[Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines briefed the Pentagon press corps today from Iraq. Lt. Gen. Vines is the commanding general of the 18th Airborne Corps. He has served in Iraq as the commander of the Multi-National Corps-Iraq since February. Following are highlights of his briefing.]
Governance Progress
ØSince January:
•A national election has been held; from this election the Transitional National Assembly was seated.
•A constitution has been drafted and subsequently ratified in a national referendum.
•There will be a national election for a permanent government on Dec. 15; this permanent government will help to provide a higher level of stability in Iraq.
ØIraqis are determining for themselves their own form of government.
•Iraqis are turning out to vote. In the October constitutional referendum, they voted in numbers that exceeded the participation levels in elections in Western democracies.
•Iraqis are not taking their security for granted: They recognize the terrorists and Islamic extremists want to impose their worldview on Iraq, and they recognize what is at stake.
ØSunnis are getting involved in the political process.
•Sunnis are choosing the ballot box rather than violence to influence their government.
•The leadership of the greater Sunni populace is committed to attempting to have a say in the outcome of their government.
Security Progress
ØIraqi soldiers and police are in the fight.
•Volunteers for the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are risking their lives, and in some cases dying, to protect their fellow citizens.
•Iraqi Security Forces are accepted by the Iraqi people as legitimately protecting their security interests.
•One-third of Iraqi army battalions are responsible for their own areas of operation and the operations conducted in those areas.
•Eighty percent of Iraqi Security Forces are in the fight and participating in combat operations around the country.
ØIraqi forces are conducting operations, such as Operation Steel Curtain, that are helping to establish control over Iraq’s borders and denying sanctuary to foreign terrorists.
•The enduring presence that the security forces are establishing in these areas will help provide stability and security there.
Force Levels
ØRecommendations for U.S. force levels in Iraq will be made based on conditions on the ground.
•Included in the range of conditions are the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces, the government’s ability to sustain the ISF, and the state of the insurgency.
ØThe Coalition is in Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government.
•Although Iraqi forces are able to conduct operations in a large portion of their areas with limited Coalition support, they still require Coalition support, which will decrease over time.
•A precipitous pullout of Coalition forces would be destabilizing.
Terrorists and Foreign Fighters
ØThe hunt for Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi continues.
•Commanders have no reason to believe that Zarqawi, al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, was killed during a recent raid in Mosul.
ØCommanders believe considerable progress is being made regarding foreign fighters in general.
•The number of foreign fighters showing up in a variety of venues could be half as many as this summer.