PraiseKingGeorge
06-06-2007, 10:49 AM
This Pentagon memo was given to me by my neighbor, A retired USAF General, who worked at the Pentagon and is still well connected. He receives inside info on Iraq and forwards non-classified reports to me. This one was given to my neighbor by General James Dalton, USAF.
On Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:02:54 -0700, General James Dalton USAF ret wrote:
Dear XXX ,
The fight is picking up on our side. The political dynamics
of this dual interface, which has been such a loser to date, will still be the
key to the endgame. Jim
p.s. You won't find this report in the New York Times.
Points From Lieutenant General Odierno Briefing, Baghdad, Iraq:
May 31, 2007
We're well into our third month in Fard al-Qanun, and although
we've made some very clear progress, there's still a great deal of
work left to do. We still have not reached the end of our surge,
and the enemy is still fighting us every day, but we are making
progress and driving the enemy from their safe havens.
· In about the next two weeks, 8,000 troops will begin to
move into their assigned areas of responsibility.
· It will take new units anywhere from 30 to 60 days to
really get a feel for their sectors so they truly can have an
impact on security and stability in their area, as
counterinsurgency requires understanding the environment, its
people, the enemy, the physical and human terrain and local dynamics.
Our operations since the first unit of the surge arrived have
inflicted significant damage to the insurgency.
· Since the first unit of the surge arrived, we have
conducted 235 battalion-size operations throughout Iraq and 98 in
Baghdad.
· We have detained almost 18,000 extremists, killing and
wounding more.
· Since January 23, we have captured and killed over 1,700
high-value targets.
· We have found 29 car bomb factories and over 2,400 caches,
compared to just over 2,600 in all of 2006.
· With the help of Iraqi citizens, we have broken up six
improvised explosive device (IED) cells - meaning a network of
individuals that have conducted IED operations. Four of these were
in Bagdad.
· These are only the operations we can confirm.
Currently we have 28 joint security stations and 28 combat outposts
operating throughout greater Baghdad area. This is all about
establishing 24-hour, seven-day-a-week presence inside the city of
Baghdad, and protecting people where they live, work, go to school,
and sleep.
· It provides a place for Iraqis to go for help, a place to
provide tips, which they do continue to do.
· Coalition soldiers live, work and patrol with their Iraqi
counterparts, developing relationships with each other and building
the trust of the local residents.
· People are thanking us for driving away gangs, criminals
and terrorists, but we have not completed the mission.
· It also allows us to identify those Iraqi security forces
who have not been operating according to the rules, who continue to
have sectarian agendas and who must be replaced.
Our top priority right now is to create stability and security to
protect the Iraqi people, first and foremost in Baghdad and the
"Baghdadbelts". Creating a stable environment in Baghdad should
provide time and space for the Iraqi government to continue to
mature as a government and continue to build its capacity.
· The "Baghdad belts," are key to its security since Attacks
occurring in Baghdad often originate in these outer lying regions
where sectarian lines begin to blur in these belts.
· Al Qaeda in Iraq and Shi'a extremists want to control
these areas so they surge accelerants to destabilize the government
of Iraq and create sectarian tensions whenever possible.
Increased forces are attempting to secure Baghdad as part of Fard
al-Qanun.
· We have 12 coalition brigades and 44 combat battalions
operating in Baghdad and the belts. This equates to approximately
50,000 combat troops.
· Our enemy is focused on establishing footholds outside the
city, and we are focused on denying them sanctuary to plan terrible
attacks that brutally terrorize Iraq's innocent civilians.
· Our forces within the 10 security districts, along with
the Iraqi security forces, are working on securing the population.
We have already far surpassed the number of weapons caches found
within the Baghdad security districts all of last year.
· For all of 2006, we found only 266 weapons caches.
· So far this year, up through May, we have found 441.
· This is a direct result of our increased presence and our
ability to go in places in Baghdad that we have not been able to go
before.
Iraqis have also surged and are performing bravely. There are still
problems within the Iraqi security forces, but steady progress is
being made.
· The Iraqi security force continues to develop and grow,
assisted by embedded transition teams.
· The Iraqi security force plans, coordinates and conducts
missions either alongside or often independent of coalition forces.
· There are over 79,000 Iraqi security forces currently
operating in Baghdad.
Al Qaeda Iraq (AQI) represents our most significant and volatile
threat within Iraq. AQI's brutal nature is unmatched, with total
disregard for human life and they will go to any lengths to
undermine the efforts of the coalition and the government of Iraq.
· In the recent days we found a torture center north of
Baqubah where 41 Sunnis were held captive and tortured because they
were not in compliance with what was believed to be al Qaeda beliefs.
In Anbar, things have begun to change. Citizens are rejecting al
Qaeda's barbaric reign in the region and attacks are down.
· In May 2007 there were just over 400 attacks in Anbar,
down from 811 in May 2006,
· In 2007 there have been 30 attacks in the city of Ramadi,
down from 254 in 2006.
The citizens are volunteering for the Iraqi security forces in
record numbers, aiding coalition efforts and driving out al Qaeda
intimidation. Engaging with the tribal entities and others has made
a huge difference, and citizens of Anbar are rejecting al Qaeda.
· Since the beginning of 2007, over 12,000 Iraqi citizens
have volunteered for Iraqi security forces in Anbar. In all of
2006, only 1,000 had volunteered.
We have organized ourselves to be more aggressive in the area of
reconciliation at all levels of command, especially at the
battalion and brigade level. We believe a large majority of groups
within Iraq are reconcilable and are now interested in engaging
with us, but more importantly, they want to engage and become a
part of the government of Iraq.
· Based on initial success at Anbar, we now see
opportunities for further engagement across Iraq with other tribes
and entities to include mainstream Sunni and Shi'a insurgents.
· Formal reconciliation is a government of Iraq responsibility.
· We are attempting to create confidence-building measures
among these various groups where they will ultimately reach out to
the government of Iraq, who is working hard to establish a
reconciliation strategy.
o This involves dialogue, provincial security forces, and
overall maintenance of public order.
· There will be those who are irreconcilable, and these hard-
core extremists must be captured or killed.
Humanitarian and civil efforts continue to go on across the
country. Whenever I travel and talk to Iraqis, they ask security,
essential services, and for a government of Iraq that is operating,
functioning and caring for its people.
· We developed several markets and protected them in Baghdad
and they've come back to life.
· In the beginning of the surge there were six - and there
were zero retail operators in Dora market. Today there are 250, and
it continues to grow.
· We've produced 32,000 jobs and are on track towards our
goal of 40,000 by the end of June.
· We have loans that are USAID micro lending program, and we
have grants that are done through the USAID Community Stabilization
Program.
· Multinational Division-Baghdad has spent $200,000 on
agricultural projects, $730,000 on civil cleanup, $270,000 on
educational supplies, $100,000 on health care, $230,000 on law and
order projects, $940,000 on humanitarian efforts, supplies, soccer
fields and other things for children.
o Yesterday I just saw a brand- new children's sports center
where they can play a variety of sports downtown in Karrada, in a
district in Baghdad.
· $280,000 has been spent on improving the roads and
rebuilding the railroad systems, $360,000 on water and sanitation.
My initial assessment of the enhanced Provisional Reconstruction
Teams is extremely positive.
· They are embedded with the Brigade Combat Teams and
working very well.
· Their expertise adds an extra dimension to the brigade
operations. Through their close working relationship to the
brigades, they have garnered a new expertise and ability to travel
throughout Baghdad and other parts of Iraq.
Comment:
FYI: General James E. Dalton, USAF ret, was the former Chief of Staff, Supreme
Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe, Mons, Belgium.
On Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:02:54 -0700, General James Dalton USAF ret wrote:
Dear XXX ,
The fight is picking up on our side. The political dynamics
of this dual interface, which has been such a loser to date, will still be the
key to the endgame. Jim
p.s. You won't find this report in the New York Times.
Points From Lieutenant General Odierno Briefing, Baghdad, Iraq:
May 31, 2007
We're well into our third month in Fard al-Qanun, and although
we've made some very clear progress, there's still a great deal of
work left to do. We still have not reached the end of our surge,
and the enemy is still fighting us every day, but we are making
progress and driving the enemy from their safe havens.
· In about the next two weeks, 8,000 troops will begin to
move into their assigned areas of responsibility.
· It will take new units anywhere from 30 to 60 days to
really get a feel for their sectors so they truly can have an
impact on security and stability in their area, as
counterinsurgency requires understanding the environment, its
people, the enemy, the physical and human terrain and local dynamics.
Our operations since the first unit of the surge arrived have
inflicted significant damage to the insurgency.
· Since the first unit of the surge arrived, we have
conducted 235 battalion-size operations throughout Iraq and 98 in
Baghdad.
· We have detained almost 18,000 extremists, killing and
wounding more.
· Since January 23, we have captured and killed over 1,700
high-value targets.
· We have found 29 car bomb factories and over 2,400 caches,
compared to just over 2,600 in all of 2006.
· With the help of Iraqi citizens, we have broken up six
improvised explosive device (IED) cells - meaning a network of
individuals that have conducted IED operations. Four of these were
in Bagdad.
· These are only the operations we can confirm.
Currently we have 28 joint security stations and 28 combat outposts
operating throughout greater Baghdad area. This is all about
establishing 24-hour, seven-day-a-week presence inside the city of
Baghdad, and protecting people where they live, work, go to school,
and sleep.
· It provides a place for Iraqis to go for help, a place to
provide tips, which they do continue to do.
· Coalition soldiers live, work and patrol with their Iraqi
counterparts, developing relationships with each other and building
the trust of the local residents.
· People are thanking us for driving away gangs, criminals
and terrorists, but we have not completed the mission.
· It also allows us to identify those Iraqi security forces
who have not been operating according to the rules, who continue to
have sectarian agendas and who must be replaced.
Our top priority right now is to create stability and security to
protect the Iraqi people, first and foremost in Baghdad and the
"Baghdadbelts". Creating a stable environment in Baghdad should
provide time and space for the Iraqi government to continue to
mature as a government and continue to build its capacity.
· The "Baghdad belts," are key to its security since Attacks
occurring in Baghdad often originate in these outer lying regions
where sectarian lines begin to blur in these belts.
· Al Qaeda in Iraq and Shi'a extremists want to control
these areas so they surge accelerants to destabilize the government
of Iraq and create sectarian tensions whenever possible.
Increased forces are attempting to secure Baghdad as part of Fard
al-Qanun.
· We have 12 coalition brigades and 44 combat battalions
operating in Baghdad and the belts. This equates to approximately
50,000 combat troops.
· Our enemy is focused on establishing footholds outside the
city, and we are focused on denying them sanctuary to plan terrible
attacks that brutally terrorize Iraq's innocent civilians.
· Our forces within the 10 security districts, along with
the Iraqi security forces, are working on securing the population.
We have already far surpassed the number of weapons caches found
within the Baghdad security districts all of last year.
· For all of 2006, we found only 266 weapons caches.
· So far this year, up through May, we have found 441.
· This is a direct result of our increased presence and our
ability to go in places in Baghdad that we have not been able to go
before.
Iraqis have also surged and are performing bravely. There are still
problems within the Iraqi security forces, but steady progress is
being made.
· The Iraqi security force continues to develop and grow,
assisted by embedded transition teams.
· The Iraqi security force plans, coordinates and conducts
missions either alongside or often independent of coalition forces.
· There are over 79,000 Iraqi security forces currently
operating in Baghdad.
Al Qaeda Iraq (AQI) represents our most significant and volatile
threat within Iraq. AQI's brutal nature is unmatched, with total
disregard for human life and they will go to any lengths to
undermine the efforts of the coalition and the government of Iraq.
· In the recent days we found a torture center north of
Baqubah where 41 Sunnis were held captive and tortured because they
were not in compliance with what was believed to be al Qaeda beliefs.
In Anbar, things have begun to change. Citizens are rejecting al
Qaeda's barbaric reign in the region and attacks are down.
· In May 2007 there were just over 400 attacks in Anbar,
down from 811 in May 2006,
· In 2007 there have been 30 attacks in the city of Ramadi,
down from 254 in 2006.
The citizens are volunteering for the Iraqi security forces in
record numbers, aiding coalition efforts and driving out al Qaeda
intimidation. Engaging with the tribal entities and others has made
a huge difference, and citizens of Anbar are rejecting al Qaeda.
· Since the beginning of 2007, over 12,000 Iraqi citizens
have volunteered for Iraqi security forces in Anbar. In all of
2006, only 1,000 had volunteered.
We have organized ourselves to be more aggressive in the area of
reconciliation at all levels of command, especially at the
battalion and brigade level. We believe a large majority of groups
within Iraq are reconcilable and are now interested in engaging
with us, but more importantly, they want to engage and become a
part of the government of Iraq.
· Based on initial success at Anbar, we now see
opportunities for further engagement across Iraq with other tribes
and entities to include mainstream Sunni and Shi'a insurgents.
· Formal reconciliation is a government of Iraq responsibility.
· We are attempting to create confidence-building measures
among these various groups where they will ultimately reach out to
the government of Iraq, who is working hard to establish a
reconciliation strategy.
o This involves dialogue, provincial security forces, and
overall maintenance of public order.
· There will be those who are irreconcilable, and these hard-
core extremists must be captured or killed.
Humanitarian and civil efforts continue to go on across the
country. Whenever I travel and talk to Iraqis, they ask security,
essential services, and for a government of Iraq that is operating,
functioning and caring for its people.
· We developed several markets and protected them in Baghdad
and they've come back to life.
· In the beginning of the surge there were six - and there
were zero retail operators in Dora market. Today there are 250, and
it continues to grow.
· We've produced 32,000 jobs and are on track towards our
goal of 40,000 by the end of June.
· We have loans that are USAID micro lending program, and we
have grants that are done through the USAID Community Stabilization
Program.
· Multinational Division-Baghdad has spent $200,000 on
agricultural projects, $730,000 on civil cleanup, $270,000 on
educational supplies, $100,000 on health care, $230,000 on law and
order projects, $940,000 on humanitarian efforts, supplies, soccer
fields and other things for children.
o Yesterday I just saw a brand- new children's sports center
where they can play a variety of sports downtown in Karrada, in a
district in Baghdad.
· $280,000 has been spent on improving the roads and
rebuilding the railroad systems, $360,000 on water and sanitation.
My initial assessment of the enhanced Provisional Reconstruction
Teams is extremely positive.
· They are embedded with the Brigade Combat Teams and
working very well.
· Their expertise adds an extra dimension to the brigade
operations. Through their close working relationship to the
brigades, they have garnered a new expertise and ability to travel
throughout Baghdad and other parts of Iraq.
Comment:
FYI: General James E. Dalton, USAF ret, was the former Chief of Staff, Supreme
Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe, Mons, Belgium.