Marine Corps News Room

http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2006/tr20060614-13251.html

Presenter: Deputy Director for Regional Operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Brig. Gen. Carter ham
June 14, 2006

GEN. HAM: Well, first, to the second part of your question. Each and every loss is felt hard by our nation, by the unit from which those individuals come, and certainly mostly by their families. I don't know that there's ever a way that you can adequately thank a family for the sacrifice that they make in the loss of a loved one. It's the hardest -- it's the hardest thing I think any of us ever have to go through when we experience those kinds of losses. Yet it's important to remember that there is -- there is a mission and there is a greater good which sometimes necessitates tremendous sacrifice. And the fact that we have had in our nation -- and in many other nations -- young men and women who have stepped forward, fully knowing the consequences of their action, to serve their nations in this time of war, to help the people of Iraq, to help the people of Afghanistan restore order, to establish legitimate governments, representative governments I think speaks volumes about this generation of young people.

So I guess I would say rather than focus on an aggregate number, I think it's more important for us to remember that there are individuals in that aggregate number. And those individuals are those to whom we should be very, very grateful, and to their families.

To Ramadi. I've said up here the past couple times that Ramadi is probably the most contentious city in Iraq, and I think it continues to be that way. It is ultimately the responsibility of the Iraqis to decide how they want to deal with reestablishing order and security in Ramadi. And we believe that they are, in fact, doing that.

We have a significant role in helping them do that with our own military forces and our forces that operate as embedded trainers and in other ways to support the Iraqi security forces.

I think those who are looking for perhaps a large-scale offensive may be somewhat off the mark. And I think what we will see increasingly is the Iraqis finding ways to increasingly establish the presence of Iraqi security forces, and we'll help them do that in any way that we can.

Q Can I just follow up on that quickly?

GEN. HAM: Sure.

Q Back in October, the Marines put out a statement -- they were handling what was called Operation Doctor back then, handing out medical supplies. And the statement at that time said of Ramadi, "Signs are pointing to a city that is ready for change." It also said Iraqi army and police units were preparing to take to the streets.

And I'm wondering, over the past eight months, what has happened in Ramadi? Has was it allowed to deteriorate? Is it a question of these Iraqi units weren't ready to take responsibility? Or is it a question of not enough U.S. forces where you pushed the insurgents out of Fallujah, they went to Ramadi, and you just couldn't cover all those areas? Essentially, what happened to Ramadi?

GEN. HAM: Well, I think there's a number of issues. And as much as we'd like to say it was "this," it's a combination of a number of effects. One of them -- and I think perhaps the most significant -- is -- I believe it's important to remember that al Qaeda in Iraq, other insurgent organizations, and those other entities that are opposed to the progress that is occurring in Iraq, I think they see that there is a limited window in which they can operate. And Ramadi may be an example of that, where there was progress that was being noted. And it may be the reason that we are where we are today is that al Qaeda in Iraq, and others, made a very, very concerted effort through campaigns of intimidation, murder, and other threats, to try to prevent the progress that you talked about in terms of security and other governmental functions. And so there is a contest there, and it's ongoing, and it's going to be a tough one. It's more than just military; there's obviously a reconstruction, and a humanitarian and governmental aspects to all of this. And certainly the U.S. military has a role in helping the Iraqis be successful, and we'll certainly do that.

Q But there was progress being noted there at the time. Why couldn't you capitalize on that? And why were the insurgents allowed to basically, you know, pull that back and --

GEN. HAM: I don't know. I mean, certainly we'd like to see -- you know, we'd like to see uninterrupted progress in all areas. But I think the nature of this conflict, the nature of insurgency is sometimes there are ups and downs, there are fluctuations in areas where you're able to have success, and sometimes it's two steps forward, one step back. And we've got to keep wrestling with it.