USF-I TURNOVER PRESS CONFERENCE:

 Transcript: Generals Lanza, Cox, Perna, June 14 (89.63 kB)

Maj. Gen. Stephen Lanza, director of J9 and spokesman for U.S. Forces – Iraq; Brig. Gen. Kendall P. Cox, Sr., commander and division engineer of the Trans-Atlantic Division and commanding general of the Gulf Region Division; Brig. Gen. Gustave F. Perna, director, J4, logistics, USF-I.

DATE:  June 14, 2010

TRANSCRIBED BY:

SOS INTERNATIONAL LTD.

PARTICIPANTS:

Maj. Gen. Steve Lanza, Brig. Gen. Ken Cox, Brig. Gen. Gus Perna, and reporters 1-12

INT = INTERPRETER
[PH] = PHONETIC

NOTE: Technical chatter, not-applicable pre-conference dialog removed.

MG LANZA:    OK, well good afternoon everybody. As-Salāmu `Alaykum to our friends from the Iraqi media.

I thought I would take a few minutes today, and I appreciate you coming today, so we can talk about some procedures with our responsible drawdown. And I recognize that there’s a lot to talk about in other areas such as what happened yesterday, such as seating of the COR, which happened this morning as well as other issues. But what I would ask is that for the purpose of this press conference today, we’re going to stay focused on our procedures for responsible drawdown, specifically discussing base closures, property accountability, and disposition of property.

I’m very privileged today to be joined on my right by Brigadier General Ken Cox, and on my left, Brigadier General Gus Perna, to talk to you about our operations and what U.S. Forces are doing right now to reduce our footprint and equipment here in Iraq. And today what we’ll offer you is to discuss our procedures that are in place on base closing and, as I said earlier, disposition of our equipment. There will be a separate operational update in the next few weeks that we will chair to discuss the conditions for operational drawdown and where we are at with operational or, excuse me, with our responsible drawdown. I would ask that any questions today outside of this purview either be referred to me or to the Media Outreach Team and we’ll address those in a separate venue.

For the media that’s here today, it’s important you know that as we reduce our footprint, we do that with a deliberate and well thought-out process. And as we do this, we’re doing it simultaneously while continuing to carry out our mission here to support the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi Security Forces. I would remind everybody as I’ve talked about before is that this was begun in January of 2009 with the signing of the security agreement as we have built our relationship with the sovereign Government of Iraq. We call the process of reducing our troops here, our bases and our equipment responsible drawdown because as we carry it out in a responsible manner, we ensure that simultaneously we continue our mission, we work in support of the people and Government of Iraq, and more importantly, we ensure that we’re fiscal stewards, responsible for equipment that we have in our care and trust, and making sure that the needs of the Iraqi Security Forces are met as we bridge gaps between reducing our equipment and supplies and making sure we can meet their needs based on our strategic partnership with them.

In order to give you the full scope of the process of closing our bases and turning them over to the Iraqis as well as transferring equipment, I’d like to give you a quick backdrop of where we have begun. As we have said earlier, at the peak of our mission there were more than 176,000 joint members of our force that were here in Iraq. That was during our peak of the surge in 2007. And during those difficult days, U.S. Forces fought alongside our coalition partners on behalf of an Iraqi people to counter a violent insurgency that had nearly brought this country to the brink of civil war.

While we still face challenges and there will be challenging days ahead as witnessed in recent days, security overall has greatly improved as we continue our responsible drawdown. Today in Iraq we see a secure, unified Iraq, centered around an open, representative and inclusive government, elected by the people and protected by its security forces. And I would highlight and congratulate our Iraqi friends today for the seating and the convening of the Council of Representatives, just one more step as we move forward to a transition of a new government. So mabrouk to our Iraqi friends that are here today.

As the government works towards its peaceful transition, there is a better future as Iraq moves forward. While there have been steady improvements in security, we now have about 85,000 men and women in Iraq and by September, as you know, we will reduce that number down to 50,000. As we mentioned earlier, in the near future, in the next few weeks, we will have more to talk about our drawdown of forces and more importantly, our change of mission to Operation New Dawn, which will begin on 1 September of 2010. And in accordance with the security agreement, by December of 2011 we will have completed our mission here in Iraq as highlighted and outlined in the agreement between our two nations.

As we have reduced our forces in Iraq, so too have we reduced real estate and equipment that it takes to support our men and women here. Again, this process is carried out while our Soldiers continue to work their mission of advising, assisting, and training the Iraqi Security Forces. And today we’ll tell you about those processes with General Perna and General Cox. And this process will be proceeded by a very detailed plan that they will brief you in terms of how we actually execute this.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of equipment, the U.S. has had more than three million items of equipment here and nearly 500 bases in Iraq in January of 2008. Since then, we have transferred and closed and have turned over to the Government of Iraq 373 bases. More than half of the items of equipment have already been moved back to the United States, transferred to the Government of Iraq, or placed on disposition for Operation Enduring Freedom.

As I said earlier, this has been an iterative, ongoing, deliberate process and part of our responsible drawdown is also being responsible environmentally. General Cox right now will provide you an overview of the base closures and handover process, General Perna will then talk about the transfer of equipment, and then we’ll be happy to take your questions based on the processes that we’ve outlined today.

So again, thank you very much for coming. And with that, I’ll turn it over to General Cox.

BG COX:    Thank you, sir. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. As-Salāmu `Alaykum. As General Lanza said, I will be talking basically about the base closure process and the methodology we go through with regards to returning real estate and property back to the Government of Iraq.

In accordance with the security agreement, there’s a joint subcommittee for agreed facilities and areas that was established to ensure we had absolute accountability for all the property with which the U.S. Forces and our coalition partners resided on when the security agreement was implemented. At that time, each one of those locations, whether they were agreed facilities, areas, training bases, or actual bases that we currently reside on, each one was given a very specific number and that became known as the List of Agreed Facilities and Areas. Since that time, as General Lanza has already mentioned, we have returned 373 items…locations off of the List of Agreed Facilities and Areas. It’s a very deliberate and specific process that we go through every time we attempt to return one of these locations to the Government of Iraq.

You can see on the slide that there are five steps that we’re responsible to negotiate, four of which that can go on simultaneously. First, we have to do a very detailed deed search to ensure we identify the actual ownership of the property. During that deed search, if it’s determined that it was a private owner, we then have a responsibility to provide some sort of monetary retribution for the property that we have resided on. And you can see to date, we have paid in excess of $13.7 million in leases to those private owners.

Another part of the base closure transfer deals with the actual property that we, the U.S. government, currently own. And General Perna will go through that process in more detail. But at every base closure, that property is transferred, in some cases to the Government of Iraq.

A third portion is contracting. On each of our bases we have some form of contractor, whether it’s U.S. government, some third-country national or local Iraqis that support our operations. To ensure the proper closure, we must terminate and complete these contracts and ensure that operation is completed and all property and individuals no longer reside on the base.

A fourth step is what we call environmental oversight. In essence, the U.S. government has an absolute responsibility to ensure the environment is properly mitigated on all of the bases that we have a responsibility for. This mitigation deals with an actual cleanup potentially or a transfer of the environmental processes with which we have on the base should the Iraqi Security Forces or whatever element within the Government of Iraq chooses to absorb that environmental process.

Those four processes then tur-…culminate in an actual documentation and property transfer, which is shown on the next slide. In this process we deal directly with an organization known as the Receivership Secretariat. It’s an element that works directly for the prime minister and he is responsible for receiving and then transferring all the property to another government entity. The majority of our property is transferred either to the Ministry of Defense or the Ministry of Interior, and then they have an immediate, subsequent handover of that location to an element contained therein. It’s a very dedicated process. We have representatives from my staff at every single closure to ensure the proper…the paperwork is properly documented, properly transferred, and then we maintain this documentation for our historical records.

So again, just as a reminder, all-time high of 505 locations on the List of Agreed Facilities and Areas and today we have 132 remaining under our control. Shukran jaziilan.

At this time, I’ll be followed by Brigadier General Perna, who will talk to you about the actual property transfer.

BG PERNA:    Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. As-Salāmu `Alaykum. I am the J4 for USF-I and responsible for the day to day sustainment of operations as well as the downsizing and retrograde of equipment. Together, it is a difficult task as we manage the process to ensure that we have the proper equipment still in theater to execute our mission while timely retrograde of equipment is appropriate for support to Afghanistan or to other organizations.

Depicted in front of you is a drawdown diagram which places our equipment, over three million items, into eight different buckets. You can see distributed across, from left to right, equipment goes to Afghanistan. There’s two separate buckets for the Iraqi government. We send equipment home with organizations. We’re sending equipment to the State Department, and to the states in the United States. We’re transferring it to depots for future use, and then we’re actually pushing it into prepositioned Army stocks. At all…at any given time, equipment may be utilized for a requirement that comes up. For example, utilizing it necessarily for Afghanistan as we continue our operations there.

No matter what time we push equipment, we first have to identify the equipment, make sure we have the proper accountability. Then we determine distribution. Distribution is determined by our priority list. First it’s all forces inside of Iraq, and then all U.S. Forces other places. Then to other U.S. entities, and then to the Government of Iraq. As we work through those priority lists, it’s the distribution of equipment is settled and properly transitioned over.

As you can see, we have...or as General Lanza talked to you about, we have already, since last May, turned in or redistributed 32,000 pieces of rolling stock, over 850,000 pieces of non-rolling stock, and as a point of reference, we have sent over 150,000 items to Afghanistan in support of that operation. Next slide, please.

As I talked to you earlier, there is two buckets that we provide equipment to the Iraqi government. One is U.S. equipment to the Iraqis, which is USETI or FEP, personal property transfer. During these category transfers, what we do is we first identify the property and account for it, whether it’s contract-owned or government-owned, and then we solidify it on property accountability sheets. Then we place it on a property…the proper record, and then we send all these lists throughout the world to be distributed against that priority. So that any…in that priority list that I provided you, you can reach in and grab that equipment and ask for it to be utilized in their location.

Once it’s been processed through the whole gamut of personnel that are available for drawdown of the equipment, then we’ll distribute the equipment based on the priority list. As you can see by the diagram in front of you here, we distribute to 15 different ministries inside the Government of Iraq. As General Cox told you, all the equipment is determined by the Secretariat Receivership cell. We do not determine where it goes. It is transferred over to them and they tell us where they would like it to go and that’s where we send it. So pending your questions, that’s all I have.

MG LANZA:    We’ll be happy to take your questions and I would also remind everybody, both in English and Arabic, we have left you media kits to take with you. So with that, first question. Yes, sir.

REPORTER 1:    [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT:    General Lanza, the first question is there are talks that the transition of the movement that’s happening by the American forces, they’re focusing on leaving of equipment that is dangerous or hazardous equipment, that it is going to be left by the American forces in the camps. That’s the first question.

The second question is to Mr….or General Perna. General Perna, all the equipment that is going to be transferred or handed over to the Iraqi Army, is it going to be heavy armed armors, like, for instance, tanks or aircraft or fighter jets?

General Lanza, is there intention from the Iraqi…the American Army to give F-16s to the Iraqi Army Air Force?

MG LANZA:    OK. That was three questions but [INAUDIBLE]. Let me answer the F-16 question first, and then we’ll have General Cox talk about the environment, and I’ll have General Perna talk about the equipment.

Once again, the topic today is really about equipment and base closures. But reference the F-16 discussion, there has been a study right now on what capabilities the Iraqis would need for air sovereignty. And as I’ve spoken about this before, one of the things that Iraq is doing as they continue to build their military is to build not only their Army and their police, but also their Air Force and their Navy. And we have seen tremendous improvement with 104 aircraft in the Air Force and over 53 vessels right now at Umm Qasr.

Reference the purchase of F-16s, that is obviously an option for the Iraqi leadership. Once again, as the new administration comes into position and comes into authority, those are decisions on foreign military sales that the leadership of Iraq will have to decide in terms of what is in their best interests in the country. Additionally, they will also have to decide what kind of agreements they’re going to make for security post-December, 2011. Our mission will end in December of 2011 so those agreements right now on the future to continue to support Iraq and their sovereignty will be issues that would need to be addressed with the next administration.

And with that, let me turn it over to General Cox on the environment and then we’ll come back to General Perna.

BG COX:    Sir, thank you for your question with regards to the hazardous waste. And obviously those types of materials—I share your concern with regards to anything that may or may not be left here in the country of Iraq.

As you know, we’ve been here for just over seven years and in that time period we have accumulated several million tons, excuse me, several million pounds of hazardous waste. In 2009, we took an investment of $55 million to construct two hazardous waste treatment centers. Scattered throughout Iraq, we have numerous what we call hazardous waste disposal sites, where we bring the hazardous waste to and then the hazardous waste is transported to these two hazardous waste treatment centers, one in Al Asad and one in Tikrit, near our base called Spiker. During this transfer process, we have now moved in excess of 300 million pounds of hazardous waste which has been treated and disposed of. We renewed the contract for this year for $4.3 million to continue to operate the process and we averaged 1.75 million pounds of hazardous waste disposed of in the first two quarters of this year.

So with regards to leaving hazardous waste on any of our bases, as part of our environmental procedures, we have a responsibility to the Government of Iraq as well as to the people of Iraq to ensure proper mitigation and disposal of all hazardous waste and that is being done throughout all of the remaining camps here in Iraq.

MG LANZA:    Now, as we transition to General Perna on the equipment, a lot of the heavy equipment you are talking about also falls under foreign military sales. And again, one of the decisions for the Iraqi government will be what type of heavy equipment to purchase. Currently, right now, as you know, at the Besmayah Training Area they are undergoing training on M1 tanks and those pieces of equipment to include Bradley Fighting Vehicles. But General Perna will give you an idea right now of what equipment we are transitioning to the Iraqi military.

BG PERNA:    Yes, we are transitioning several pieces of…up to 62,000 pieces of equipment, which will contain rolling stock for logistics, rolling stock for command vehicles, etc., barracks equipment, office furniture, supplies to execute logistics, transportation, etc. All the combat systems are being executed through foreign military sales. So the equipment that we’re leaving behind right now is excessed to the United States government as determined to process and help enable the Iraqi Security Forces conduct logistics within their formations.

MG LANZA:    Next question. Let’s go…we’ll go two here and then we’ll come over here, so next question.

REPORTER 2:    [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT:    Hussan [PH] Tumami [PH] from Al Salam. My question to General Lanza. The operation of the handover of the American bases that could be [INAUDIBLE] bases like those…like temporary bases or joint bases. They are big bases. When are these big bases are going to be handed over versus [INAUDIBLE] base or other bases inside Baghdad? Are we going to see major strategic bases being handed over from the American side to the Iraqi side?

MG LANZA:    Yeah, I’ll turn that over to General Cox here in a minute. But what you will see is this has been an iterative process as we’ve discussed. So with the 373 bases that have been turned over, we will continue to do that and start what we call collapsing our footprint. So the larger bases that you’re referring to, some of those larger bases will also start in the process of being turned over. And then eventually the major, large bases we have such as Victory Base and some of the other ones that you’re alluding to will eventually all be turned over to the Iraqis. So at the completion of our mission, any base right now that we are occupying under Iraqi or under this Iraqi or Operation Iraqi Freedom, soon to become Operation New Dawn, will be turned over to the Government of Iraq. And with that I’ll let General Cox….

BG COX:    Thank you, sir. And, sir, that’s a good question as well. Understanding, of course, the return of a large…a lot of our large bases is absolutely tied to our operational requirements and the ability for us to continue to support the Iraqi Security Forces. But we have returned some large bases specifically Taqaddam Airbase, which is out in Al Anbar, an extremely large base that we returned. And our next large base that’s scheduled to be returned, we call Q-West, which is up in the north, not far from Morez [PH] and Mosul.

So they’re going to be staggered between now and when we depart here in December, 2011. To give you specific dates on when large bases will be returned, I can’t do that. One, because that plan has not yet been finalized. And two, there’s also some operational security issues associated with that. But it will be a very deliberate plan to ensure each of those large bases are returned.

MG LANZA:    Before we go over to Oliver and Susannah, let me remind everybody that as we do this drawdown, it is built into our mission to transition to stability operations. So we still have a very large force here that, per the security agreement, is responsible to continue to build capability and capacity of the Iraqi Security Forces. So we’ll still need facilities by which we operate from to work with the Iraqi Security Forces. So that is why this is an iterative process and that’s why you’ll still see, until December of 2011 or probably at a time before that, bases by which we need to operate out of to work with the Iraqi Security Forces as we also continue to transition our mission.

So we’ll go to Oliver next and then we’ll go to Susannah.

REPORTER 3:    Oliver August from the Times of London. I’d like to ask you again about the environment…environmental mitigation, as you call it. From what you’ve seen so far in the process, I’m wondering if there are any lessons that you are learning or you hope to learn or are hoping to implement with regards to any hiccups that ha-…that might have happened in the process. With particular regard, I’m wondering whether you might consider reviewing the way that private contractors are integrated into this process because this, to some people, seems to be a weak point.

BG COX:    Sure, I’ll address that, if you don’t mind. First, in terms of some lessons learned, and I’ll talk to the private contractor piece next, but in terms of lessons learned, we have to understand specifically that there are difference with regards to U.S. or Western cultures and Middle Eastern or Iraqi cultures. And this came to light when we started to return some of our bases that also included the use of what we refer to as sewage lagoons. And it’s a methodology with which you can dispose of raw sewage in a lagoon that’s normally outside the base footprint that essentially would be debilitated or mitigated through just actual evaporation. That’s not done in the Iraqi culture. And so as we started to turn over some of the bases, they would refuse to use that type of mitigation. So we now have a methodology through the appropriate contractors to ensure that it’s cleaned up on the bases with which we use that methodology. So that was one lesson learned that we did not know initially.

With regards to contractors and their ability to support us in terms of hazardous waste removal and disposal, I absolutely believe that the contractors that we have are doing a fantastic job. They maintain real good accountability of the hazardous waste at the disposal areas scattered throughout Iraq. And then they also…another contractor does a tremendous job because we have very specific requirements associated with the movement of the hazardous waste as it transitions from the disposal areas to the two treatment centers. I have total trust and confidence because there’s an itemized inventory of the items before they depart, and then it’s received at the treatment center and then the items are properly disposed of.
So I think perhaps the lesson learned from that regards, we create this capability, the hazardous waste treatment centers, earlier if there’s a potential for us to have a long-term presence such as being here for seven years. But I’m not sure that was initially thought of when we started this process.

MG LANZA:    But I would say, and I’ll pass it back over to General Cox, that the processes and systems that have been in place are designed to mitigate our seven-year presence here.

BG COX:    Absolutely.

MG LANZA:    And I think—go ahead.

BG COX:    Yes, sir. I mean that was the sole purpose of creating these two treatment centers was to account for the hazardous waste that had accumulated—remember, I said in excess of 30 million pounds of hazardous waste—until the treatment centers were then able to handle that and then continue operating to handle all that we continue to generate while we are here such that on our departure in December of 2011, all of it will have been treated and disposed of.

MG LANZA:    Susannah.

REPORTER 4:    Thank you. Susannah George, National Public Radio. I have a question about equipment transfers. We’ve been seeing a lot of this U.S. equipment show up in markets, black markets, you know, in Ramadi and even some shops in Karrada and Baghdad.

MG LANZA:    Mm-hmm.

REPORTER 4:    And I’m just wondering if the military is aware of this, if this is concerning, and if you’ve changed any of your processes of handing over equipment to make sure that it doesn’t end up on the black market?

BG PERNA:    OK. Well, I could tell you what we’re really doing. We are pushing equipment, all the…for example washing machines, air conditioners, dryers, refrigeration units, lighting sets, all these types of white equipment that we’ve used for housing of American Soldiers and contractors over the last eight years, we have gathered these types of equipment as we’ve closed bases and then we have conducted open sales with the Iraqi public to come in and purchase these items. One, because they are no longer workable, and as we’ve collected them, they’re no longer running to the standard that we’re used to. Two, that the sale to the Iraqi gov-…or Iraqi personnel out in the public will help them generate business, help them create systems that they can use for their own towns. So we’re very proud of that. And in fact we know we have pushed ov-…this year, we have pushed 20 million pounds and we received roughly $500,000, which has gone back into the state treasury. So we are aggressive in that, pushing items out to them for their use.

As far as the black market, your comment on that, I can’t…I don’t know of any specific incidents. What I am very confident is is our ability to account for the property that we have on hand and that we require ourselves to use. And so as I talked about earlier, we maintain databases that track all of it. So as equipment is transferred from point A to point B or from us to a different organization, it’s annotated and processed accordingly.

REPORTER 4:    Can I ask a quick follow up?

BG PERNA:    Sure.

REPORTER 4:    There have been several reports that U.S. equipment has ended up in the black market. And I’m wondering is the military looking into that? Are you interested in seeing if it’s there or not?

MG LANZA:    Yes. I mean of course. But remember now, the issue is on one of accountability and transfer. So a lot of the property—and we don’t know the status of that property, whether it works or whether its functional, but our procedures with the Receivership Secretariat and how we transition property for accountability are met.

So to answer your question, yes, we’re looking at it. Yes, we appreciate you bringing it to our attention, those that did. But it is something that we want to make sure that as we transition property and accountability to the Iraqi Receivership Secretariat, that that property is used in the proper manner and remains to support the Iraqi people and the Iraqi military which is the desired intent as we transition it to them.

Yes, ma’am.

REPORTER 5:    [INAUDIBLE] Switzerland. Obviously some of the hazard waste turns up in open dumps. Do you have any figures how much of the hazard waste has been, well, turned up in the dump…trash? Open dump trashes? And then how much of a concern is it for you that some of these materials could be used or can be used by insurgents to build whatever kind of explosives?

BG COX:    I can do part two.

MG LANZA:    OK. I’ll talk a little bit about it and then I’ll turn it over to General Cox.

I think first of all, to put this in context, that the systems that are in place are recent in terms of disposal of waste and materials and that in some cases, there was seven years of materials right now that we want to make sure we’ve accounted for properly in terms of mitigation and disposition of that. So the systems that we have built, the facilities that we have built right now will do that and continue to do that and have done that and I think they’ve given you an idea of the magnitude of what’s already been worked.

Certainly for any of that equipment or material or waste, as you’ve discussed, to show up is a concern and we are concerned about that and I want to make sure that our procedures to mitigate that are enforced and in place. And so with that, let me turn it over to General Cox and then General Perna for the second part of the question.

BG COX:    Ma’am, thanks. With regards to trying to quantify the amounts of hazardous waste and materials that might be in open dumps, I couldn’t even begin to give you a figure because I don’t believe that it’s being done by U.S. Forces or contractors that we have employed by us. There may be some items that appear and it’s out of negligence in some regards but I can’t really identify where or when and so I have not absolutely been exposed to a dump somewhere out there in the Iraqi countryside that identifies that hazardous waste has been put there.

If that is the case, and we’ve seen some pictures and we have some potential discussions where that may have been happening, we have to determine what might be the cause of it, that’s part of the first important thing. And then looking at the procedures that we have in place, ensuring our processes, number one, prevent that from happening again in the future. And then number two, put in place mechanisms to help eliminate that which is already out there.

BG PERNA:    Well, our collection points, we do have a list of particular items, which I’m not going to review at this time based on classification, however, those items are identified and pulled out prior to any reuse or resale so that we have an extensive qualification checklist that makes sure that those items, for example, a timer of some type, will not go outside of U.S. property hands. They’re collected and then de-milled or destroyed so that there is no further use.

MG LANZA:    And I would add just one more thing before I take the next question here is that our processes that we have in USF-I are deliberate— they’re extremely deliberate, they are systematic, and they are understood throughout the force. So those processes and those systems have been established with the requisite facilities for disposal and/or mitigation. And it’s important that I think we understand that to talk about what is actually being discussed in terms of what is found vice what is being done in terms of waste and fac-…waste and materials that are being disposed of. So I just want to make sure we understand that.

Yes, sir.

REPORTER 6:    [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT:    My question is to General Stephen Lanza. Accord-…my friends are asking about the transition of the or the disposal of the hazardous material or waste. People are asking what kind…what is it exactly are those waste or hazardous material that you’re talking about? How can they be used or utilized to use to make weapons or, for instance, make bombs? Can you please explain?

BG COX:    The types…I’ll take part of that and then General Perna will be able to talk in terms of what could be used as a weapon itself.

But with regards to the types of hazardous waste materials that we generally deal with, we’ve got used petroleum products, so motor oil, old lubricants, potentially some conta-…I’ll use the term contaminated soil, where oil or fuel products have dripped into the soil. That’s the hazardous materials that I’m specifically responsible for and that’s what we take to our disposal areas and then transfer to the treatment centers and then we take care of it at that point in time. None of those types of items can be utilized in any way as a weapons system.

BG PERNA:    Again, as I said earlier, we have a collected list of items that have been used or have created some type of explosive against us or some type of weapon. Those items are identified by checklist. They’re checked as items go into collection facilities, whether it is the dump or the hazardous waste facilities. Those items are removed. They’re what we call de-mill…miti-…excuse me, de-milled so that they are destroyed and can’t be used again and or collected for use in other U.S. requirements. We also have checks for contractors that are leaving these collection sites so that we can ensure that those items are not being sent out to different locations.

MG LANZA:    OK. We’ll go here and then Liz…I’ll let them get a question in and then we’ll go to Liz next.

REPORTER 7:    [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT:    Falaz [PH] Dulami [PH] from Baghdad TV. I long as we are talking about environment and equipment transition, do you know that there is so many people right now…I mean women giving birth to deformed babies and children, especially in the southern part and in the western part of Iraq? And it’s…these cases are being repeated over and over again because of the radiation or the chemical weapons that’s been used in Iraq. So what’s your comment on that?

MG LANZA:    I can’t…I mean that’s an interesting question that I can’t speculate on. There’s been many weapons used in Iraq over the years. There’s been many conflicts here and I can’t speculate and tie it to a specific cause. I think it’s unfortunate and I think it’s something that in the future, as the country relooks at its environmental standards, that will be something that has to be addressed on a variety of issues across the country.

Liz.

REPORTER 8:    Liz Sly with the Los Angeles Times. First for General Perna, a real quick question. Are you also selling off, like, trailers and shoes and toilets and generators and ACs at these contracting sales? And I have a slightly more general question. If hazardous waste is turning up on the…on rubbage dumps and on the edges of towns, how is it getting there given the safeguards and the procedures that you have in place? Thank you.

BG PERNA:    So sure, quickly the…the quick answer is yes, we are: shoes and air conditioner units, items that are no longer deemable for re-use, uneconomically repairable for re-use in other places as I depicted earlier, maybe Afghanistan, down south, or redistribution within the forces or for even for proper use within the Iraqi government because we would FEP it over or send it over through USETI for their use. So if it’s unecomically repairable or cannot, yes, we are sending them through the sales.

REPORTER 8:    How is the [INAUDIBLE] getting there?

BG COX:    Ma’am, I can’t begin to speculate with regards to exactly how it’s arriving at those dump sites. Again, we have a very regimented process in place, very deliberate when hazardous waste leaves our bases on the way to a treatment center. And so it’s checked before they leave in terms of amount and it’s checked when they arrive in terms of amount. And to-date, we have had no issues where materials have not arrived in accordance with our procedures. So I cannot speculate with regards to how it’s arriving there.

MG LANZA:    [INAUDIBLE]. Go ahead. Then we’ll go here and then these two back here.

REPORTER 3:    I just wanted to follow up on what Liz was saying. If there is material, hazardous material that did turn up in places where it wasn’t supposed to be, whether it’s outside the system or, you know, for…in whatever way it got there, well, two questions, really. Are you specifically investigating this now? And secondly, if you do find any type of culprit, a guilty party, somebody you suspect of having been involved in this, will you push for some sort of punishment or redress or in some way expose them? You know, will you identify the people…

MG LANZA:    Sure.

REPORTER 3:    …who are responsible for this?

MG LANZA:    I’ll take the second part of the question and then I’ll turn it over to you.

Obviously we want to enforce the standards of the contract. And obviously that those, you know, people that are responsible for this, we want to ensure that the standards are met.

And do you want to say [INAUDIBLE] about contracting…[INAUDIBLE]?

BG PERNA:    We do. We continue to push forward. And if identified we will investigate. And if we find a violation, we will take the appropriate actions.

MG LANZA:    And it is something, obviously, that, you know, once brought to our attention, we take very seriously in terms of how we transition to this country is extremely important.

And I would just say for the future is that we remain strategic partners with this country and with the Iraqi Security Forces and part of our commitment is to make sure that as we transition to the Strategic Framework Agreement that we do set the conditions in place to retain our partnership with this country in the future, post-December 11, when our mission ends. So we take this very seriously because this is about the U.S. commitment to the country and the Government of Iraq. It is more than just a military commitment when our mission ends here in December of 2011.

Let’s go to this gentleman here, ma’am, and then we’ll go to you. Sir.

REPORTER 9:    [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT:    [INAUDIBLE] from [INAUDIBLE] Newspaper. We know that the American forces now they have a lot of equipment that has high-quality equipment and also classified material inside this equipment. Do we know that…if the Iraqi Army one day receiving the equipment, are they going to be with the same sophistications or are they going to be…those certain specifications are going to be lifted from the equipment so it wouldn’t…the Iraqi side wouldn’t have the same quality of equipment that the Americans has?

MG LANZA:    As far as the…that’s a great question. As far as the quality of the equipment, as far as the capabilities of the equipment, it is the same equipment. And there are some other issues reference intelligence systems and classifications of the equipment that have to be resolved. And that is done with every country when you deal with foreign military sales. And that will be something, obviously, that is addressed with the agreements that are going to be signed between our two nations.

Specifically not when we talk about combat systems, I think what we’re really talking about here is intelligence systems. And that is something that, as we get the counterterrorism law passed, which the legis-…which the court is going to have to deal with, as we get to discussions of what the future relationship is going to be on what types of equipment the Government of Iraq needs to buy and wants to buy, then those conditions by which the governments agree in terms of capabilities and the classifications of those capabilities will be agreed to. But right now, if a vehicle transitions or a weapon transitions or communication equipment transitions, it has the same capability as the piece of equipment that we use as we transfer that piece of equipment.

Let’s go…the man right here, and then we’ll go in the back.

REPORTER 10:    OK. General Lanza, my question is about the Iraqi Army equipment.

MG LANZA:    Mm-hmm.

REPORTER 10:    Do you think that the Iraqi Army equipment now is good enough for following the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq? Some events happened yesterday in Iraq, like attacking the Central Bank of Iraq, it appears that things are going not…

MR LANZA:    Mm-hmm.

REPORTER 10:    …not within Iraq.

MG LANZA:    As I said earlier, I’ll take those questions separately. So if we want to talk about the Central Bank of Iraq and what happened yesterday, if we can go to media outreach and I’ll take that separately.

But I will say on the equipment piece of it that the equipment they’re getting right now, we will have almost 18 more months here to continue to build capability and capacity. But the government is going to have to make some decisions on the type of equipment they want to buy, the disposition of that equipment, and what type of equipment is in their best interest, whether it’s equipment to be used in the cities or whether it’s equipment to be used on the border to protect their sovereignty.

As far as the bank question goes and the issues yesterday, I can discuss that with you in a separate venue. OK?

Was there a question back here?

REPORTER 11:    No, thank you.

MG LANZA:    OK. Yes, please.

REPORTER 12:    [Asks question in Arabic.]
INT:    We know that transfer of equipment needs a strategic op-…and deliberate operation to draw…withdraw or transfer equipment from south to north, north to south. But is that going to weaken the support that you’re presenting to the Iraqi Security Forces up north against the terrorism or is the equipment…are they going to be heavy equipment, the ones that is going to be transferred?

Also, this support, whether it is air support or land support—I mean the special equipment that they need in the…in their support to the Iraqi Security Forces or the transferring of the operations or the equipment is going to be just in general, you’re just going to transfer whatever you have?

MG LANZA:    Well, let’s talk about the equipment. We’ll still have 50,000 forces here on 1 September. That’s a substantial capability and a substantial sized force that will be here. We’ll transition that force as we work our base closures and our disposition of equipment to the six advise-and-assist brigades that I’ve previously discussed. But our mission will be, in accordance with the security agreement, to continue to train, advise, and assist the Iraqi Security Forces. That is one of our missions that we’ll have here as we transition to stability operations. So your discussions up in the north will continue to provide Iraq those capabilities.

But I would remind everybody in here that the lead for security is with the Iraqi Security Forces. They have the lead on security and they’ve done very well overall. And they will continue to do that whether it be in the north or whether it be in the south. We will continue to support them based on their requests in accordance with the security agreement. And we’ll have our equipment in order to do that.

What General Perna discussed is how excess equipment and excess property is designated for transition and transfer to the Government of Iraq and/or its security forces. In some cases, it is cheaper—and I’ll turn this over to General Perna—but in some cases, it is cheaper and better to leave the equipment here rather than ship the equipment, and we find it more effective and cost effective to do that, but also able to provide better capabilities for the Iraqi Security Forces.

BG PERNA:    As I’ve discussed earlier, it’s a very deliberate process for accountability of the equipment. So I would tell you that for the equipment that we’re turning over to the MOD and the MOI to help enable increased capability in the Iraqi Security Force is planned and distributed in accordance with both those ministries so that we can increase their capabilities for future operations.

The equipment that we’re leaving in association with the base closures is left behind to ensure that the Iraqi Security Forces in those locations have the proper amount of equipment to, again, establish and operate in that area. As they choose, they may move from one location to another, which causes them to relocate equipment to facilitate their operations in a new location. That is their decision and we assist only in the initial transfer and then they take things from there and move them as they need…see fit for future operations.

MG LANZA:    And I would add that this transfer of equipment is not going to meet every capability of the Iraqi Security Forces. There are going to have to be decisions that would be made by the next government, by the minister of defense, the minister of interior, the leadership in terms of how they want to spend their money on what capabilities they want. Specifically with the nascent Air Force and Navy that they are developing—and they’re making decisions to do that: the purchase of the Italian patrol ships down at Umm Qasr and the purchase of the MI-17s to name two assets—but those will be decisions that they have to make and, again, it is what is in the best interests of the sovereign Government of Iraq. And there will be many countries, obviously, that will want to work with this country on foreign military sales.

But our disposition and transfer of property will not meet every single capability and desire of the Iraqi Security Forces. But it will help them build capability and capacity until our mission ends in December of 2011.

Are there other questions? OK. Are there any other questions?

Let me just close then. First of all, I thank everybody for coming today. I thank General Cox and General Perna for being here. I hope this gave you some perspective and some insights into processes and procedures. I appreciate the fact that…. If you have a packet, please let me know if you need an extra one. But again, thank you for coming and thanks for your time today and I look forward to talking to you again soon. Thank you.