WEBVTT 00:01.800 --> 00:03.958 - [Interviewer] Mr. Dorrian with regard to al-Raqqah battle, 00:03.958 --> 00:05.952 is it going according what you have planned for 00:05.952 --> 00:07.786 and how do you evaluate what is going on 00:07.786 --> 00:10.703 from arrangements and preparedness? 00:13.462 --> 00:17.527 - Well the Iraqi Security Forces have done a great job. 00:17.527 --> 00:21.694 Their aggressive moves against the city of Mosul in order 00:22.081 --> 00:25.697 to liberate it are going very much according to plan. 00:25.697 --> 00:27.979 They've been able to move against the city, 00:27.979 --> 00:31.062 against Daesh, on all axes of advance 00:31.069 --> 00:34.351 and Daesh has had no answer for their movements. 00:34.351 --> 00:36.120 We've been able to drop more 00:36.120 --> 00:38.953 than 3,700 bombs on Daesh targets. 00:41.096 --> 00:43.179 This is their fighters, their fighting positions, 00:43.179 --> 00:45.510 their weapons caches, tunnels, 00:45.510 --> 00:48.216 and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. 00:48.216 --> 00:51.672 All in an effort to prepare the way for the Iraqis 00:51.672 --> 00:55.255 to be able tomove in and liberate the city. 01:00.839 --> 01:03.724 - [Interviewer] Mr. Dorrian, with regard to your allies, 01:03.724 --> 01:06.002 the Syrian Democratic Forces, 01:06.002 --> 01:08.117 there are accusations against them with 01:08.117 --> 01:10.437 regard to the ethnic cleansing. 01:10.437 --> 01:13.937 Don't you fear from such type of problems? 01:15.701 --> 01:18.094 - Well the Syrian Democratic Forces have proven 01:18.094 --> 01:21.020 that they are capable of defeating Daesh. 01:21.020 --> 01:23.437 They defeated them in Manbij, 01:24.155 --> 01:25.707 and they have defeated them and pushed them out 01:25.707 --> 01:29.784 of 75 different villages in the northern area of Syria. 01:29.784 --> 01:31.561 We work very closely with them 01:31.561 --> 01:35.021 and we've not seen any evidence of any types of abuses. 01:35.021 --> 01:37.797 We have seen evidence that they can push Daesh 01:37.797 --> 01:41.589 out of any area that they try to push them out of. 01:41.589 --> 01:43.791 And we're also conducting strikes in order 01:43.791 --> 01:46.458 to help them with their advance. 01:54.356 --> 01:56.930 - [Interviewer] Mr. Dorrian this battle, 01:56.930 --> 01:59.430 there are some reports by CNN, 02:00.615 --> 02:04.782 spoke about American talks corroboration on long term. 02:05.385 --> 02:07.968 Whether these are true exactly? 02:11.372 --> 02:15.039 - Well the reports that you're talking about 02:15.131 --> 02:17.419 are a direct result of negotiations 02:17.419 --> 02:20.434 and discussions between our Secretary of Defense, 02:20.434 --> 02:22.841 our Chairman of our Joint Chiefs of Staff, 02:22.841 --> 02:25.508 and the partners and our allies. 02:25.738 --> 02:27.572 And this is something that we're going to continue, 02:27.572 --> 02:31.739 because all of us have a common interest in defeating Daesh. 02:31.933 --> 02:33.558 We're going to work with our partners, 02:33.558 --> 02:36.369 the Syrian Democratic Forces and the local forces there, 02:36.369 --> 02:40.536 the Syrian Arab Coalition, in order to isolate Raqqah. 02:41.649 --> 02:45.816 But this doesn't preclude other nations from assisting. 02:47.340 --> 02:49.168 And we have a big tent. 02:49.168 --> 02:52.168 We welcome the support of our allies 02:52.563 --> 02:56.063 in order to liberate that city from Daesh. 03:01.797 --> 03:05.059 - [Interviewer] Colonel Dorrian, the allies, the coalition, 03:05.059 --> 03:08.597 said that they killed mistakenly 119 civilians. 03:08.597 --> 03:11.930 Sources spoke about bigger figures even. 03:12.220 --> 03:16.387 What is the plan of the coalition to not hurt the civilians? 03:19.817 --> 03:22.650 - Well what you're referring to is 03:23.485 --> 03:27.040 the results of investigations that we've done 03:27.040 --> 03:30.386 in order to be transparent about our airstrikes 03:30.386 --> 03:32.192 and the manner in which they're conducted. 03:32.192 --> 03:36.359 What we do is use nothing but precision munitions, 03:36.430 --> 03:38.397 and then we try to verify the targets, 03:38.397 --> 03:41.526 working closely with our partners on the ground, 03:41.526 --> 03:44.049 In Iraq that's the Iraqi Security Forces, 03:44.049 --> 03:47.451 In Syria that's the Syrian Democratic Forces, 03:47.451 --> 03:50.484 in order to verify targets and be very careful. 03:50.484 --> 03:52.319 Nevertheless, there are instances 03:52.319 --> 03:54.926 where unfortunately civilians are harmed, 03:54.926 --> 03:57.509 but we pursued this in order to 03:57.647 --> 04:00.064 protect civilians from Daesh. 04:01.715 --> 04:04.852 Daesh has pushed hundreds of thousands 04:04.852 --> 04:06.616 of people out of their homes. 04:06.616 --> 04:09.302 They've killed tens of thousands of people. 04:09.302 --> 04:11.251 And what we've done is we work very closely 04:11.251 --> 04:14.634 with our partners in order to try to defeat Daesh. 04:14.634 --> 04:16.787 Unfortunately, we're not perfect. 04:16.787 --> 04:20.365 But when we have problems or any types of mistakes that 04:20.365 --> 04:23.132 would harm a civilian we investigate this 04:23.132 --> 04:25.812 and then we're transparent about the results. 04:25.812 --> 04:28.607 That's a key part, a key principle, 04:28.607 --> 04:31.940 of the manner in which we conduct these. 04:36.005 --> 04:39.747 - [Interviewer] Colonel, how long will it take? 04:39.747 --> 04:41.747 The Battle of al-Raqqah? 04:44.586 --> 04:46.375 - It's very difficult to say how 04:46.375 --> 04:48.936 long it will take to liberate Raqqah. 04:48.936 --> 04:53.103 Daesh have been in that city for about two years now. 04:53.539 --> 04:55.511 And it's going to take a very difficult 04:55.511 --> 04:57.506 battle in order to push them out. 04:57.506 --> 05:01.673 What we will do is we'll arm and equip, and train, 05:02.394 --> 05:04.977 our Syrian Democratic partners, 05:06.148 --> 05:08.711 and we will work with our allies, 05:08.711 --> 05:11.151 and we will conduct our strikes, 05:11.151 --> 05:14.242 this is air strikes and artillery and rocket strikes, 05:14.242 --> 05:18.306 in order to eliminate Daesh targets all along the way. 05:18.306 --> 05:19.488 It'll be very tough fighting. 05:19.488 --> 05:21.075 It may take a number of months 05:21.075 --> 05:22.993 in order to liberate that city. 05:22.993 --> 05:25.076 But ultimately that city, 05:25.395 --> 05:27.760 which Daesh consider their capital, 05:27.760 --> 05:31.760 it will be taken away from them by our partners. 05:32.034 --> 05:36.201 And we will be there to assist them every step of the way. 05:41.877 --> 05:43.280 - [Interviewer] Dorrian, Colonel, 05:43.280 --> 05:46.197 to speak about the Battle of Mosul, 05:47.033 --> 05:51.200 how do you evaluate what you have been achieving on earth 05:51.638 --> 05:54.008 by the international coalition forces 05:54.008 --> 05:56.175 and the supporting forces? 06:00.191 --> 06:04.273 - Well we've been able to assist the Iraqi Security Forces 06:04.273 --> 06:07.489 to move forward on every axis of advance. 06:07.489 --> 06:11.656 And we've dropped more than 3,700 bombs and missiles 06:13.356 --> 06:17.397 and artillery shells and rockets on Daesh targets 06:17.397 --> 06:20.338 in order to assist the Iraqis as they advance. 06:20.338 --> 06:23.187 The Iraqis have said all along they've been planning 06:23.187 --> 06:25.708 a very long time for this battle. 06:25.708 --> 06:27.984 That the protection of civilian life 06:27.984 --> 06:30.303 is their number one priority, 06:30.303 --> 06:33.436 and so they have conducted the battle in a manner that 06:33.436 --> 06:36.811 is very careful to protect civilian life. 06:36.811 --> 06:38.978 And we have followed suit, 06:39.314 --> 06:42.397 using our strikes with precision only 06:42.574 --> 06:45.717 in order to take out these targets from Daesh. 06:45.717 --> 06:47.585 And this has resulted in hundreds 06:47.585 --> 06:49.780 of Daesh fighters being killed. 06:49.780 --> 06:53.363 Their fighting positions have been removed. 06:53.603 --> 06:56.186 We've hit more than 50 of their 06:56.244 --> 06:59.456 vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. 06:59.456 --> 07:02.301 And we've destroyed seventy-seven of the tunnels 07:02.301 --> 07:05.134 that Daesh has dug below the city. 07:10.245 --> 07:12.969 - [Interviewer] Thank you Colonel John Dorrian, 07:12.969 --> 07:16.225 the international coalition forces spokesman. 07:16.225 --> 07:18.808 Again it's the ISIL. Thank you. 07:21.765 --> 07:23.682 - Thanks for having me. 07:27.557 --> 07:28.953 - [Interviewer] Thank you very much sir.