Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subject: The Petraeus-Crocker Report on Progress in Iraq

Interview

HEARING OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: THE PETRAEUS-CROCKER REPORT ON PROGRESS IN IRAQ

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SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-GA): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

And let me echo the thanks of everybody else here to you gentlemen, number one for providing the kind of leadership in a very complex world at a critical point in the history of the world, the kind of leadership that's really needed right now, and also compliment you on what you've had to go through for the last 24 hours. You've been worn down and asked every conceivable question that could have been asked about what's going on in your part of the world, but there are a couple of things that I want to get to.

But first, General Petraeus, we were very pleased to have you stop by Georgia on your way from Baghdad to Washington and to visit Fort Benning over the weekend and to see the next generation of Petraeus qualify as -- airborne qualified as he graduated from jump school. And I know you're just as proud of Stephen as he is of his dad. So, congratulations to you there.

Let me -- one other thing I want to say to you, General. I get a lot of e-mails from soldiers on the ground because of the fact I've been there so many times and we have so many soldiers from the 3rd ID at Fort Benning and Fort Stewart that are over there.

I got an e-mail back in January shortly after you were confirmed and went to Baghdad, and that e-mail was from a young soldier who had been on the ground for several months. And he said, "Senator, I just want you to know how refreshing it is to have new leadership on the ground in Iraq that is committed to winning this war." And he sent me a copy of a memo that you had sent out to all of your commanders in the field, and he highlighted one phrase in that memo, which said, "Be relentless in your pursuit of the enemy." And he said, "We haven't heard this before, and with General Petraeus here now, it has boosted the morale of the soldiers on the ground like I've never seen." So that's a great compliment to you, and it is the kind of leadership that we need if in fact we are going to prevail.

I want to go back to what Senator Lieberman was talking about with this issue regarding Iran. We know that the Iranian influence is strong, particularly in the southern part of Iraq. We know that there are EFPs being manufactured in Iran or perhaps the parts being shipped from Iran into Iraq and manufactured. The EFPs are more deadly than the IEDs, so we know the Iranians are having a significant influence on American's lives.

What are we doing, Ambassador Crocker, from the diplomatic standpoint with the fact that -- you have already said in response to Senator Lieberman -- that you didn't get much in the way of a positive reaction on the other side? From a diplomatic standpoint, is our discussion with the Iranians dead? Are we pursuing it any further, or does it even merit pursuing it any further?

AMB. CROCKER: Senator, I think that it's an option that we want to preserve. Our first couple of rounds did not produce anything. I don't think that we should either, therefore, be in a big hurry to have another round, nor do I think we should say we're not going to talk anymore. Things have strange ways of developing out in that part of the world, and it may be, for example, that in the wake of the pronouncement by Muqtada Sadr a week or so ago calling on the Jaish al-Mahdi to stand down in operations against both Iraqi and coalition forces, after the negative reaction that Sadr and the Jaish al-Mahdi received because of their violence in Karbala during a religious festival, it could be that that could lead to some recalculations in Tehran. I don't know. But I think we want to see how this plays out and see again whether the Iranians are ready to make another calculation of where their interests really lie because I would submit that for Iran, which -- whose people suffered more than anyone else from Saddam, except the Iraqis themselves, that a stable, secure Iraq that doesn't threaten its neighbors is in their long-term interest.

What we'll see if they get to that calculation -- I have absolutely no assurance that they will or not even very much confidence, but I do believe it's important to keep the option for further discussions on the table.

SEN. CHAMBLISS: General Petraeus, what about from a military standpoint? Obviously, there's a very long border between Iran and Iraq. What action are we moving on to try to make sure that we slow down the shipment of arms from the Iranians to the Iraqis?

GEN. PETRAEUS: First of all, Senator, we have conducted a number of operations against individuals connected with the EFP shipment process. In fact, we captured the Iraqi head of the Sheibani Network as it's called. That is one of the major arms smuggling networks. A number of others along the way -- in fact, we just picked up a large EFP cache in the last 24 to 36 hours. In addition, obviously, we're focusing a good deal of intelligence on this.

And we are working very closely with the Iraqi security forces and now the Georgian Brigade -- the country of Georgia, not to be confused with your great home state but the country of Georgia, that has just deployed a brigade into Iraq, very keen to operate outside the wire. And it is going to work hard to interdict and disrupt the flow of weapons and other assistance from Iran. They're in a very strategic location in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, astride the road that comes up from Maysan and also in from the border crossing that is to the east of Kut. And that, we believe, can have a positive effect as well and very much thicken and reinforce the actions of the Iraqis in that area.

SEN. CHAMBLISS: Is there any consideration being given to establishing a larger military presence in the form of some sort of small base on the border?

GEN. PETRAEUS: Sir, there's actually a very large base already at Kut. It's a base that had been used by the Multinational Division Center South. And that is in fact where the Georgian Brigade has deployed. And we do have -- we have a small U.S. headquarters there that works with them as well, provincial reconstruction team standing up, and then some border transition teams also working out of that location. We may well put a patrol base or a combat outpost just to the west of the border crossing in that area as well, to assist and to get eyes on really what is being done at that border entry point.

SEN. CHAMBLISS: Well, my time is up. But I thank both of you again for being very straightforward and honest in your assessment as well as your presentation over the last two days.

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