A Briefing at the DOD (Iraq war strategy)

The following are excerpts from a Department of Defense news briefing. They've been edited to focus on remarks dealing with operations in Haditha, Iraq, with my running commentary along the right hand side.

Transcript	Commentary
GEN. HAM: This morning at about 06:30 local time in Iraq, a mounted U.S. Marine element operating near Hadithah was attacked by an explosive device. Initial reports are that 15 personnel were killed in the attack: 14 United States Marines and one interpreter. One Marine was wounded and has subsequently been medically evacuated from the scene. Multinational Force West, which you know is the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Forward, is investigating this incident. Notification of next of kin is underway, but has not yet been completed. The attack this morning occurred in the same general area as an attack, which occurred yesterday in which six U.S. Marines were killed.	This is the first indication that an operation may be underway.
Q General, what do these attacks over the past couple of days, in which 20 -- actually, 21 Marines were killed, because there was another Marine from that same unit who was killed by an IED two days ago -- what does that say about the state of insurgency in that region? What information do you have about the status of the insurgents, what they're up to there, and what the U.S. Marine Corps has been trying to do over the past couple of months in trying to root them out? GEN. HAM: Well, it is, I think, very important to always remember that this is a very lethal and unfortunately adaptive enemy that we are faced with inside Iraq. It's important, I think, to put this in a larger context: that if you look along the Euphrates River and the number of towns and villages along the river that have previously been locations from which insurgents have operated. Multinational Force West is conducting a number of operations in a number of those towns simultaneously, in an effort to deny the enemy freedom of movement, to deny them safe haven. And so I think what we're seeing here is a concerted effort to assert control -- ultimately Iraqi control in those towns, and there's resistance that is coming from the insurgents in those towns. Perhaps previously they may have had an opportunity to move. For example, if there was pressure in Hadithah, they could perhaps move someplace else. Well, now because of the simultaneity of operations that Multinational Force West is conducting, they don't have that freedom of movement, and I think that's one of the contributing causes to this -- to these number of direct contacts that are occurring. ... Q Can I ask -- I just wanted to make it clear because I'm not sure we're on the same wavelength here. I think the point that I tried to make was that because of attacks over the past couple of days, it appears that the insurgents' capability to operate has not been diminished. Is that the case? Are they still able to operate pretty freely in that region? GEN. HAM: Well, I think not. Again, they are dangerous, and they certainly have a capability. But as to whether they are not -- whether they have an ability to freely operate throughout the area, I think not. And that's specifically the focus of Multinational Force West's operation.	Here's the first hint that this operation is qualitatively different from anything previous. The implication of Gen. Ham's statements is that in the past the coalition only had the ability to drive out insurgents locally, like chasing a soap bar around a tub. He strongly suggests that this time, there is no place to hide and the loss of the 21 Marines was in line with this new and offensive goal.
Q General Ham, can you -- there have been reports by Ansar al-Sunna that they may have beheaded one of these Americans. Their bodies may have been mutilated. Can you -- number one, are all Americans and Marines at least in these operations accounted for? Is there anybody missing? And do you have any credible reports that any of the bodies that have been recovered have been mutilated, beheaded, anything like that? GEN. HAM: We do not have any indication of the latter. And Multinational Forces Iraq has recently conducted an accountability, and now all forces are accounted for.	This provides an insight into the kind of homework the press does prior to attending the briefings. They have access to collateral sources of information -- Jihadi websites -- possibly tips from people they know.
Q Are there any Iraqis involved in these operations, these simultaneous operations that are going on in these towns, the Euphrates River Valley, in conjunction with the Marines, and if so, can you describe those? GEN. HAM: The Iraqi security forces are involved. They were not specifically involved in this particular operation in Hadithah, but in the next town to the northwest, if you will, in Rawah, the Iraqi security forces have been significantly involved. On the 1st of August they discovered with -- based on local tips from a local Iraqi, they discovered a fairly sizeable weapons cache in that area. So the Iraqi security forces are clearly operating in that area, as they are throughout the country. Q General, the details of the six who were killed, the snipers, is still sketchy. Can you fill in any blanks about what happened? Was it an enemy force that found their location, or was it perhaps some people that were thought to be friendly forces that ended up killing the Marines? GEN. HAM: There's certainly no indication of the latter. As you might understand, I'm not desirous of talking about specific tactics, techniques and procedures that are employed by various units. But I think, as you all understand, we have a variety of capabilities, ranging from very small units to very large units. This was a unit that was properly prepared, trained and equipped for their operation. They came under attack, and as we know today, that the six U.S. Marines were killed in that attack. Q But you're kind of ruling out that they thought they were Iraqi friendlies and then were killed by them? GEN. HAM: What I think I said was there's no indication that that was the case.	Finally the penny drops and the press are trying to press for details on what must be an ongoing operation. Gen. Ham finally hints at where the access of coalition manpower came from -- Iraqi troops. Almost instantly he senses the next question: were the Marines betrayed by the Iraqis and pre-emptively answers it.
Q Sir, have any troops been moved into that Euphrates River valley? And can you talk a little bit, for people who might not understand that area, of that line that runs from Baghdad all the way up to al Qaim, how important that is to you and your goals in Anbar province? GEN. HAM: Well, certainly western Anbar province has been an area of concern for a very long time. And the Euphrates River and the towns and villages along it are likely locations for the movement of insurgents either cross-border from Syria or inside Iraq itself. There have been additional forces that have deployed from other parts of Iraq, and specifically from Multinational Force Northwest, to assist in this effort along the Euphrates River.	The press now talks about the River War and the role of this line of communications in supporting enemy fighters in Iraq from sanctuaries in Syria.
Q Sir, have any troops been moved into that Euphrates River valley? And can you talk a little bit, for people who might not understand that area, of that line that runs from Baghdad all the way up to al Qaim, how important that is to you and your goals in Anbar province? GEN. HAM: Well, certainly western Anbar province has been an area of concern for a very long time. And the Euphrates River and the towns and villages along it are likely locations for the movement of insurgents either cross-border from Syria or inside Iraq itself. There have been additional forces that have deployed from other parts of Iraq, and specifically from Multinational Force Northwest, to assist in this effort along the Euphrates River. Q Can you describe like how many forces, what the -- I mean, is this a -- I mean, I understand Operation Sword had been going on and that was completed. I mean, is there a name for this operation? Are there -- is this, you know, running from, you know, Hadithah all the way out to the border? You have a large operation that's going on right now, and can you tell us how many troops are involved? GEN. HAM: I don't know in their entirety. It's about a battalion strength from Multinational Force Northwest that is assisting in this effort, and they have -- I'm trying to -- at least a battalion strength of Iraqi army with them. Q This is just in the Hadithah corridor area, or is this going all the way out to the border? GEN. HAM: This is all the way out to the border.	Now questioning turns to the "adequacy of troops issue", a subject to which the briefing will return again and again. It turns out from the answer that the ongoing operation, which has no public name, is quite large. This operation runs all along the Euphrates River line "all the way out to the border".
Q Until the last couple of days, Iraqis have borne a lot of the recent casualties. Of course, the last two days there have been heavy American casualties. Does this represent any kind of change in strategy on the insurgents to target Americans more forcefully? MR. DI RITA: To target Americans? Q To target American troops -- a shift of emphasis? GEN. HAM: Not that we're able to discern. We don't think so. We think the insurgent effort remains very much focused on discrediting coalition presence, and discrediting the Iraqi security forces, and discrediting the Iraqi transitional government. So I don't think -- we haven't seen a particular waiving of effort, if you will, on the insurgents that says, "Okay, now we're going to go after coalitions." It just -- we think they remain focused on each of those three entities. Q And these recent casualties are because American troops have been in harm's way to a greater degree recently with these operations? GEN. HAM: In this particular operation, which the operation in Hadithah was largely conducted by the U.S. Marines, I think just a -- it was just a fact of that circumstance, not any discernible change in the tactics used by the insurgents.	This is exchange which suggests a tendency -- perhaps only a rhetorical tendency -- to assign the role of the offensive to the enemy. The fact that fewer Americans have been recently killed is put down to the fact that the enemy has stopped targeting them. Gen. Ham suggests that the Americans died because they were operating against an enemy stronghold.

The most interesting questions remain unanswered. The unnamed operation must be large -- and ongoing. Just what is happening? Recently, retired General Jack Keane kicked up a public relations hornet's nest by saying that US forces had killed or captured 50,000 insurgents in 2005. That enormous lethality would suggest that, despite the loss of the Marines, the ongoing fighting must be lopsided. Nothing to do but await events.

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