WEBVTT

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I would like to give you the facts as

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as I know it as the commander of

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multinational division Baghdad and

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appreciate the opportunity to address

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the activities that occurred last night .

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Uh and what I'm going to give you are

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the facts that I know and what I know

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as true . Uh and put this into context

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for you . Uh yesterday at approximately

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6:10 p . m . in Baghdad

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uh Iraqi forces conducted a

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intelligence based operation . Iraqi

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led uh operation in Northeast Baghdad

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to uh capture or detain a terrorist

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organization , terrorist cell uh

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responsible for kidnapping , execution ,

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torturing and an I . E . D . Activities .

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Uh The only U . S . Involvement was

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advisors with the Iraqi unit . And

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the the other purpose of the operation

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was to free a hostage that the Iraqi

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intelligence that had uh the Iraqi

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uh intelligence had told this Iraqi

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unit uh that was being held .

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As the operation got

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underway , they entered the target area

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approximately 1810 as I said to seven

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out of the cordon as they moved in to

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establish a cordon . The unit was

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immediately engaged with small arms

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fire uh and machine gun fire from about

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three surrounding sides of the target

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area uh while

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maintaining an outer perimeter around

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the buildings . The Iraqi soldiers uh

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to clear and secure the compound . Uh

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They were met with a with intense fire

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and uh this is a well trained unit and

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they continue to assault through this

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fire and went in the compound and they

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were able to locate the hostage , they

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freed the hostage that had been taken

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earlier in the day was a dental

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technician uh worked for the Ministry

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of Health . Uh and he was told that

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his family uh would be uh Required to

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give $20,000 in ransom money or he

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would be shot and killed . He was shown

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his uh daughter's

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picture and says if you want to see her

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again you'll pay this money . Uh the

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terrorist told him this is his

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accounting of the story that that they

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were going to take drugs in return and

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they would kill him . So this unit ,

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the Iraqi unit uh assaulted the

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target area and they were able to free

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the target and subsequently they Killed

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a 16 tourists . There were three of the

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terrorists wounded uh which they helped

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treat and administer first aid to and

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then they detained another 18 . Now ,

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what's interesting about this , two of

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the detainees did uh that were

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detained , The hostage was able to do

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positive identification on two of the

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individuals that took uh the hostage .

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So what we have here is a cell

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uh terrorist operating uh

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continuing to uh terrorize and

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intimidate people through criminal

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activity . Uh throughout that , the

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soldiers were able to uh discovered

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approximately uh 32 ak 47 rifles ,

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five grenades , rocket propelled

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grenades , or before those two RPG

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launchers and two heavy machine guns .

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And I . D . Making material as I stated

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earlier . And these were crest uh brush

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switches that are used as initiators

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for I . D . S .

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Uh They

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subsequently took the detained

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individuals and the weapons uh decided

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that they would uh detonate the the

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weapons cache and two vehicles that

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have been taken and they destroyed

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those inside the compound . And then

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they expelled with the uh with the

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uh hostage and the detainees .

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And as they were leaving the compound

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on their expel route , they were met

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with intense fire again and turned

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around , had to take a uh another route

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out . So what you got here is an Iraqi

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security force that I believe is

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determined to stop this terrorist

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activity that's occurring in uh in

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Baghdad in order to support the rule of

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law . So can you confirm

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something for us ? Pleased . Obviously

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the key issue here from the Iraqi point

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of view is whether or not the US went

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into a market , did the Iraqi forces

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with the US trainers enter or

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attack a Mark ? Uh Laura , we

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do not attack mosque . Uh There are

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over 1200 mosque there in Baghdad . We

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know where all those are and the Iraqi

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forces . Uh that internet target area

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has told us it was not a mosque . Uh

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There are two mosque , it or in the

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general vicinity . And I can show you

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on the map here if you'd be uh if

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you're interested in that and show you

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where the target area was associated

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with the mosque . If you can uh see the

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target area and two mosques .

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One of the mosque , a as you

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can see , it's about uh two blocks away .

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Uh that's to the west and

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then back to the northwest , there's

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another mosque approximately 4.5 5

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blocks away .

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And we have a very detailed of the

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burger process to enter the mosque

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uh General , okay , the maximum

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question in this attack is a building

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that's well known to cbs it is split .

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It used to be one building that split

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and it's been divided up into the

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dollar Party headquarters on one side

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and the mosque on the other and all the

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Iraqis know this building as such . Is

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it possible that um you didn't know

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that this was a mosque when us went in

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there with the Iraqi forces , as I

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stated earlier , when the Iraqi uh

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security forces arrived to set the

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outer court on , they were met with

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intense fire from three sides of the

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building . To include coming from the

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building that was in the target area .

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That has claimed to be a mosque . And

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at that point they have every right to

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defend themselves uh because that's

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hostile intent . And uh and I

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uh 100% sure that Iraqis acted

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uh quite appropriately uh at that

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point to stop the uh the small arms

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fire that was coming from that target

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area . Uh Well , the U . S . Spokesman

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in Baghdad said today that in our

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observation of the patient activities

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are going on . It's difficult for us to

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consider this a place of prayer . It

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wasn't identified by us a mosque , but

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we certainly recognize it as a

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community gathering center . I think

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this is frankly a matter of perception ,

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is that a concession that this may be a

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mosque to the Iraqis but not to the

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american ? I think every day we are uh

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involved in a in perception management

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here inside of Baghdad . But the fact

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of the matter is you've got a hostage

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that has been taken for ransom , You've

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got a sizable amount of weapons , a

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cachet I . D . Materials that are

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inside this target area . And

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uh and that does not uh wash

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with me as commander of multi national

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Division Baghdad as we look at the uh

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helping to support the the Iraqi

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government and Iraqi people on

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establishing rule of law inside of

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Baghdad . And can you count

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and feature of these men that were

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killed were Shiites and usually when

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the rules refers to terrorists in Iraq ,

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that's become synonymous with similar

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groups . So do you have any idea who

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these gunmen were ? We have been

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identified as members of Jaish al Mahdi ,

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a Shiite militiamen not normally

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associated with terrorism or certainly

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with the insurgency ? In our targeting

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process . We look at the criminal

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activity or the terrorist activity that

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is current in Baghdad and quite frankly

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we don't determine which sect , we just

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look at the nature of that target and

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uh like I say this was an Iraqi led

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operation . Iraqi intelligence uh

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based on uh the details that I told you

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earlier about the terrorists that were

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operating in this facility

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in general . Are you quite frustrated

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tonight by the way this is being

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portrayed in the media here and and the

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potential damage that this is done to

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us and Iraqi relations ? Well , you

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mentioned the Governor of Baghdad . I

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meet with him quite often . As a matter

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of fact , I was with the Governor of

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Baghdad yesterday as we stood up the

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provincial reconstruction team and we

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have worked very close together ,

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sharing security ideals on Baghdad . So

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uh I just know as we continue as as the

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Iraqi government continues to uh

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continue to provide a safe and secure

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environment . I think they're committed

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based on what I've seen in the amount

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of time I've been in here to enforce

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that rule of law and provide a safe and

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secure environment for all Iraqi people

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in order to protect him and prevent

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them from attacks and in this case

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prevent hostages from being taken for

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ransom . But it's the

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Governor of Baghdad . He's saying that

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he won't cooperate , he's ending on

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cooperation relations with the US . So

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what is your response to that ? I have

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not talked to the governor uh today ,

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but he has not contacted me and I feel

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optimistic about our relationship that

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we've established since we've been in

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here . And it's my belief that the

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Iraqi government uh will not tolerate

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acts of terrorism . And uh and

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they are clear about establishing the

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rule of law to provide a safe and

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secure environment before the Iraqi

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people . So there's

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such a huge difference between what

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many Iraq people saying publicly

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happened and what the U . S . Military

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is saying happened . What do you

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attribute that huge difference to it ?

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And what do you say to those Iraqi

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leaders who are accusing us forces of

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going into the mosque and executing

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unarmed worshippers ? Well , first off ,

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we did not go into the mosque and

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execute unarmed worshippers . As I

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stated , we were fired on uh uh the

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Iraqi security forces required on as

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they entered the on the outside of the

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compound on the road uh leading up to

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the target area . Uh So at

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that point , you have hostile intent in

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my opinion , uh with intent to

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kill our harm the Iraqi security forces

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and we have every right to protect

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yourself in this environment . And uh

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and I think it's a a

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misuse of the facts and what I'm

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telling you tonight , are the facts as

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I know him as a commander of

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multinational Baghdad , who have barely

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reviewed what happened uh with this

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particular incident