Pentagon briefing - Thurs. Apr. 10:
Victoria Clarke and Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal:
"Hopes continue to arise for the people of Iraq."
"Troops had a fierce fight in the center of Baghdad...one Marine died
"In the last few days 7 Army, 7 Marines and 1 Air man have lost their lives....so (others) could live in freedom."
Torie listing details of humanitarian aid...two ships from Galveston on the way w/ food, Australia sending wheat, oil for food program restarting.
In Umm Qasr water supply is above pre-war level, med. facilities operating, food available...hospital for EPWs being set up.
In Basrah..food supplies sufficient, electricity is being restored...etc...(read transcript...lots of details on humanitarian efforts all over Iraq...food, medical, water...enough..to shut up all but the most deceitful press)..
In Baghdad the food is adequate, hospitals operating at reduced (capacity) water...N. Iraq... food, electicity all remain at pre-war levels...
Stanley McChrystal:
The conflict is not over. Since the Saddam statue was toppled, two servicemen were killed...we continue to find weapons caches, death squads are a threat....we are (removing bad guys up north)...173rd Airborne entered Kirkut meetin little resistance...
Pics: strikes on:
SRG military barracks, w/ obstacle course-
VIP retreat house, C&C for Regime -
Radio broadcast jammer center -
SM: "Kurds w/ US Spec. forces and 173rd .Airborne..entered Kirkut...opportunity (arose) when regular Iraqi army forces pulled back..the situation is fluid. We have US forces in Kirkut...we're talking to Turkish forces as well.."
TC: "We tend to stay away from terms like "control" because they do (remain fluid) "The Iraqi Regime no longer CONTROLS the town." (Kirkut)
SM: "Force protection is a complex task...this (suicide bomber) reenforces the threat of the dangers that remain...
Re. nuclear find TC: "I'm only aware of the report from the embedded reporter." "It takes time...it's a long process. We remain focused on the primary task of winning the war."
SM: "If you remember some weeks ago there were also 2 RG divis. up north as well, they have been viewed on the low end of the spectrum of the Iraqi army...we have been targetting them aggressively for the last days.(w/air, and on ground)...we judge their capability to have dropped (signifantly)... they are the last significant forces on the battlefield that we are aware of.."
Re. sabotage on oil fields up north SM: "We're certainly concerned about that (no details)..
Re. providing security for people of Baghad, POWs SM: "We are very concerned about the POWs. We do not have intel that I can share...we are working hard to get that...we believe that as the regime can no longer threaten (we hope people come forward w/ info)...we ahve to defeat the remaining (pockets of regime)...that is a direct war fighting task...the end result is a secure environment (for Iraqi people)..that will take some time. First, get rid of death squads, get dupporting assets on line (water, etc.)...
POWER VACUUM - TC: "We're always concerned with things like that (sucide bombers)..There are towns in ths o. where locals have come forward to (help)...
Re. looting...TC: "They have not come under a lot of criticism from the humanitarian community ...throughout the country we're working with human. organizations...SM: "You can't do everything at once, though you try to do as many...clearly, the (no. one job is to get rid of death squads) Looting is a problem, but it's NOT a major threat. People are not going to get killed doing it...
Re. Tikrit SM: "They moved the RG down around Baghdad...remnants of Baathists, irreg.? "Fortress Baghdad" or "Fortress Tikrit? I don't thinbk anyone's prepared to say that. We (are prepared for a fight)...
Re. forces in the north - SM: "I leave it up to Gen. Franks to make the decisions.. the 4th ID is largely in Kuwait..(will soon be helping)...
TC: "We're broadcasting a lot now...the primary focus is finishing the fighting...transitioning it to the Iraqi people....part of the strategy is to try to end the regime and do as little destruction to the infrastructure as possible (so the Iraqi people can use it soon..)
SM: "We've been flying more than 1000 sorties a day...there's been no shortage of being able to generate sorties..."
Re. Kofi and weapons inspectors: TC: "It was less skepticism over the inspectors ..more a reality that the regime was not going to let them do their jobs...best (settled by the State Dept)..
SM: "Our Spec. Ops have been w/ the Kurdish forces throughout...working with them (we are not commanding and controlling all of the forces in the north.)..
TC: "Just begun to work their way through some of those (extensive underground bunkers)...
SM: "What strength do they have. (regime) ...it's hard to tell..they have been significantly degraded...how they surrender is...we dropped a number of leaflets providing instructions for how they (tell coalition they want out of the fight)...we have not seen major surrenders like that in the north...