PRESS CONFERENCE:

 Maj. Gen. Lanza Transcript (81.37 kB)

Maj. Gen. Stephen Lanza, Director of J9 and spokesman for U.S. Forces – Iraq

DATE:  August 25, 2010

TRANSCRIBED BY: SOS INTERNATIONAL LTD.

PARTICIPANTS: Maj. Gen. Stephen Lanza and reporters 1-11

INT = Interpreter
[PH] = Phonetic

MG LANZA:    [GREETS REPORTERS IN ARABIC AND ENGLISH]

OK. Well, first of all, As-Salāmu `Alaykum and Ramadan Kareem. Before I start, I would just like to make some opening comments, and then I would be happy to take your questions.

Please, [INAUDIBLE].

REPORTER 1:    Thank you very much.

MG LANZA:    Mm-hmm.

First of all, good afternoon and thank you very much for coming. I want to provide you an update and more importantly, answer some of your questions today regarding the progress we’ve made on our responsible reduction of forces, our transition to Operation New Dawn that will occur on 1 September, and more importantly about the long-term strategic partnership between the government of the United States and the Government of Iraq as we continue to move forward.

But first of all, as you are aware today, there are a series of attacks directed against the security forces and the Government of Iraq and the innocent people of Iraq by terrorists, criminals, and extremists who are trying to not only destabilize your country but kill innocent civilians as you work this process to seat your government. I must say first and foremost as I stand before you today, that our hearts and our prayers and our thoughts are with all the innocent people today that were attacked and killed by these extremists as well as their families. These cowardly attacks done against the most innocent of people in Iraq.

It’s important to know that it’s no coincidence that these attacks come after military forces successfully execute their responsible reduction of forces to meet President Obama’s directive of having less than 50,000 U.S. Forces here by 1 September. Nor is it a coincidence that these attacks are happening on the eve of our transition from combat operations to stability operations as we transition from a military-led...

INT:    Sir...

MG LANZA:    ...to a civilian-led operation in support of the Government of Iraq, its military, and its people. The attacks that we see today are truly desperate attempts by terrorists and by criminals to intimidate the population.

Can you hear me now?

INT:    Yes, sir. Thank you.

MG LANZA:    Thank you. Can you hear me now? I’m sorry.

As I said earlier, these attacks are an attempt to intimidate the population, intimidate the security forces, designed to have people lose faith in the political process and its military leadership. But I would tell you that the terrorists, the criminals, and the extremists could be no...cannot be any wronger in this. The Iraqi Security Forces have shown that they will continue to stand their ground, they will continue to conduct operations against terrorists and extremists, and they will restore order in this country. They have shown they are capable and will protect the population and people in the cities. They have shown they will gather evidence and prosecute those that are not only responsible for today’s attacks but those that have been responsible for attacks against the Iraqi people. I would say from my personal experience, having been here before, that the Iraqi Security Forces are the true heroes and truly are the heroes of this country.

While the people of Iraq continue their journey towards a better political process and a better life, the terrorists that you see will continue to attempt to frighten them; they will continue to attempt to destabilize the political process. But with every attack that occurs, the people of Iraq become more galvanized, their resiliency shows, and they show that they not only reject the violence against them but they reject the ideology of those extremists that would attempt to stop this country from moving forward.

The Government of Iraq and its security forces continually are working to improve, applying lessons to prevent the minimization of their effectiveness and, more importantly, continue to work against making high-profile attacks less effective. The case today will prove to be no exception. The improvements in security and the Iraqi Security Forces have not gone unnoticed within Iraq. The Iraqi people have shown confidence in the capabilities of the security forces and continued to embrace the political process with the elections on 7 March.

As the U.S. military continues our reduction of forces, we will remain a strong partner with Iraq. We will continue to advise, train, and assist the security forces. More importantly, we will continue to assist them in accomplishing their mission to provide for the internal security of this country and to develop external capabilities and capacities. Iraq will continue to fight against those that will attempt to slow their progress. We will attempt to support them in partnered counterterrorism operations and we will continue to provide them the physical and psychological support as they continue to endu-...to build their capabilities.

At the same time, our civilian leadership and capabilities and our engagement is also increasing as we transition our presence here from a military-led operation, one that is focused on combat operations, to a civilian-led operation that is focused on strategic partnership, stability, and building on the hard-fought security gains that have been made in this country.

As I go through my comments, I would also like to give you just a very quick update on where we are with our responsible reduction of forces. At this point, we have moved over 90,000 personnel out of Iraq from the high of 167,000 well over a year ago. We have moved over 1.5 million pieces of equipment out of the country, and that includes 40,000 wheeled vehicles. And during this time, we have not had one incident during this large movement, an unprecedented movement of people and equipment. And I think that speaks volumes for the security situation as we continue to move forward and where we are as we transition to Operation New Dawn.

On September 1st, with the beginning of Operation New Dawn, we formally will transition to stability operations. But again, our commitment to the people, this government, this country, and the security forces will not change. We still retain a capable force of 50,000 people in this country, and that force is organized with advise-and-assist brigades to assist in this transition of your security forces. Our mission will be three parts, and I’ve talked about this before. First, we will continue to conduct partnered counterterrorism operations with your special operations forces. Second, we continue to support the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, nongovernmental organizations, and the United Nations as they continue to support the government in building civil capacity and developing civil institutions. And third, we continue to support the capability and capacity designed to develop the Iraqi Security Forces in the future. And I would argue that for the last few months, we have actually been conducting stability operations as the Iraqi Security Forces have retained primacy and have taken the lead on the security portfolio in this country.

In keeping with the security agreement that was signed between our two nations, our mission ends in December of 2011. And as I have said in the past, any decision for U.S. support beyond that time must be a policy decision between the Government of Iraq and the Government of the United States, and remains a policy decision by our civilian leaders. If the Government of Iraq asks for that assistance, our leaders will obviously take that into consideration, and the policies, then, will be discussed on what we need to do to enable Iraq to move forward with our support. As your Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbawi has said just recently, it is too early to know what capabilities could be required from the United States beyond December of 2011.

But make no mistake that the United States is committed as strategic partners to a long-term agreement and partnership with Iraq for political and economic development and growth through the Strategic Framework Agreement. And our partnership with Iraq will be enduring. We know that a strong, sovereign, self-reliant, and secure Iraq will not only be a stabilizing force for this country and its people but also in this region.

And with that, I’m happy to be here today, and I’ll be happy to take your questions. Shukran jaziilan.

REPORTER 2:    As-Salāmu `Alaykum. [ASKS QUESTION IN ARABIC.]

INT:    Ahmed Jassem from the Western Agency. Mr. Lanza, you talked about the ISF, they are ready to take part of.... Babakir has announced that the Iraqi forces, they are not ready until 2020. There was an announcement from the foreign minister; there was a danger at the disputed area. Do you take those announcements in concern?

And after you….the withdraw and the drawdown, what’s going to be the future of the interpreter that works with the American forces as well as the press that worked or the generals who worked with the CPIC?

MG LANZA:    OK, first, let me answer the question reference General Zabari. As all of you know, it takes time to build a military force and to build a capability that is long term and enduring. And not to speak for General Babakir, but what I believe General Babakir was referring to is that it’s going to take time to build the capability overall in the military forces; it’s going to take time to build capability for the Air Force, for the Navy, your border troops. And it takes time to also build leaders and develop capacity within your officer corps and within your noncommissioned officer corps. The example I give and the one I gave this morning is that in the American military, it takes roughly 17 years to develop a battalion commander. It takes roughly 20 to 21 years to build a brigade commander. So what General Babakir is talking about is after December of ’11, this continuation of building capability and capacity in the military must continue, it must continue with purchasing of equipment, training of equipment, building su-...maintenance capability, training of leaders. And that is something that is going to be ongoing. I don’t think there was ever a discussion to say that in December of 2011, all the capabilities designed for the Iraqi military would be complete.

What Iraq has right now is an internal capability to provide for the internal security of its country. They continue to build foundational external capacity. They are building their Air Force as we saw this morning. They’re building their Navy. They’re building their border forces. They continue to train to better...have better security at the ports of entry. But it’s going to take time. And part of our relationship with the Government of Iraq is to continue to assist them as required to help them build that capability and that’s what our mission is about until December of 2011.

Now, reference your question about the disputed territories. As you know right now, there is a tripartite relationship between the Iraqi Army, the Peshmerga, and U.S. Forces in the combined checkpoints. We have had success in the disputed areas because I would remind everybody that the design to do that was to close the gap in the disputed territories that al-Qaida was exploiting and that was the reason for President Barzani and Prime Minister Maliki to come together with this initiative. We have had success.

But at some point, to your question, is U.S. Forces will no longer be in that position to assist and there will be a time where that has to transition to a bilateral relationship between the Iraqi Army and the Peshmerga. But right now we continue to build on the relationship between those forces as Iraq moves together to establish one military force. And the success of what has been done in the disputed territories, not only at the checkpoints, but at the Ninawa Operations Center, the Kirkuk Operations Center, and the Diyala Operations Center is something that the Iraqi government and the government of Kurdistan can continue to build on so that we continue to develop that capability. But more importantly, to enhance security in those disputed territories.

Your final question was about the interpreters, I believe, and what is going to happen to the interpreters. We are working very closely right now with the State Department on interpreters that would like to move to the United States, and there have been some that have done that. So we will continue to look at that. We have already had some, obviously, that have moved back to the United States.

But more importantly, let me be perfectly clear to say we honor the service of those people that have served us as interpreters. Early on in this process, they took great risk and we have a great amount of respect for what they did to support us. But more importantly the risk they took to support the Iraqi people because they took great risk to partner with us, to support us so that we could help build the security forces in the country, and we do not take that commitment lightly. So thank you very much for that question.

Yes, sir.

REPORTER 3:    [ASKS QUESTION IN ARABIC]
INT:    Mr. Lanza, that the region...country that’s surrounding Iraq, they become...they’re armed and they’re very [INAUDIBLE] weapons or they have the technology. Don’t you think this will be a threat to Iraq that Iraq doesn’t have the technology in the military weapons?

MG LANZA:    I think this is—and that’s a good question. The question is about how does Iraq build their technology and their capabilities over time, I believe was the question.

INT:    The question, sir, since the surrounding areas or the surrounding...

MG LANZA:    Mm-hmm.

INT:    ...countries, they have better technology...

MG LANZA:    Right.

INT:    ...in their weapons. How would that...

MG LANZA:    Right.

INT:    ...will concern with Iraq.

MG LANZA:    And what Iraq is going to have to do is to continue to build their capability over time. And I think this is part of what General Babakir is referring to. So first of all, as Iraq builds their external capability, it’s going to require a commitment to different types of equipment. Those types of equipment are going to be decisions of the new government. What are the strategic decisions that the new government wants to make to develop and build those types of capabilities to provide for external defense and to secure the borders of the sovereign country: what type of aircraft they’re going to purchase; what type of ships they’re going to purchase. And Iraq has already started doing that. Your Air Force has already started purchasing radars, they’ve already started purchasing command-and-control equipment for your ports of entry. Your Navy has also purchased patrol boats for Umm Qasr to secure the oil platforms at ABOT and KAAOT.

But there is more work to be done. And by the time we leave here, our goal is for the Iraqi military to have a minimum essential capability for external security. But it will have to be developed and built on over time. And these decisions are going to have to be strategic decisions for the new government to determine what type of equipment they want to purchase and what type of capabilities they’re going to need external to this country for support. But that will have to be the new government’s decision.

Yes, sir.

REPORTER 4:    [INAUDIBLE], the Associated Press.

General, my question is concerning the recent increase in...of violence and the number of security breaches which is synchronized with the ongoing withdrawal of the American forces. Just a few days ago, General Odierno said that there is a big possibility that the United States will redeploy its forces in case of the security situation [CLEARS THROAT], excuse me, will grow worse. What do you say about this declaration of Odierno?

MG LANZA:    Yeah, let me be clear. I sat in on that meeting with General Odierno. General Odierno, first of all, did not say we were going to redeploy our forces. The question was asked about capability and the capability is that our advise-and-assist brigades have a full-spectrum capability and, if required, have a capability to conduct operations as required.

But I would remind everybody that our mission is about stability operations; our mission is about providing training, assistance, advice to the security forces. But our mission is not combat operations. That is the mission of the Iraqi Security Forces. We do have the inherent right for force protection to defend ourselves. But our mission is about stability operations. It was not about when we would transition to conduct operations.

REPORTER 4:    So there is no way that the American forces would...will join the Iraqi forces in certain operations. [INAUDIBLE].

MG LANZA:    Right now our mission is stability operations. Any other change to our mission would have to be a policy change. It would have to be a policy change with the Government of Iraq and the U.S. government. But our mission on 1 September transitions to stability operations. As I said, again, we do have the inherent right to self-defense as we advise, train, and assist the Iraqi Security Forces.

Rala [PH], and then I’ll come back over here.

REPORTER 5:    General, we’d like to ask about the attacks today across the country.

MG LANZA:    Mm-hmm.

REPORTER 5:    Is it your assessment that those string of attacks across the board could have been coordinated attacks or not? And would you...what is your take, basically, on this kind of stepped-up attacks?

MG LANZA:    I think, first of all, we don’t know all about the attacks right now. We’re still developing the situation on those attacks. It is certainly something we are very concerned about when you look at the attacks that occurred from Basra all the way to Kirkuk and how they were conducted. But it is something we take very seriously. Obviously we do not have all the information yet. But I think what we’ve said all along is that there will continue to be challenges and there will continue to be violence.  

I think the most important, Rala [PH], that can be done right now to deter these attacks is the seating of the government. And I would say the one key point right now that would help deter this is the government to get seated. The Security forces have shown they’ve remained apolitical throughout this process. They have shown a capability, a desire to continue to conduct operations. They have shown that they have not supported a political party, a person, or institutions. This is much different than the last time I was here. So the best thing that can be done right now for the population and their thoughts is to get a government in place that the people can say we now have somebody in charge of the government, we have consensus among all the parties, and we can move forward.

Thank you. Yes.

REPORTER 6:    [ASKS QUESTION IN ARABIC]
INT:    Halad [PH] Walida [PH] from Iraq.

My question is about the tanks and the aircraft that was supposed to be Iraq imported from the government...from the American government. What’s the destiny of those deals? What kind of shipment that U.S. is going to send to Iraq? That’s the first question.

Second, the number of the American forces right now, how many...what is the figure of the American force or what’s the number of the American forces right now in Iraq?

MG LANZA:    Was the first question about aircraft?

INT:    The first question about the weapons that Iraq will get....

MG LANZA:    Ah, OK. The tanks...yes.

INT:    The tanks and the aircraft.

MG LANZA:    OK. Let’s...the first question is Iraq has purchased 140 M1 tanks, M1A1 Abrams tanks. Those takes are starting to be delivered through the Port of Umm Qasr, and they are on their way to the Besmayah Training Area. They are being delivered in increments so that we can train the Iraqi Security Forces at Besmayah. But over the next two years, the Iraqi military will have 140 M1 tanks.

Additionally, we have provided artillery systems to the Iraqi Security Forces that is towed artillery, what’s called a 1-9er-8 Howitzer. We have provided tracked vehicles, which are M113 track vehicles, and a variety of other equipment. But that training is ongoing for those tanks at Besmayah.

Now, a team was sent out to Iraq to do a study for air capability and what type of aircraft would be helpful for the Iraqi government. Right now the Iraqi government has decided to buy a small amount of F16 fighters and over time, they will have those fighters as part of their inventory. Now, we’re in the process of training Iraqi pilots right now. We’ve graduated over 50 pilots in the Iraqi Air Force. Right now there are 12 pilots undergoing T6 training that you saw this morning, or that some of you saw this morning. But we continue to help train that capability.

In addition, we have a NATO force that is also at Umm Qasr helping to train the Iraqi Navy. And you have purchased patrol boats down there that are being used to provide security for the oil platform, as I said earlier, at ABOT and KAAOT.

Additionally, the Carabinieri from the Italian government, the Guadiocaval [PH] from Spain are also here, and part of their training is to continue to work with the Federal Police and build their capability and capacity.

So we continue to do this over time, and that goes back to your question about how is this going to move forward in the future. Now with that, the Iraqi government is also making determinations on other type of equipment to buy, whether it be radars, whether it be command-and-control equipment, and other types of capabilities specifically for their border forces, specifically for their border forces.

Now, as far as our forces right now, as I said earlier, we started out with U.S. Forces here at a high of 167,000. This drawdown process has been iterative. We started this drawdown process in January of 2009, after the signing of the security agreement. And we are abiding by our commitments to the security agreement. We have a commitment with the people of Iraq and the Government of this country to meet our requirements for the security agreement and we will do that with our responsible reduction of forces. Now, as of today, we are under 50,000 forces, so we have met the president’s directive for 1 September. And then over time, there will be decisions made in terms of how we’re going to continue to draw down from the 50,000 that we have now until our mission ends in December of ’11.

But what I would remind you, though, is that as we continue this reduction of forces, we are simultaneously training the Iraqi Security Forces so that we try to minimize any type of gaps in their readiness and their training with the capability that we need to have here to sustain our operations.

Yes, sir.

REPORTER 7:    [ASKS QUESTION IN ARABIC]
INT:    [INAUDIBLE] from Samariya. The first question, sir, was the Kuwaitis are concerning...about getting the F16 airplanes. The second question I did not get. Sorry.

MG LANZA:    OK. The first question is about Kuwait and the F16s, is that correct?

INT:    The first question was about if Kuwait getting concerned about Iraq getting F16 airplanes.

MG LANZA:    I think the concern right now is Iraq is a sovereign country. Iraq is a sovereign country that must meet its interests in terms of what is best for Iraq. And my personal view is that Iraq is not looking to export its military capability but is really looking to secure its borders which is what a sovereign country must do and what a military must do to protect the security and the interests of its people and the national interests of its country.

I think the quickest thing that can be done right now with Kuwait and what the embassy is working very hard on is to resolve the issue with Chapter 7. And we have seen some very good movement with relations with Kuwait just recently with the potential port of entry at K-crossing that the two governments are working on to support the international oil companies, bringing in equipment to the Ramallah fields and the West Qurna fields. So we have seen political accommodations and discussions, and that’s the importance, I think, not only of what Foreign Minister Zabari is doing but our embassy, the U.S. Embassy engaging in those discussions.

Your second question?

REPORTER 7:    [REPEATS QUESTION IN ARABIC]
INT:        There is news that al-Qaida, they will...their activities, they will...there will transfer their activities to the south of Iraq while we consider the south of Iraq a stable area. Their activ-...the al-Qaida activities will transfer to the south of Iraq concerning the south of Iraq is a stable area.

MG LANZA:    OK. And the question?

INT:    It’s con-...there is a...is there any concern that the al-Qaida will transfer their activities into the southern area?

MG LANZA:    I think the concern is—and what al-Qaida is trying to do is they’re trying to reestablish themselves not only in Baghdad, but they’re trying to reestablish themselves in Iraq. They have had very, very, very strong operations conducted against them by the Iraqi Security Forces that have put tremendous pressure on their media network, their finance network, their recruiting network, and on their senior leadership. And this is an attempt by al-Qaida to reassert themselves, to regain freedom of movement in Iraq.

I think importantly, though, is what has not been done by al-Qaida and what has al-Qaida not been capable of doing. We have seen the Iraqi population not embracing their ideology, which has limited their freedom of movement. We have seen al-Qaida fracture into three different types of groups within al-Qaida. A very small group of ideologues within al-Qaida. The second group being the nationalists that are supporting al-Qaida because they don’t like the government in Iraq. And the third group being opportunists that join al-Qaida to gain money because of things they can do to support terrorist operations and criminal activities.

But what we have not seen is we have not seen the Iraqi Security Forces stop operations against al-Qaida. We have not seen that. We have not seen the population lose faith in their security forces. We have not seen al-Qaida able to regain a footprint to establish freedom of movement. Now, there is an attempt to conduct decentralized operations and al-Qaida is still a threat, and it’s going to require vigilance, it’s going to require an offensive mindset, and it’s going to require the Iraqi Security Forces to continue to retain pressure on the network.

Yes, sir.

REPORTER 8:    My name is [INAUDIBLE] from Reuters News Agency.

Mr. Lanza, I will ask you a direct question and I hope you’ll give me a direct answer.

MG LANZA:    I hope so.

REPORTER 8:    With regard to the capabilities you talk about building the Iraqi forces. Do you think these forces can stand alone in the face of terrorism in [INAUDIBLE]. Thank you very much.

MG LANZA:    As I said earlier, the Iraqis right now have the capability and capacity for internal security. They are continuing to develop their external capacity. We will achieve a minimum essential capability for those security forces while we are here and we’re working towards that goal.

Those decisions about what they’re going to need after our mission ends in December of ’11 will be policy decisions. Our goal is a long-term strategic partnership with this country that is more than just security – it is in economic areas, it is health areas, it’s in agriculture. But the United States is committed to a long-term strategic partnership with this country. But as far as security support goes, again, that will be a policy decision in this country that the new leadership will have to undertake.  

Our mission until we leave here is to remain committed to the Iraqi Security Forces to build that capability and capacity. And as the security forces have improved in the cities, we have expanded our support into the belts and into the borders to assist that very mission. And we’ll continue to do that until our mission ends in December of 2011.

So I hope I answered your question.

REPORTER 8:    Thank you.

MG LANZA:    Other questions? Yes, sir.

REPORTER 9:    [ASKS QUESTION IN ARABIC]
INT:    You said before in a previous conference that the ISF, they’re capable of take care of things here. What are you conc-...what do you...how do you describe the attacks that we get and the Iraqi [INAUDIBLE]? Or at the checkpoints [INAUDIBLE] as well as the military bases, how do you describe that [INAUDIBLE]?

MG LANZA:    How do I describe—I’m sorry. How do I describe what?

INT:    How do you des-.....

REPORTER 8:    [SPEAKS IN ARABIC]
INT:    What is your assessment that...you say that the Iraqi Security Forces, they’re controlling...they are in control. But at the same time we see the attacks from the other side, attack against Iraqi people and attacks against the military facilities. How...what is your assessment of that that you’re saying the Iraqi forces they are capable, they have the capability, yet we see those attacks against the Iraqi Security Forces?

MG LANZA:    I think there’s a few things to answer your question. First of all, at the Ministry of Defense during that recruiting, if you have an individual that has a strong desire to kill themselves and commit suicide and to murder innocent people, in some cases it is very hard to stop that. And that one individual did make it through. But there have been more successes against that than there have been failures.

As far as what the future would bring for this, it’s going to take a military, a Federal Police, but more importantly local police to remain vigilant. The local police must remain vigilant, they must remain focused, they must remain committed during this time, because this is a very tough time right now since we do not have a government.

But as I said earlier, the best deterrence during this period is for the government to get seated. And the enemy will always look to attack where we are weakest. So staying vigilant, keeping the forces ready in the Iraqi Security Forces, learning from our...learning from things that have not gone well, and adapting our forces so that we do not make those same mistakes again, as we have done, is essential as we continue to move forward.

REPORTER 5:    Back to today’s attacks again, I’m aware you said that.... Back to today’s attacks again, I’m aware you said that still information is trickling in....

MG LANZA:    It is.

REPORTER 5:    ...to provide a general assessment, but do you have an initial instinct on who could have been behind those attacks?

MG LANZA:    You know when you see attacks like this, when you look for indicators, when you’ve seen the type of VBIEDs that we have seen today, it’s indicative, obviously, of a signature of al-Qaida based on what we saw today. I do not have all the specific information, but it is indicative of that. The concern obviously right now is the numbers that occurred today and the size over the areas they occurred in. So we’ll look at that, Rala, right now, but we don’t have specifics on who is responsible or who has taken responsibility for them.

Here, and then we’ll go back here.

REPORTER 9:    [ASKS QUESTION IN ARABIC]
INT:    The new strategy or the American strategy that the security forces will enter Iraq...the security forces that enter Iraq [INAUDIBLE], are they going to be engaged with the Ameri-...with the American government or Iraqi government and what’s their duties? The new security companies.

MG LANZA:    I’m not sure of the question.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER:    He’s asking about the private contractors.

MG LANZA:    Oh, the private contractors?

INT:    The private contractors.

MG LANZA:    That is a decision, obviously...the question is about private contractors. That is something that is going to have to be resolved by the State Department. As far as our security goes, our security forces are going to be working with the Iraqis. But the security forces that will come in in the future will be an issue that is going to be resolved in terms of the agreement between the State Department and the Government of Iraq to bring in their security forces for them.

REPORTER 4:    Concerning the American Provincial Reconstruction Teams, could you brief us about the type of projects which are ongoing now? Because we didn’t notice any development in the services sector in Iraq. Thank you.

MG LANZA:    What will go on right now is we’re not going to get into building a lot of what’s called brick-and-mortar projects because of the time that we have here. We prefer, obviously, not to start projects that can’t be finished. So we’re going to look to complete the projects that have been started. But more importantly, what the Provincial Reconstruction Teams will do is to work with local governments to enable them, to enable the provinces, to enable the provincial councils and provincial leaders.

We will use a little bit of our CERP money to do small-scale projects to enable local governance, but you will not see large brick-and-mortar-type projects over the next 16 months. The key, really, is to enable the Iraqi government to build their capability and capacity in civil development.

REPORTER 4:    OK, but what type of projects are they, because...?

MG LANZA:    What they’ll focus on is things such as water purification. What they’ll focus on is agriculture. What they’ll focus on is to continue to develop and support rule of law education. What they’ll continue to also work on is, at a small level, working electric issues such as what happens at your substations. To work on trying to bring in foreign direct investment which is essential to this country. Those are the kind of things the Provincial Reconstruction Teams are doing and they’re also supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development that is already out in Iraq right now working their projects with the Iraqi population.

REPORTER 4:    Thank you. Thanks.

Yes, sir. We’ll go here, and then back there.

REPORTER 10:    [ASKS QUESTION IN ARABIC]
INT:    There is a lot of announcement from the minister of defense and from the Government of Iraq that indicated that the American tanks that’s being gathered from an old equipment of old tanks. What’s the accuracy of this announcement?

MG LANZA:    Well, I was at Besmayah Training Area and I was with Colonel Abbas [PH] at Besmayah and I have seen those pieces of equipment, I fired one of them, and I can tell you that that equipment is 100% capable and is the best equipment that we have for the Iraqi Security Forces. And we’re continuing to train Iraqi Security Forces on that equipment right now.

Next question. Yes.

REPORTER 11:    [ASKS QUESTION IN ARABIC]
INT:    Mr. Lanza, the report has been said that with the withdrawal of the American forces, that’s the biggest event from...since World War II. Can you give us, like, a brief about...regarding the...actually the equipment that would be moved from Iraq back to the States?

MG LANZA:    I think as I’ve said in my opening comments, we have moved and retrograded over 1.5 million pieces of equipment. That is a tremendous amount of equipment. With that, 43,000 pieces of rolling stock, which are wheeled vehicles, have been moved. Additionally, we have transferred equipment to Afghanistan, over 60,000 pieces of equipment, and we have also transitioned equipment to the Government of Iraq, roughly $98 million worth of equipment, the majority of it to the MOD and the MOI. So when you look at the scale of this, it’s tremendous.

I think it’s also important to note how fast this was done. We started this in January of ’09, we are now in August of ’10, and during that timeframe, we have moved over a million pieces of equipment to Kuwait and to other areas. And we’ve also transitioned equipment to the Government of Iraq. And also during that time we have transitioned over 90,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines out of the theater. So I applaud the leadership not only of the U.S. Forces but the support of the Iraqi government in helping us get to that because this has been a project that has been not only U.S. Forces but also our forces in Kuwait, our leadership back in the United States, and also the Iraqi government to help us bring all these systems together to do this in a such a timely manner.

Are there any other questions?

OK. With that, this will be my last time addressing you today in an open forum. I just want to thank, first of all, the members of the Iraqi media for your professionalism, your candor, the discussions we’ve had, the trips we’ve had. You are an extremely professional group and you mean a lot to this country. So it has been my distinct pleasure and honor to work with you. And I wish you and your families all the best. So shukran jaziilan and ma’salama.