WEBVTT

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launchers that were concealed near

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civilian hospitals . And they have they

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have certainly seen

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uh these terrorists

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and criminals conducting attacks from

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civilian neighborhoods where they

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indiscriminately put the people in

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those neighborhoods at risk as a result

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of their actions . And so these are

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activities we've seen is the nature of

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this enemy that Iraqi and coalition

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forces are engaged in . And we will

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continue to adapt as we see them uh

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seeking to change their tactics so that

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we can protect the citizens of Iraq

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from from these , from these uh these

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people district .

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We

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uh Ryan

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newspaper . I have questions to their

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burger regarding gathering the

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intelligence . We can see some of the

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balloons uh in Baghdad especially

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academy . And my question is about

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yesterday events . We know

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that there are cameras and the streets .

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Uh do you think that the technology was

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able to gather information on those

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balloons to monitor the movements of

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those special groups ? Especially about

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what happened yesterday ? Okay .

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The question to question

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general bash one about the operations

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and the strategic operations by the

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Iraqi Air Force . Uh do they

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control are still under the control of

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the coalition forces ? Or do they

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receive instructions from the M . O . D .

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To carry out the project the carry out

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operations , let's say in mason of

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basra , do they receive instructions

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from the coalition forces or from the

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Iraqi Ministry of Defense ? Uh are

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there any casualties in 2000 and eight

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regarding the Iraqi Air force uh

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regarding in training or casualties are

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in combat operations . First time ? We

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point out that the coalition and Iraqi

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security forces um , draw from a range

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of intelligence uh , sources and

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intelligence methods . Um , certainly

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we have surveillance capabilities .

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Certainly , we also rely on human

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intelligence and we also rely on the

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full range of other intelligence

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capabilities uh , to help understand

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what might have happened and who was

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potentially involved in those in those

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attacks . And so when we when we talk

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about why we know something or how we

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know certain things , um , we rely on

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the uh , the full range of

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those capabilities to be assembled

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together so that we're not depending on

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just one source as the basis of that

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information . And you can be assured

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that we do rely on each of those kinds

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of sources before we would make an

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assessment as to who was involved or

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exactly what took place . Um , uh ,

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we also would want to exploit that

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intelligence and take every advantage

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possible to locate the perpetrators

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before we talked in detail about how we

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knew something or what led us to

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certain actions . We would want to make

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sure that we had the best opportunity

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to work with the Iraqi government to

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help bring those involved to justice .

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And so we would not want to uh discuss

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that prematurely Shukran Museum . Uh ,

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we've got regard to your second

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question first as to whether there's

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any casualties this year for the Iraqi

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Air Force , unfortunately , back in the

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late february we lost in my 17 on a

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training mission . Uh and again , I'll

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express my condolences for the loss of

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both the Iraqi service members and the

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coalition member that was on board that

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aircraft since that time . The crash

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has been investigated . Uh and we've

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determined the causes and help the

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Iraqis Institute changes , safety

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changes and procedural changes so that

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we can avoid any future accidents

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similar to that one uh with regard to

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operations , Iraqi operations today and

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under whose control they are clearly uh

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they are under the control of the Iraqi

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leadership . Uh in many , many cases ,

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the Ministry of Defense and the

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Minister of Defense and General Kemal ,

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the Commander of the Iraqi Air Force is

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directing his forces on a daily hourly

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basis . They submit uh information for

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the air tasking order which directs

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their forces uh securing a good example ,

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during the early part of the Bosnia

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operation . Uh General Kemal directed

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his helicopters to leave podgy and fly

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down to bahsrah within eight hours .

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They were in place in Bosnia and there

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was absolutely no coalition involvement

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uh in in any of that direction . Uh

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Similarly , in Sadr City and today , in

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Mosul , they're conducting operations

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without any coalition members on board .

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And the direction is coming from Iraqi

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leadership . It's time for one more

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question . Yes , sir .

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Uh

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huh . General Bergner , your opinion .

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Why do you think we have the explosions ,

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Why those explosions returned to

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Baghdad in such an hour .

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And now we are . The other question is

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now we have a security barriers ,

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concrete barriers and in Baghdad , they

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are being established again at the time

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that you're saying that there is an

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improvement uh at the security level .

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Uh , question to general bash , What

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is the scope of the Iraqi Air

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force ? Are there certain areas

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that they can work on

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or uh is it open so that the Iraqi Air

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force can use the Iraqi skies whenever

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they want to go ? Well , let me just do

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whatever they want to . Let me start by

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saying that we have said all along ,

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this is a this is a tough fight and

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it's one that we're going to have to

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continue to focus the collective

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efforts of Iraqi security forces with

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support from the coalition and most

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importantly , the support of the Iraqi

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citizens uh and denying these

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terrorists the capability to conduct

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the indiscriminate violence like we saw

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yesterday . Um uh while we have seen

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improvements overall uh in an improving

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trend , reducing the number of attacks

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like this uh yesterday is a grim

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reminder that this will require

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perseverance and it will require the

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continued great courage of the Iraqi

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people and the Iraqi security forces uh

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to stand up against this violence uh

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and not allow these terrorists to

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operate in any place in Baghdad . Uh

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and so that's what we are collectively

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committed to continuing to pursue . Uh

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and and there is progress even amidst

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terrible , terrible attack as we saw

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yesterday . Uh there is progress

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overall because of the improvements and

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Iraqi security forces and the

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increasing support that they are

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receiving and the coalition forces

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receive from the citizens of Iraq . And

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so we will press on uh and support the

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Iraqi people across the board . Uh

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further reducing the capability of the

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criminals terrorists to conduct those

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attacks uh with regard to

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Iraqi Air force operations and the

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extent of their operations that within

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the nation of Iraq uh today there is no

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restrictions on where Iraqi aircraft

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can fly on a weekly basis . We have

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literally hundreds of authorities find

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all around this nation providing

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transportation , helicopter lift uh and

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intelligence surveillance , uh

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reconnaissance over power lines and oil

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lines . Uh certainly there's a lot of

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coalition that got a lot of

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coordination that goes on with the

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coalition forces uh to ensure the

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safety and the deconfliction of those

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aircraft just as it would in any nation

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in the world . But there are no

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restrictions for where they can find .

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I want to just close by saying thank

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you . General bash not just for joining

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us here today , but for what he and the

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rest of the Air force team that he

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commands are doing to work so closely

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the Journal Kamal and the Iraqi Air

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Force as it continues to develop his

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own capabilities . So brooks , thanks

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very much for being with us and thanks

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for what you're doing with all of our

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Iraqi partners , Ma Salama