WEBVTT

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and joining us now from Tikrit north of

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Baghdad , the commander of US and

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multinational forces in the northern

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part of Iraq and Major General ,

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Benjamin Mixon , General . Thanks very

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much for joining us . Um I wonder if if

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you could comment on that story that

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appeared in the new york times this

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week , that The US military basically

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working under the assumption that the

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troop level is probably going to have

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to be sustained at the current level

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through 2009 . Is that the assumption

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that you as a commander on the ground

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are working under ? Well , those plans

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were being worked by General Petraeus

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and his staff . But as I look at my

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area , I certainly can see that we will

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need some level of troop presence .

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Well , in the 2009 the numbers will

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depend on the situation , how many

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troops are under your direct command

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north of Baghdad all the way up to the

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Turkish border . Right now , I have

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about 23,000 coalition forces under my

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command . And you think that to

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maintain the current level of security ,

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you're going to need basically that

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number for the foreseeable future ?

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Well , I don't think that I will need

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that number into the latter part of

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2008 , the security situation has

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improved in none of the province . We

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see some increasing uh enhancements of

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security forces on the Iraqi side and

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other provinces . So as the situation

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develops , I can see that in certain

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provinces , we might be able to reduce

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those forces . It could be available

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for other portions of of Iraq or it

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could be worked into a normal drawdown ?

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Those decisions will be made outside of

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my level of command ? You've got to

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none of the province . I believe . You

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also have the Diyala province under

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your command , which has been one of

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the most violent in recent months .

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Have you seen any any discernible

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improvement in the Diyala province

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where the sectarian violence has been

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brutal ? Yes , Wolf , significant

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province over the last 30 days ,

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Operation Arrowhead ripper . Uh we have

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taken baqouba back from the enemy . Uh

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we have pushed them into the Diyala

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River Valley and are continuing to

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attack them throughout the Diyala River

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Valley . Uh As recently as today , we

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had a significant meeting with over 100

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Sunni and Shia sheikhs in Diyala and

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got agreements with them to fight Al

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Qaeda . We're seeing essential ,

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returned to baquba . We have a long way

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to go , but we are seeing significant

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progress in Diyala . Is it the main

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problem you have the Al Qaeda in Iraq

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element or is it the sectarian violence ,

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the Shiite militias , the Sunni

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militias who are really going after

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each other . What's the big , the

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biggest problem you face ? It is Al

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Qaeda in Iraq which is exclusively

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seeing based and it is principally uh

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Iraqis with a very small number of

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foreigners that are leading in this ,

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leading the Iraqis that are

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participating in the insurgency . Are

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you doing in your area ? What's being

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done elsewhere , namely strengthening

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some of the Sunni warlords or those ,

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those uh those shapes who are promising

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to go after Al Qaeda , even though some

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of the Shiite leaders are very nervous

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about that . They're worried that

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you're simply strengthening their

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potential Sunni enemy . I am not

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allowed to arm uh any of this

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particular group but we do work with

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the shapes uh to gather information

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from them is to enemy locations And

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that alone is very powerful uh in our

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ability to deal with locate and then to

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kill the enemy . How confident are you ?

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How much confidence do you have in

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these guys ? Well , I will tell you

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that in some of them I have a great

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deal of confidence uh but I'm not going

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to be Pollyannaish about this . I know

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there are other issues that they are

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working uh so we will work with him as

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long as they cooperate with us and as

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long as they support the central

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government of Iraq General Mixon . Good

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luck over there . Good luck ! All the

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men and women you command . We know you

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have a tough assignment . Thanks very

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much for coming into the situation room .

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Well , thanks for having me to come in

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wolf . Good luck to you