time.
These operations go on continually day and night. As
I speak, there are three deliberate operations
ongoing within Task Force Danger to the north. There
will be more operations tomorrow, relentless
operations chasing down the insurgent, taking away
his initiative and disrupting what he's trying to
do. That will go on continuously up through, to and
after the elections.
Meanwhile, as I described, we're working with the
Iraqi security forces to assist them to develop
plans for election security that will work. You'll
see Iraqi security forces at the polling stations.
You'll see Iraqi security forces in the polling
stations and around the polling stations securing
every one of them.
The 1st Infantry Division soldiers will support,
will operate from a distance. It will provide quick
reaction forces as needed, will do whatever is
necessary to ensure that this is an effective, safe
and secure election.
Q General, it's Carl Rochelle with NBC News. A
couple of questions. First one, this almost constant
IEDs, VBIEDs, suicide bombers. How is that affecting
your ability to recruit Iraqis for your training
purposes? And how is that affecting the morale of
trying to get them trained up and out on the streets
and carry out their mission?
GEN. BATISTE: Carl, that's a good question. We have
great Iraqi security forces in north central Iraq.
As I described, we've got 18 battalions of Iraqi
army, any number of police stations, with good
policemen, getting better every day.
We've had 45 suicide vehicle-borne IEDs detonate
within AO Danger -- that's the 1st Infantry
Division's area of responsibility -- since we
assumed the mission 11 months ago, and 42
vehicle-concealed IEDs -- that is, a car loaded with
explosives, without a driver, that's remotely
detonated.
Lately these IEDs -- these vehicle-borne IEDs have
been targeting the Iraqi security forces. And as I
described in my opening statement, they have killed
some number of brave Iraqis.
The incredible thing is, though, that these
soldiers, these great soldiers in the battalions, in
the four brigades of the 4th Division, are
undeterred. Their resolve is incredible. And I know
that because I spend a lot of time with them.
We have partnered the battalions of the 4th Division
with the battalions of the 1st Infantry Division,
and we've been doing that for the past 11 months.
And the partnership that has developed -- the
training, the rapport and the understanding --
between the Iraqi and the American battalions is
quite phenomenal.
We have no problem filling the ranks of the Iraqi
army or the Iraqi police. There is no shortage of
brave Iraqis that want to stand up for their
country. It's phenomenal.
Q Second question. We keep hearing reports that Abu
Musaab al-Zarqawi is in northern Iraq somewhere and
is behind most of these suicide missions, kidnapings
and what have you. Do you get any intel at all that
he is in that area? And what's being done to try to
capture him?
GEN. BATISTE: Carl, we continuously press the
insurgent with intel-driven combat operations, day
and night, aggressive, to take the fight to him,
very successfully. And we certainly are chasing
Zarqawi and his associates, and al Qaeda and anybody
else who wants to stop the process within Iraq.
MR. WHITMAN: Brian.
Q Hi, General. Brian Hartman with ABC News. Two
questions. First, can you give us an idea of the
security environment in your area right now, how
many attacks you're having on U.S. and Iraqi forces?
And then, second, how big of a problem is
intimidation? Family members, the Iraqi security
forces themselves, contractors -- how big of a
problem in your area is intimidation of the Iraqis
who are working with you?
GEN. BATISTE: Well, the number of attacks in the 1st
Infantry Division Combat Team's area of operation
ebbs and flows. But yesterday it was about 24
attacks. That is, 24 -- a combination of direct fire
attacks, indirect fire attacks, and IEDs, either
placed along the side of the road or a vehicle-borne
IED.
Generally, out of that number, about 25 percent is
directed against the Iraqi security forces. That
number's going up in our area of operation, and we
attribute that to the fact that the Iraqi security
forces are getting better and better -- every day
better trained and better equipped. We have pumped
$32 million of equipment into the Iraqi security
forces that we are partnered with up in AO Danger
since we got into this mission 11 months ago -- a
huge amount of equipment that continues to flow to
these brave soldiers and policemen.
Q General, the second part of the question was how
big of a problem -- how much intimidation are these
Iraqi soldiers, National Guardsmen, police that show
up for work, how much intimidation are they, their
families, those of contractors who work with you --
how big of a problem is that in your area?
GEN. BATISTE: There's a fair amount of intimidation,
no doubt about it. That's one of the tactics of this
insurgent, who has no values, who cares not how he
kills. And it has an impact. But again, the resolve
of the Iraqi people that I know in the four
provinces of north-central Iraq, whether they're
Kurd or Sunni Arab or Shi'a Arab or Turkoman or
Assyrian, is incredible. The vast majority of these
people want freedom and they want representative
government, and they're willing to fight for it. It
takes my breath away. The small number that are
doing this, intimidating the good people of Iraq,
are getting desperate, and they will not be
successful.
MR. WHITMAN: General, we have several more questions
back here, but we don't want to monopolize it from
the Pentagon. Perhaps you'd want to ask a couple of
questions, two or three questions of reporters in
the room there, and then throw it back to us.
GEN. BATISTE: Okay, we'll do that. Let's take this
question right here.
Q Thank you, General. Colin McMahon from the Chicago
Tribune. Two questions, one specific about Samarra.
How many U.S. forces are deployed there now? And the
other one is, General Metz about a week ago talked
about four provinces in which it would be very
difficult to have elections today. One of those was
Salahuddin; Diyala to a lesser extent. How does that
square with the portrait you've given us today?
GEN. BATISTE: Colin, two great questions. Let me
start with Samarra.
Going back in time, you'll recall that coalition and
Iraqi forces attacked on the 1st of October, based
on a decision by Prime Minister Allawi to rid
Samarra of insurgents. And that's exactly what the
division combat team, particularly the 2nd Brigade
Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division, did. Very
effective operation -- that it lasted a couple of
days. Very precise; killed a good number of
insurgents. And since then, we have moved into the
phase of the operation where we are attempting and
working hard to change attitudes and give the good
people of Samarra an alternative to the insurgency.
Part of the challenge in Samarra, and we're facing
it head on, is to rebuild the police force. In the
past, the Samarra police force was poorly led,
corrupt, not respected by the people of Samarra. In
fact, that police force was working with the
insurgency and, under pressure, they quit. So before
we conducted the operation on the 1st of October to
free the city, we set the conditions to rebuild the
police force, we set the conditions to begin the
repair of infrastructure to improve the quality of
life of the people to set the conditions to prepare
for the phases after combat operations.
We're right now deep into the process -- and this is
a long answer to get to your question -- we're deep
into the process to build that police force. We have
a police commander now. The chief of police in
Samarra has been identified. He's a good man. He's
been approved by the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior.
We have 350 police recruits currently in training in
Jordan and Baghdad, and our intent is to bring those
police recruits back, start the next rotation of
trainees. But we're going to bring them back and
train them more with the international police
advisers that support the 1st Infantry Division and
develop a cohort, if you will, of a great police
force, properly equipped, before we introduce them
back into the city.
Meanwhile, back in Samarra, the government of Iraq
has given -- committed four battalions into the
effort to secure that city, and they're doing a
great job. As I showed you in my opening comment,
they have identified 186 caches of weapons and
munitions, significant. They have conducted 204
deliberate raids that are very good; no surprise
that the Iraqi special police battalion knows
exactly where to go and where to follow up on an
operation.
But at the moment, we have four of these great
formations. We have the 2nd Special Police
Battalion, we have the 7th Iraqi Army Battalion, we
have the 3rd Public Order Battalion, and of course
the 202 Iraqi Army Battalion that's partnered with
the battalion from the 1st Infantry Division in
Samarra. On top of that, we have four U.S. companies
of infantry permanently garrisoned in Samarra.
We do all of this to ensure that that city is secure
and that the insurgency is not allowed to regain a
foothold. And the insurgency, let there be no doubt,
is attempting to do that, but they will not be
successful. They will not be successful because of
the resolve of the interim Iraqi government, the
Iraqi security forces, a police force that we are in
the process of rebuilding that'll be competent,
well- led, well-equipped.
Now what was your second part of that?
Q Sir, it was regarding General Metz's comments and
that four of the 18 provinces would be ill-prepared
to hold elections.
GEN. BATISTE: We have been working hard for several
months now in each of the four provinces of North
Central Iraq, as I described in the opening
statement, with the Independent Electoral Commission
of Iraq director in each province, the provincial
leadership in each province, the Iraqi security
force leadership in each province, and the
Provincial Joint Coordination Center director in
each province to work this planning, to pull it all
together, to identify polling stations. We know
exactly where they are. We understand the plan to
secure each of them with Iraqi security forces. We
understand the plan to employ the 1st Infantry
Division combat team in support of the Iraqi
security forces. All of that's coming together well.
We will succeed in all four of our provinces.
General Metz is correct; in Samarra and Baiji we are
still working through some problems. There are still
problems in Samarra. There's no doubt that there
will be elections in Samarra. We will set the
conditions and the polling stations will be there.
In Baiji there's another problem set. That's the
crossroads for all the insurgents heading from Mosul
to Baghdad, and from Fallujah to Kirkuk. And we are
still in the process of developing and setting the
conditions for successful elections in Baiji.
Yeah, in Diyala Province, Baqubah, things are going
very well. Very well. I see no problems there.
Next question.
Q Steve Negas, Financial Times. Actually, in
specific regard to Diyala Province, there were four
additional governates to the four where there's
quite a few attacks which are marginal. I believe
there's between -- said to be between one and three
attacks per day. We had guessed that Diyala and
Kirkuk were possibly two of those provinces. Can you
say anything about the number of attacks in those
two provinces and about the threat to the election
there?
GEN. BATISTE: Yes, Steve. Diyala and Kirkuk actually
do not have the majority of attacks that we
experience on any given day. Diyala has a tremendous
Iraqi army brigade. The 32nd Brigade down in Diyala
is well-led, and the four battalions of that outfit,
205th Iraqi Army Battalion, that I explained in my
opening statement, is outstanding. They go after the
enemy day in and day out. They do it without
coalition assistance. They're well-led,
well-trained, and well-equipped. And it's outfits
like that that are setting the conditions. The
police in Baqubah -- aggressive. The Diyala governor
-- dedicated, committed to his people, a very brave
man. I'm not worried about the Diyala Province.
Moving to Kirkuk, another great province with a
whole different set of problems, a whole different
set of dynamics, as you all are well aware. They
have the best police department that I've seen. They
also have a great Iraqi National Guard brigade, the
31st brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Anwar.
Great battalions. And as I described, he has now
picked up three oil security battalions to help him
secure the oil infrastructure from Kirkuk to Baiji.
And I know he'll do a great job. We're working with
General Petraeus to get him the guns and the
ammunition that he needs, and all of that is working
as we speak. Trucks are moving. We're going to stop
that interdiction of the oil infrastructure. The
Iraqis are going to stop it. And I'm very confident
in that.
The Kirkuk Province has done a tremendous job in
preparing for the elections. The teamwork up there
is phenomenal. Again, the polling stations are well
known, the process has been rehearsed, and I know
that it will go well.
Yes? Right here.
Q General, Rod Nordland from Newsweek. A lot of
Sunnis, particularly, complain that the military or
the security forces in Iraq are becoming
predominantly Kurdish and Shi'a. Could you comment
on just the degree to which that's true in your
area; and if it's not true, how much of a problem
that perception is, that's widely held?
GEN. BATISTE: I agree that the perception would be a
problem. The reality within the North Central four
provinces of Iraq is that there's a good mix, a very
good mix. The division commander is absolutely
committed to an integrated Iraq. This is a very
capable general who spent many years in the army. He
was an armor officer. He was wounded six times. He
was in 22 campaigns. He ended up his career as the
commandant of the war college. He knows every single
lieutenant colonel and colonel from the previous
Iraqi army and can absolutely rate the capabilities
of each of those officers.
But he's dedicated to an integrated Iraq. It matters
not to him whether a soldier is Kurd or Arab or
Turkoman or Assyrian. In the four provinces, in the
four brigades there's a pretty good mix. I mean,
clearly in Salahuddin it's primarily Sunni, and that
would be the 30th Brigade. The 32nd Brigade, in
Diyala, is mixed. The 31st Brigade, in Kirkuk, is
mixed, as it should be. The brigade in Sulimaniyah
-- no surprise -- is Kurd.
But no, I don't see a Shi'a majority in any of these
brigades that I am partnered with.
Q Is that General Aziz you're referring to?
GEN. BATISTE: Yes.
Q Is he Kurdish?
GEN. BATISTE: As a matter of fact he is.
Yes?
Q Thank you, General. Steve Fainer (ph) with The
Washington Post. You mentioned that the U.S. forces
will be maintaining a distance on Election Day and
will be providing quick response. I was wondering if
you could elaborate on that strategy and why U.S.
forces are not playing a more direct role in
protection of polling places?
GEN. BATISTE: Steve, it's important that this
election be an Iraqi election for Iraqis, by Iraqis.
It's important that the 43,000 Iraqi security forces
in my area -- 43,000 soldiers in the Iraqi army -- a
combination of soldiers in the Iraqi army, police
and Department of Border Enforcement -- are in
charge, in control, conducting operations to secure
those four provinces. We will certainly support
them, but the infrastructure that they have
developed, with joint coordination centers in each
province, with joint coordination centers in 21 of
the cities, to tie it all together, to synchronize
their efforts to command and control the operations
on the 30th of January is very, very good.
My 25,000 soldiers -- and by the way, that includes
an extra brigade and twice the helicopters that I
had a month ago -- will be in full support. We will
be working with our Iraqi security force partners to
make sure that what they're doing makes sense, to
make sure that if they need help we are there to
mentor and advise, and as I said earlier to provide
the quick reaction forces that will be necessary to
stomp on the insurgent when he raises his ugly head.
Yes?
MR. WHITMAN: A couple more from back here.
GEN. BATISTE: Well, just a second. One more here.
Q Thanks a lot, General. Ashraf Khalil from the L.A.
Times.
You mentioned earlier a specific set of dynamics and
a specific set of issues around Kirkuk. I wonder if
you could speak a little bit to that not only for
the national election, but for the provincial
election? There's been a lot of pressure for a delay
to the Kirkuk provincial election from some of the
Kurdish parties.
GEN. BATISTE: You're right, there has been pressure
to delay the provincial elections, and that, quite
frankly, is a decision that needs to be taken by the
interim Iraqi government, by the sovereign
government of Iraq, in consultation with the
independent election committee of Iraq. And I'd just
as soon leave it at that.
I --
Q (Off mike.)
GEN. BATISTE: The difficulties primarily have to do
with the resettlement, with the resettlement of the
peoples -- all ethnicities, by the way -- that
Saddam Hussein wronged terribly with his Arabization
process. And there's no doubt that we are committed
to a Kirkuk for all Iraqis. There's no doubt that we
are also committed to right the wrongs of Saddam
Hussein. And it's all spelled out in the TAL, in the
Transitional Administrative Law, fully supported by
the interim Iraqi government.
There's a deliberate process. There's the Iraqi
Property Claims Commission that is up and running
and doing their business. There are 18,000 claims
right now filed within the four provinces of north
central Iraq, at local Iraqi Property Claims
Commission offices. And the good news is that 76 of
these claims have now been adjudicated.
So the momentum is going in the right direction. I
saw this in Bosnia, in Srebrenica. And these kinds
of issues are not solved in one year. They take
time, they take patience, and they take a process,
which we have. The Iraqi Property Claims Commission
process, laid out in the TAL, is good, it's
deliberate, it's transparent, and it's impartial.
Yes? Back in the back here.
Q Shamal Ayu (sp) for CBC. Why does it seem that
your troops are so aggressive to Iraqis on the road?
Many Iraqis are so afraid of patrols on the road.
GEN. BATISTE: That's nonsense. The Iraqis up in the
north central portion of Iraq need to respect the
coalition and Iraqi security force convoys. They
absolutely need to do that. Because of the
vehicle-borne -- the suicide vehicle-borne IED
threat, I think the good people of Iraq understand
the complexity of this issue.
But to say that we are aggressive on the roads is
simply not the case.
Q Would that --
GEN. BATISTE: Let me go back to the Pentagon and see
if there's any questions there.
MR. WHITMAN: Go ahead, Tony.
Q Yeah. Tony Capaccio with Bloomberg News, sir. On
January 26th, 27th, 28th, what will you be looking
for by way of some measures of success to determine
whether your aggressive campaign up in the north
central region has somewhat succeeded in managing
the insurgency?
And second, a numbers question: Can you just double
-- on the helicopters, how many did you have three
weeks ago, and how many do you have today, to give a
sense of buildup there for quick reaction?
GEN. BATISTE: Let me start with the second question
first. I'm not going to give you numbers. But
suffice it to say I've got twice what I had, and
it's more than enough.
With respect to the measures of effectiveness, this
is something that I deal with all the time. How do I
know that the soldiers of the Iraqis security
forces, how do I know that the soldiers of the
coalition are being successful? And I think, as we
get closer to the election, my measure of
effectiveness is how well we are doing in deliberate
intelligence-driven combat operations to kill or
capture the insurgent.
Q Can you say to me in layman's language, I mean,
how many you've killed or how many targets you've
successfully intercepted, based on what you were
told earlier?
GEN. BATISTE: Based on our read of the enemy, based
on our analysis as to where the leaders are, where
the financers (sic) are, where these people are that
are building vehicle-borne IEDs, my measure of
effectiveness is how many of those we roll up.
Q Then to date, in the last month or two.
GEN. BATISTE: Let me give you some figures. Let me
go to the next question, and I'll come back to that;
I promise.
Go ahead to the next question.
Q General, Jim Mannion from Agence France-Presse. I
was wondering if you could comment a little bit on
what it is you see the insurgents doing in
anticipation of these elections. How do they appear
to be organizing themselves to stop it, disrupt it?
And for instance, I think in the area of Tikrit it
was pretty quiet until just fairly recently. So do
you see cells moving into some new areas ahead of
the elections? Can you describe what you're seeing
in that regard?
GEN. BATISTE: Sure. Let me first go back and answer
the last question.
Since the 1st of October, the Iraqi security forces
working with us have killed, we think, about 200 of
these insurgents, and we have detained 1,371. I give
you those numbers just to give you a level of
effort, to show you that we are aggressively going
after the enemy. We take the fight to the enemy. We
don't wait for him to come to us.
To answer your question, it is true that in Tikrit
two days ago there was a vehicle-borne IED; there
hadn't been one in Tikrit for some time. And quite
frankly, Tikrit is doing very well as a region, as a
city and a region. It's an example where
full-spectrum operations, properly conducted, work
very well. Full spectrum -- on the one hand,
combat-driven, intel-driven operations to kill or
capture, as I've already described, and on the
other, stability operations that are designed to
change the attitude of the people, that are designed
to give the people an alternative to the insurgency.
It's all about what are we doing to improve
infrastructure and giving these great people a job,
to give them an alternative to the insurgency.
But it is true, two days ago there was a
vehicle-borne IED that exploded on the southbound
lane of Highway 1, about 200 meters away from the
provincial police headquarters -- probably al Qaeda,
if you believe what's in the Internet. I don't know;
very likely. But I expect the insurgency to continue
with intimidation in small cells. He is going to
intimidate the weak. He's going to go after the
lamb. He'll go after the Iraqi security forces when
he can find them in small numbers, because he's
beginning to fear the Iraqi security forces. He'll
attack us from a distance.
Does that answer your question?
MR. WHITMAN: General, this is Bryan Whitman. You've
been very generous with your time, and we've already
exceeded the time that I know you've allocated for
this. So I'd just like to thank you, on behalf of
everybody that's in this room, for spending some
time with us this morning, wish you the best. And
hope that we can have you back again soon to talk
about what the 1st ID is doing.
GEN. BATISTE: Thank you, Bryan. I should take this
opportunity to thank you and everybody in the
Pentagon, but also the American people for the
incredible support that they're giving the soldiers
of the 3rd Corps, and certainly the 1st Infantry
Division combat team Task Force Danger. That support
is incredible and it means a lot to our soldiers.
Let me see if there's any other questions back here
in this audience.
Yes?
Q Sir, Jim Garamone with American Forces Press
Service. Could you just go into a little more detail
on the mentoring program? And is that something that
you can export to, say, the other divisions in Iraq
so that they could work with the Iraqi security
forces the same way?
GEN. BATISTE: Jim, this is something that certainly
has worked for us. And as I described, it's all
about establishing personal relationships. It's
personal relationships between battalion commanders
-- Iraqi and American; battalion executive officers,
battalion operations officers, company commanders,
1st sergeants, platoon leaders, platoon sergeants,
right on down the line.
What we have found is that the Iraqi army -- no
surprise -- is just like us. There are so many
similarities, and you build on that, and you build
that team and that trust. You train hard. Training
must be realistic, dynamic, and you need to put
soldiers in the same stress that they're going to
experience in combat. We found that the typical
Iraqi soldier, when we got here, fired three rounds
a year under Saddam's army. That same soldier today
is firing 3,000 rounds. He's absolutely qualified as
a marksman with his AK-47. That was definitely not
true in the past. So it's those kinds of things.
One last question.
Yes, in the back.
Q Alicia Rue (ph) with Voice of America. I was just
wondering, General, I was speaking to the electoral
commission for Iraq the other day, and they said
that they will probably will not have election
results for at least seven to 10 days. And I'm just
wondering if you can -- if you say that violence is
going to escalate towards the election, what's going
to happen during that period while everybody's
waiting for the election?
GEN. BATISTE: That's a great question. It will take
time for the IECI to gather the ballot boxes, count
the votes and come up with an announcement. And in
the Balkans, in our experience, that takes some
number of days. And we expect the same.
It's anybody's guess what the insurgent is going to
do during that period of time. But rest assured that
the 1st Infantry Division combat team will continue
our relentless pressure; we will not let up, working
with our Iraqi security force partners.
Okay. Well, thank you all very much. I appreciate
it, and thank what you do.
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