Joint Hearing of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees Subject: The Status of the War and Political Developments in Iraq

Interview

JOINT HEARING OF THE HOUSE ARMED SERVICES AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEES
SUBJECT: THE STATUS OF THE WAR AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ

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REP. HOWARD BERMAN (D-CA): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'd like to question as quickly as I can in three different areas. The first is just, General Petraeus, a clarification. My sense, from listening to your testimony, is that at the heart of your recommendations regarding the timing and the quantity of the troop withdrawals is your belief that this is not the time to have a mission change from population, security, counterterrorism and training Iraqi troops to simply counterterrorism and training Iraqi troops. And I just want to ask you to clarify.

Am I correct in that conclusion? My -- maybe I'll just ask the three and then let --

GEN. PETRAEUS: That is correct, sir. Again, the idea is to continue the focus on securing the population, given the criticality of that, with Iraqi security forces, certainly, wherever possible, while transitioning to them and certainly all the while with Iraqi and coalition forces as well continuing the counter-terrorist, the counter-al Qaeda/militia/extremist effort.

REP. BERMAN: Thank you. Well, my next question is about al Qaeda. I mean, you talk about the killing or capturing a hundred key al Qaeda in Iraq leaders, 2,500 rank-and-file fighters killed or captured. That's good.

But I remember Secretary Rumsfeld once wondering: Are we creating more terrorists than we're killing? Do you really think al Qaeda in Iraq can be routed? How many more of them are to kill -- are there to kill? I'd be curious about your thoughts about this issue.

And then my final question, perhaps for both of you, is the refugee issue. You touched on it hardly at all in your testimony. Two million Iraqis have fled to neighboring countries, 2 million people classified as internally displaced. One, to the extent you have -- you both have some hopeful aspects in your testimony, I'm wondering if you're finding any reverse flows, at least to areas that -- where some level of security has been achieved. And secondly, does the United States have some special obligation to assist refugees, particularly those who have risked their lives to assist our efforts in Iraq, people who have worked for our embassy, for coalition forces and for Western NGOs? I'd be interested in your answers to the last two sets of questions.

Thank you.

GEN. PETRAEUS: Sir, we are trying to conduct our operations in a way that takes more bad guys off the streets than are created by the operation. We believe that we are having success by this, because we can see that certain areas that were in fact sanctuaries for al Qaeda -- far beyond just Anbar province, but also in areas south of Baghdad and north of Baghdad, Baqubah and even areas now starting up the Tigris River Valley -- are in fact no longer safe havens for al Qaeda.

Now, this is helped and not just by our own actions of both our Special Operations forces and our conventional forces -- and again, it's the mix of those that is critical -- it is also because of local individuals again standing up and saying, "No more" to al Qaeda. And that is a hugely important development, needless to say.

I've asked the intelligence analysts, you know, how many more are there -- again, that same kind of question -- and the answer literally varies by which intelligence agency you ask. There are certainly several thousand more plus these affiliates, if you will, the insurgent groups, a number of which have actually broken off from al Qaeda and, in fact, are now either fighting alongside us and applying to be a part of legitimate Iraqi institutions.

And if I could point out, by the way, we have not armed tribes. We don't have weapons to give them. We have never given weapons to tribes. What we have done is applaud when they have asked if they could point their weapons at al Qaeda instead of at us, and we have then worked very hard to try to help them tie into national institutions because that's the piece that makes sure that there is some mitigation of risk, that we are not merely allowing tribes again to turn their weapons on al Qaeda and then turn them on, say, other Iraqis.

The refugee issue is one that I feel very strongly about. One reason I went back to Iraq is because of an obligation to the Iraqi people. I've now served there nearly three years, and Iraq even when you are not there is on your mind and in your heart. And there are a lot of courageous Iraqis who have stood up to try to contribute to this new Iraq, and we do -- I do believe that we have an obligation to them.

REP. SKELTON: I thank the gentleman.

The gentleman from New Jersey, Mr. Saxton, please.

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