Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Subject- Report on the Findings of the Iraqi Security Force Independent Assessment Commission

Statement

Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Subject- Report on the Findings of the Iraqi Security Force Independent Assessment Commission

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D-MA): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I join welcoming General Jones and the -- our panelists here, just echoing the sense that many of us who've had the privilege of being on this committee have listened to all of you at different times. And your service to the country is enormously appreciated, and the nation's grateful for your service. And we thank you for your presentation today.

General, you must be able to understand the confusion of the American people listening to your testimony today. Here we have the greatest military that the world has ever seen fighting in Iraq, a country of 25 million people which we defeated 10 years ago; fighting them now there for four long years, four long years and having the casualty rates that we have. And now we're hearing, well, it's really an issue of national reconciliation and whether the Iraqis are really going to get their act together.

You can understand why Americans are confused when they hear General Casey in August of 2006 say, I can see that over the next 12 to 18 months the Iraqi security forces progressing to a point where they can take on the security responsibility for the country with very little coalition support. And they listened to General Casey; they're back home and they're listening. 2006, General Casey saying 12 to 18 months they're going to be able to fight. Then they read in the June, Department of Defense indicates that a total of 346,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained, more and more Iraqi army and national police are in the lead in these areas. And then we hear your report this morning: 25,000 police are in an organization that's filled with corruption, ought to be disbanded; 37,000 border guards need a great deal more training, a great deal more support, unreliable; the facilities protection, 140,000, they're weak -- they're weak.

How long have we been training Iraqis over there? How long have we been training the Iraqi service men, and how long's the United States been doing it? We've been doing it now since the time the invasion, have we not?

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