BRIEFING BY LAWRENCE DI RITA
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS,
AIR FORCE LT. GEN. NORTON A. SCHWARTZ &
THE JOINT STAFF

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

August 13, 2003

Excerpts

Di Rita: Good afternoon. I don't have anything as an opening statement. I would just like to join those who have already offered their condolences with respect to some U.S./coalition military forces who have been killed and wounded in Iraq over the past several days. It's a situation where the security circumstances are uneven; we know that. But in certain areas of Iraq, it remains quite dangerous for our forces. They're doing very good work across a broad front. But of course we mourn the loss of those who have given their lives for this cause.

I don't have a prepared statement, and I'd just like to ask General Schwartz, who's been kind enough, again, to offer some insights into some other military activities in Iraq and elsewhere, to come down today and maybe take some of your questions. And with that, I'll ask General Schwartz to take over.

Schwartz: Thank you, Mr. DiRita.

I too would like to add my condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones.

While we are making great strides in Iraq, we will continue to see our enemies attempt to disrupt the coalition support that we are providing to the American people. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the freedom of the American -- of the Iraqi people.

Operations throughout Iraq continue to focus on capture of hostile forces, providing a secure environment for the Iraqi people, and providing essential services necessary for their quality of life.

And in Liberia, Joint Task Force Liberia planners are meeting with the Nigerian force commander and have met today to work out details on how to facilitate the ECOMIL (Economic Community military) force movement to certain key locations in Monrovia. Joint Task Force Liberia is in place to assist ECOMIL forces to achieve a stable environment, so that humanitarian assistance can be provided to the people of Liberia, and also to facilitate the transition to a U.N.-led international peacekeeping operation.

With that, ladies and gentlemen, I'll be happy to take your questions.

. . .

Q: Sort of an Iraq-related question, if I could. Today in Washington and tomorrow in Fayetteville, the families of military -- of soldiers over in Iraq are having press conferences, complaining about the duration of the stay and using words like "the Bush administration betrayed us" and "our son was killed for no good reason." In fact, one of the speakers was the father of a Marine who was killed on March 27th. The group is called Bring Them Home Now.

I don't know if you've heard about this, but it begs for some kind of Pentagon response here. What do you tell families like that that are so angst and upset that they're going to the length of press conferences -- a national press conference down in Fayetteville, you know, the home of the 18th Airborne Corps?

Di Rita: I'll start, and General Schwartz may have a view on this, but obviously, these are families who are very committed to what their sons and daughters are committed to, which is this important U.S. security objective. So, it's a very difficult thing to put one in a position of having a son or daughter in the military; indeed, to have a son or daughter killed. So, I certainly respect that. And they're going to express their views as they see fit.

And I would say that we are very aware of the importance of providing a sense of regularity to how forces will continue to move through the region -- through Iraq. We've begun to do that to make it very clear that there is a rotation plan; that based on the current assessment of the situation and the current need for security capability, we'll be able to execute over the coming months.

We've seen now, I think, not withstanding some anxiety on this particular point, the 3rd Infantry Division has begun to rotate back. Our intention had been all along to get them back in the early fall. That's going to happen. It appears to be on-track and we've seen some significant number of the 3rd Infantry Division come home.

So, it's going to be the kind of thing where if we can establish some regularity, if the security circumstances permit us to maintain what we've established as the regular plan, people will understand that better and feel better about it. But there's no question that it's a -- as I've said before, Iraq remains a dangerous place. If a parent has a son or a daughter in Iraq, there -- it's perfectly understandable that they would be concerned about that.

Q: Are you surprised, though, that groups are organizing? It's relatively unusual, isn't it, in your experience, General Schwartz -- families would go out publicly and complain?

Schwartz: I think it's -- you know, we feel the same grief that the parents do, clearly. And every commander up and down the line surely does.

But I'd like to focus on the point about the rotation policy. Clearly, there is a need for predictability. That is the objective of the rotation policy. The tours will be up to one year in length. But each individual will know when they will be home, and that is exactly the kind of knowledge which each and every one of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines deserves.

Di Rita: Bill?

Q: Yeah, General, back on Iraq, could you update us on the hunt for Saddam Hussein? Do you think he's alive? And is he still in the country?

Schwartz: I don't know whether he's alive or dead. But I do know for sure that he ain't coming back.

And we are acting on intelligence that comes our way. In fact, in the last 24 hours, we apprehended two Republican Guard general officers and one Special Security Organization senior member. And so, we are acting on intelligence. We are continuing to detain individuals. And it remains to be seen what will occur in the future.

Q: And just to follow, what are you seeing in terms of the organized resistance? Is that still there, or are you making progress in getting at that resistance?

Schwartz: We are making progress. We are working at this from an offensive mindset. We are attriting the enemy. We are detaining them when we can. We are taking their wherewithal of weapons and so on off the street. This is a tough adversary, however. And so, as Mr. DiRita indicated, Iraq in many areas remains a dangerous place, but we will stay with it. And we will overcome those regime -- those former regime elements, Fedayeen or foreign fighters, as they may be.

Q: General?

Q: Yes --

Q: Look at me.

Q: (Chuckles.)

Q: General, there have been some pretty well publicized incidents recently in which American soldiers have opened fire and killed what turned out to be innocent Iraqis. And one case involved a family. Another involved some Iraqi police. What steps are being taken to try to prevent that from happening in the future?

Schwartz: Our troops operate under a well-understood set of rules of engagement, the first principle of which is individuals may defend themselves when threatened. That is not -- and that is not to suggest that folks can fire indiscriminately. They do not. Our people are disciplined, and they discriminate targets and so on. But on occasion, you have occurrences of -- where innocents are hurt or killed, and we regret that. That is unfortunate. But this is war, sir, and we make sure that our troops are trained, that they understand what their rules of engagement are and exercise the utmost discretion.

Di Rita: We saw, in the case when -- in -- I guess it was Mosul, where the -- Saddam Hussein's sons were captured -- this was a busy street. It's a neighborhood. There are shops right next door. The -- in many cases, regrettably, the people that we're after are working in areas where they know it will be difficult for the United States and for the coalition forces to come and get them. They -- the regime during the war and indeed prior to the war used civilians as cover. It's unfortunately still going on. Our -- it's -- as our intelligence continues to improve, it's important that we try and avoid those kinds of circumstances, but we're facing an enemy that in many ways is using the laws of civility against us.

Q: Well, if I could just follow up, what I'm really asking -- is there anything being done to reinforce those rules of engagement? In the case of the Iraqi police, some of the police -- a policeman who survived in the car claimed that they identified themselves as Iraqi police, but the bullets kept flying. Is anything being done to reinforce the rules of engagement?

Di Rita: I assure you that it is. This is a daily matter of command and oversight. Absolutely. Troop leaders do this. First sergeants do this. Company and -- commanders do this. It is a daily occurrence. Absolutely.

Q: Sir, yeah. For months Defense officials said that the primary resistance to U.S. forces in Iraq and to U.S. efforts in Iraq came from remnants of the Iraqi regime, of the Ba'athist Party. In recent days, U.S. officials and commanders, it seems to me, have increasingly been pointing to their concerns about a changing nature of resistance that they're seeing; more foreign elements; Iraq as a magnet for anti-U.S. forces from some other countries and with other ideas in mind. My question is, given the changing nature of the threat, is the military changing -- thinking about changing the way it responds to that threat, rethinking its approach to the threat?

Schwartz: I think we clearly are adapting as, as you understand, that what began as attacks that were primarily small-arms based evolved into mortars and then rocket-propelled grenades, and now increasingly is through the use of improvised explosive devices. We will adapt to that reality and appropriately provide for force protection for our forces while we engage the perpetrators, both during an event but, more importantly, to engage them prior to an act of violence against our forces.

Q: Is there any way to (off mike) if Iraq continues to be a magnet for those sorts of --

Di Rita: Well, let me just say on that point, you described them as anti-U.S. forces, which is, I would say, a euphemism for terrorists, and in some cases, foreign terrorists. In increasing -- not increasing, but in increasingly apparent circumstances, it's foreign terrorists. So foreign terrorists are attracted to areas where the coalition is on the offense in the global war on terror, and in Iraq we are on the offense in the global war on terror, so they're trying to engage us. They're adapting to techniques that include terrorist techniques, such as, as General Schwartz described, car bombs and other vehicle-borne bombs.

So it's -- we know that, as we've seen in Afghanistan and in other countries around the world, where the governing circumstance is uncertain, there's a potential for terrorists to take root. It's our intention that terrorists will not take root in Iraq. We don't believe they've taken root, but there's clearly an indication that foreign terrorists are involved in the kind of violence that we see here. And we're going to use all the means at our disposal, all of the national means of power, to counter foreign terrorists.

Yes, sir?

. . .

Q: In total do you have a sense, though, of how many Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are still wandering around --

Schwartz: I really don't have a good estimate, but I can tell you, though, it is not a substantial number.

Di Rita: Maybe a couple more, and then we're going to have to go. Over here, please.

Q: General, when was the last time -- back on Saddam -- when was the last time you received reliable intelligence suggesting Saddam Hussein could still be alive?

Schwartz: I -- again, I don't speak about such intelligence matters from this platform. But it's important for you to know that when we do get information, we, obviously, act on it. And we continue to run operations in various locations throughout Iraq, both in response to information on Saddam and others. And as I indicated earlier, there were three individuals detained just in the last 24 hours.

Q: Larry, a point of --

Di Rita: Down here, and then I think we have to --

. . .

Q: But the issue of terrorism in Iraq -- what, if anything, is being done to better secure Iraq's long, porous borders, given the threat of foreign fighters seeping back in? Anything being done? Or don't we have enough troops to actually do a better job of that?

Schwartz: A -- that is a key function which will be performed by the Iraqi civil defense force, of which we are fielding upwards of 8,000 as we speak. That's another function for the new Iraqi army. Four hundred individuals are currently in training in Kirkuk, with another 400 being recruited. That, in the end, is a mission for the Iraqis to perform themselves.

Q: But it would be weeks, not -- and even months.

Schwartz: In the interim, we certainly maintain our own -- that is, the coalition does -- appropriate surveillance of the border areas. And that no doubt will continue.

. . .

Thank you. Thank you very much.