Posted on 12/19/2004 4:36:52 PM PST by txradioguy
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2004 – Car bombs and other attacks are creating an illusion that the insurgency his forces are fighting is powerful, the general in charge of coalition forces in Iraq said at a Pentagon news conference today.
Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said the enemy "is not 10 feet tall."
"They don't have to do much," he said. "A car bomb a day in Baghdad or on the airport road sends a symbol that the insurgency is very powerful, when in actuality I don't believe that they are. It's a classic technique of the urban insurgent. They are trying to provoke us to do something that will make us look like we're overreacting to them."
The ongoing work toward defeating the car-bomb threat and other insurgent tactics continues, Casey said But he noted the enemy adjusts to changes in coalition tactics.
"We will get to a point where the airport road is secure and our people and the people in the embassy are protected against car bombs," he said. "But as with any battle, it's an action-reaction-counteraction cycle that we go through with the enemy and the enemy does to us."
Iraq plans to elect a national assembly Jan. 30 that will draft a new constitution for the country, and general elections are planned around the end of next year. Casey expressed optimism that the elections will take place, and gave reporters his view of what winning the war means.
"My view of winning is that we are broadly on track to accomplishing our objectives, which is a constitutionally elected government that is representative of all the Iraqi people and with Iraqi security forces that are capable of maintaining domestic order and denying Iraq as a safe haven for terror," the general said. "And I believe we will get there by the end of December '05, and I believe we are on track to get there by December of '05."
He acknowledged that elements trying to derail Iraq's progress toward democracy "will fight us every step of the way," and that the path would continue to be difficult. But he repeated he believes credible elections will be able to take place, noting that today in 14 of the country's 18 provinces, the security situation already is adequate for that to happen.
Casey said the safe haven that terrorists and insurgents lost when Fallujah returned to legitimate authority is an important factor, and problems in Mosul don't equate to a new safe haven being formed.
"For me, a safe haven is a place where insurgents and terrorists can go and plan, and build improvised explosive devices, and bring in recruits and receive them in, give them training, link them up with operations, stage for operations, rehearse operations, with impunity," he said, noting that those havens had existed in Fallujah, Samarra and Najaf.
"They don't have that any more," he continued. "So they've lost the ability to operate any place with impunity. So what's going on in Mosul, in my view, is not a safe haven. It's an area where insurgents have gone and have had some success against the local security forces. Now our folks, operating with additional Iraqi security forces, have restored the status quo. But I will tell you more work needs to be done there to improve the security situation prior to elections, and it will be done."
Casey said the level of violence in Iraq has dropped "dramatically" since the terrorists and insurgents were routed in Fallujah. Violence now is at about the same level it was around the time sovereignty passed to the interim Iraqi government in late June, he added.
Though insurgents and terrorists continue their efforts, "they are not necessarily operating effectively against coalition forces," Casey said. "In fact, when we look back, the numbers of attacks don't necessarily produce a very high volume of casualties. In fact, a lot of the attacks are in fact ineffective against coalition forces. They are, frankly, more successful against civilians and, in some cases, against Iraqi security forces."
The four-star general outlined what has been done and will be done to take Iraq to the next milestone represented by the Jan. 30 election.
"I think you know a few weeks ago I asked for some additional forces before the election period," he said to reporters. "We felt we needed to keep up the momentum, to keep the pressure on the insurgents that moved away from Fallujah after the Fallujah operation took place. And those forces are going to help us both keep the pressure on them and then get a more secure environment prior to the elections."
Another part of the equation is that more Iraqi security forces – the Iraqi army, police officers and police commandos -- are graduating from training, the general pointed out. "So there will be a concerted effort across Iraq, particularly in the greater Baghdad area and the Mosul area and in the Al Anbar province, all the way up to Jan. 30," he said.
*PING*
Good news from Iraq, it's Doubya's fault!!
I just wish the enemy would hurry up and run out of ammunition - that would be the end of them.
"I just wish the enemy would hurry up and run out of ammunition - that would be the end of them."
I agree. But from talking to locals when I was there...Saddam's army basically threw open the doors to every ammo bunker in the country and then walked away. Anyone with an excuse could go in and get what they wanted.
The ammo will run out eventually...but just not fast enough for my liking.
LOL...that will never happen! Just way too much out there.
I've seen entire airplanes buried. Who knows what all is buried and out of sight?
The good news is that more and more roads and overpasses are being secured. Major progress on that over the last year.
Thanks for posting that.
Gen. Rick Sanchez was,tragically, in over his head. Shouldn't have gotten a third star.
This Casey looks like he's making progress. Thank God.
IMHO LTG Sanchez did a good job while I was there.
But ANY good he did as the V Corps commander will forever be erased because...his fault or not...the Abu Ghraib prison kerfuffle happened on his watch.
He could have personally taken Saddam into custody...but Abu Ghraib woul dhave quashed it.
i wonder if the roadside, mobile phone detonated bomb can not be overcome by technologically ringing all numbers randomly or with an electronic pulse... put terror into a few insurgents when they are placing the bomb and then it goes off unexpectantly...
teeman
You make it sound like (because of your title) as if there is never good news from Iraq. Its been good news in iraq for a year now.. despite what others say...
Wasn't the very same stuff going on in Afghanistan just before the election ..?? I seem to remember all this talk about the election couldn't take place; it was too violent; not everybody could vote; yada yada yada.
Hmmmm? I seem to recall an election taking place .. and a government being established .. and a new President elected. If it can happen there .. it can happen in Iraq.
It's the same old slime from the media.
"Its been good news in iraq for a year now.. despite what others say"
I know that becasue I covered it over there for a year.
And when I cam home on R&R last year I was rather disturbed about how what we were doing in Iraq was being portrayed by the MSM.
Then I heard about how Iraq was a "miserable failure" through the election.
There's a 99% chance that I'm a little over sensetive to the subject! LOL!
But at least I'm able to admit to my affliction right?
I thought Rumsfeld wasn't giving additional forces...
" wonder if the roadside, mobile phone detonated bomb can not be overcome by technologically ringing all numbers randomly or with an electronic pulse... "
Without giving too much away...they have vehicles to do that over there...but they are operatied by the CIA and State Dept.
The best "soldier innovation" I saw while I was there was a company commander in my brigade who mounted a very fancy R/C car control (think the one Prof. Brown used in Back to The Future)on his side of his Hummer. Before he went out he turned it on and set the controls wide open...it saved him on more than one occasion.
While I hope the General is right, he qualified a several statements with the phrase "In my opinion" and the like.
While that does not mean the story is not true, I would be more comfortable if he said "according to intelligence."
These attacks prove they fear elections and that we are winning
"While I hope the General is right, he qualified a several statements with the phrase "In my opinion" and the like."
Ok time to reveal a trade secret.
We teach the folks to say "in my opinion" when asked certain types of questions in order to avoid some opportunistic reporter from turning a General's (or a Private's for that matter) opinion from becoming Official Army Policy or Opinion.
99% of the time when the soldier is quoted and it starts with "In my opinion"...the reporters question started with "Do you think...." or "How do you feel about..."
It's nice to know that Gen Casey is listening to his Public Affairs Officer.
" wonder does the MSM and its supporters ever consider the desperate measures the terrorists are going through to thwart democracy?"
IMHO the more important question is do they care?
txradioguy what date did you leave Iraq?
I got back the first week of April of this year.
Have you received redeployment orders yet?
LOL! Yes and no.
3rd Brigade tried to reach out and touch me...but I'm clearning Ft. Riley right now for my new assignment in Korea.
3rd Bde. is still going to try and get me but with the way things are going I may well end up back in Iraq not long after I get to Korea.
A scheduled troop rotation outbound will be delayed past the election, while the replacement troops will come in on schedule. As a consequence, there will be a temporary surge of about 20-30,000 extra troops in country.
This had been planned all along.
God bless you whereever you go. My son received his final redeployment papers on Friday, Ft. Benning 3rd ID.
His group returned from Iraq a week or so before you and they shall be leaving to return to Iraq soon. Some are already there.
I believe Stephanopolous was breathlessly pursuing the usual line of questioning this morning (to paraphrase) "But how can elections take place if this wave of violence continues to intimidate the Iraqis, blah blah blah ...?" Well George, it's like this, as sad as a car bombin g (or twenty) may be, they cannot possibly stop an election in a large country of 25 million people.
They're merely hoping to pull a repeat of what happened in Vietnam.
Remember Tet was touted in the MSM as a victory for the North.
When in reality it was one of their biggest tacital deffeats of the entire war!
Todays MSM is attempting to do the same thing in Iraq.
To them...good news is "bad"...bad news is "good".
Ain't THAT the truth. Which is what Big Media will never tell...
Your kind of people is one of the reasons I come to this web site. I have nothing but awe at people like yourself. Where do we get these people? A blessing from God...Thank You!
BTTT
"I have nothing but awe at people like yourself. Where do we get these people?"
Well you can thank both my grandfathers who were WWII vets and my dad who was in the AF for instilling my sense of service.
I owe what I am to my parents.
And we owe you more than we could ever repay. THANK YOU! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
So what? Ask John Kerry was General SHINSEKI has to say. That's ALL that matters.
Are they making any progress in the Triangle of Death around Latifa?
I've seen entire airplanes buried. Who knows what all is buried and out of sight?
What all did you see that had been hidden? How many planes, what model, etc. ... Saddam hid stuff like crazy, that's for sure.
"The best "soldier innovation" I saw while I was there was a company commander in my brigade who mounted a very fancy R/C car control (think the one Prof. Brown used in Back to The Future)on his side of his Hummer. Before he went out he turned it on and set the controls wide open...it saved him on more than one occasion."
That works? How come we're not jumping through fiery hoops to have all our vehicles equipped with them?
Thanks for the ping!
I heard they are using cell phones to set off the bombs. Why don't we have a radio signal sweep through the entire set of phone number. People would have a lot of false rings on their cell phones. However, there would be some that you would want to ring, hopefully in their laps.
Whatever works.
Not really my area, don't get reports on that. You probably know more about it than I do.
Are you asking for your own personal intelligence report? Or are you just trying to politely say that you don't think I've seen buried planes and other intersting items?
I saw a brief item on Fox yesterday about contractors who are there just to blow up Iraqi ordnance and explosives. They said they have years of steady work ahead of them.
I've seen a photo of a plane being dug out of the sand.
Yes, indeed.
It will be great when they start the Archeological Society of Iraq years from now. They'll have plenty of digs going on... Perhaps one called "The Valley of the WMD", or "The MIG Pyramid"...
Let's not forget that Saddam hid an entire oil refinery in a mountain up near Mosul. Anything is possible with this guy.
The hardest one to counter is the ones where they use garage door openers to set it off. Very crude and hard to jam.
They also using the chirping car alarms as code to warn when we come in the area.
bump
Thanks for the post. The dino-media has been making it sound like the fall of Bataan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.