Panetta Praises U.S.-Turkish Alliance, Pledges More Support

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta delivered keynote remarks during the 31st Annual American Turkish Council Conference dinner here last night reaffirming the U.S.-Turkish alliance and pledging further support for shared security goals.

“As some of you may know, I’ve just returned … from a nine-day trip to the Asia-Pacific region,” Panetta said. “The main purpose of it was to explain the new defense strategy … to our allies and to our partners throughout the region. In many ways, my appearance here tonight continues that mission.”

The defense secretary reflected on the “historic” U.S.-Turkey alliance, and noted 2012 marks 60 years since Turkey joined NATO.

Through this alliance, and a bilateral military relationship, Turkey and the U.S. have built “strong cooperation and connections” across their armed services, Panetta said.

“Our troops fought alongside each other in the Korean War, our troops helped stem the bloodshed in the Balkans, and they worked together to protect the Libyan people as they stood up to a brutal dictator,” Panetta noted.

“Just as critically, Turkey continues to make vital contributions in Afghanistan, where more than 1,200 Turkish forces are currently deployed,” he said. “We deeply appreciate the determination and resolve of the Turkish people to assist the international military effort, even in the face of the challenges that we have to confront, and even in the face of tragedy.”

Panetta said he was “deeply saddened” by news of a March 16 Turkish helicopter crash in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed 12 Turkish soldiers.

“In the aftermath of that tragedy, Turkey stayed focused on the mission,” he said. “In the lead-up to the Chicago Summit, Turkey played a leading role within NATO to ensure that we affirmed our enduring commitment to the security and stability of Afghanistan.”

“Just as Turkey has shared in the effort to deny al-Qaida and its militant allies safe haven in Afghanistan, the United States has expressed its strong solidarity in Turkey with their fight against the PKK,” he said.

Panetta assured attendees his discussions with his Turkish counterparts have been clear in the commitment to continue helping Turkey counter the PKK “threat.” The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the PKK, is a terrorist group that has been fighting the Turkish government since 1984.

“I’ve reiterated, obviously, our long-term view, that military force, alone, while important, cannot solve this problem,” Panetta said. “There should be a political process involved as well. But let me be clear -- so long as the PKK threatens Turkey and threatens its people, we will continue to provide Turkey with the capabilities needed to counter that threat.”

“Our shared commitment to these efforts reflects our shared aspiration for a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for our children, and our shared values as two democracies,” he said.

Panetta said as some threats recede, more arise such as violent extremism, destabilizing behavior from Iran and North Korea, rising powers in the Asia-Pacific region, turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, and challenges in the cyber domain.

Panetta said as the U.S. deals with these challenges and fiscal pressures requiring nearly half a trillion dollars in budget cuts over a decade, the Defense Department is putting forth a new defense strategy.

“[This] strategy recognizes ‘yes’ we’re going to be smaller, we’ll be leaner, but we have to be agile, we have to be flexible, we have to be quickly deployable, we have to be on the cutting edge of technology for the future,” he said. “We recognize that the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East are where the most pressing security challenges lie, and we must increase our focus on these key areas.”

Panetta said the strategy recognizes the need to maintain a U.S. presence throughout the world with “innovative rotational deployments that emphasize alliances” and new partnerships, and investments in the realms of cyberspace, unmanned systems, special operations forces, and the ability to mobilize quickly.

The defense secretary noted as part of this effort, the U.S. also wants to encourage nations like Turkey “whose values we share” to help advance peace and security in these regions.

“As part of a shared vision for security and stability in the Middle East, the United States strongly supports Turkey's growing and vital leadership role as a prosperous, democratic nation that is an anchor of security, and an engine of growth for the region's economy,” Panetta said.

“Together, Turkey and the United States are working closely to support the historic wave of democratic change that is sweeping the Middle East and North Africa,” he added.

Turkey and the United States, Panetta said, are confronting nations blocking change and destabilizing behavior in the region such as Syria and Iran.

The defense secretary said the U.S. and Turkey will continue to work together with the international community to bring pressure on Syria and Iran, because “there is no silver bullet here.”

“We are more effective in achieving that objective when the international community stands together as one,” Panetta said.

Panetta also stated he believes Turkey has an important leadership role in solving future security challenges as part of NATO Force 2020.

Through the decades, Panetta said, the partnership between the American and Turkish people has grown stronger, and the two nations have been made stronger and more prosperous because of it.

The challenges and threats both nations face today are complex, dangerous, and destabilizing, he said.

“But our two nations understand that in that kind of world, nations that have common values and are not afraid to lead will prevail,” Panetta said.

Much Improved Iraq Enjoys Liberty, U.S. Commander Says

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2011 – American forces’ efforts in Iraq “have given the people of Iraq a huge gift” through the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a democratic society, a senior U.S. commander said today.

“We have given them freedom and liberty that they've never known, and we have given them the potential to have a democracy in this part of the world … where it would be a unique institution,” Army Maj. Gen. David G. Perkins, commander of U.S. Division-North and the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division, told Pentagon reporters via video teleconference from his headquarters in Tikrit.

U.S. military forces are slated to depart Iraq by the end of the year. Iraq has experienced significant improvements, although some problems remain to be solved, the general said.

Operation Iraqi Freedom, launched in March 2003, ended the regime of the ruthless Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Iraqi Freedom transitioned to Operation New Dawn in September 2010, marking the shift from combat operations to training, equipping and assisting Iraqi forces. Perkins’ division has led those efforts in the northern provinces of Nineveh, Kirkuk and Diyala since last October.

The 4th was involved in the first troop rotation to Iraq and is now completing its fourth deployment, the general said, adding that every tour there has had unique aspects.

The advise, train and assist mission also has involved transitioning operations, operating areas and bases to Iraqi forces, Perkins said.

Those forces, he noted, now lead their own internal security operations and are focusing much of their training on the military’s traditional mission of defending against external threats.

Iraqi and Kurdish forces now share bilateral responsibility for 22 formerly trilateral checkpoints along disputed territory in northern Iraq, Perkins said, as U.S. forces have pulled back into an overwatch role.

No violence has occurred at any of those checkpoints since U.S. forces withdrew from daily presence, the general said, noting arbitration mechanisms are in place to manage any disputes, the general said.

“At the very senior level of this mechanism, we will have State Department people engaged as well as Office of Security Cooperation-Iraq people engaged, but it's at a much lower level as far as number of people than we had when I first got here,” Perkins said.

Iraqi forces also take the lead against al-Qaida activity in the north, which has long been a main operating and fund-raising area for the group as well as a primary entry point into the region for foreign fighters, he said.

“We've seen a dramatic drop-off in the foreign fighter flow coming into Iraq … [and] instead of foreign aid coming in large amounts, they're resorting to what I would call extortion, black marketing, robbery of jewelry stores, things like that,” Perkins said.

“We are now seeing intra-al-Qaida fighting and disputes [in] the organization itself about how money is distributed,” he added.

Perkins credited al-Qaida’s decline in Iraq to the capabilities and persistence of the country’s soldiers and police.

“They generally are on the pointy end of the spear here going after these folks,” Perkins said of the antiterrorism efforts conducted by Iraq’s security forces “And then when they do that, they are getting much better at getting their own internal intelligence, turning it around and going after the networks.”

The al-Qaida network in northern Iraq is not ineffective, but it has been “highly degraded,” the general said.

“We see now more vehicle-borne explosive devices that are parked and detonated versus being driven and detonated, which means they're having a hard time getting people who are true believers to actually be the suicide folks,” he said.

Perkins said Iranian-backed attacks in the north also have declined recently under pressure from Iraqi security forces.

“But, again, we know that capacity is there, so we keep those pressures on those networks,” he said, adding that historically, most Iranian-backed attacks happen in Baghdad and the southern part of Iraq.

Iraqi forces must be self-sustainable to maintain pressure on criminal and terrorist networks without U.S. military support, Perkins noted.

“From day one, our intent was to build a sustainable capability that on the last day, we can walk away, and then the day after that, it continues,” he said.

In training Iraqi forces, his troops are now focused on the areas of intelligence fusion and logistics, he added.

“We've paid additional attention to developing a logistics system, a supply system and also an ability for them to share intelligence not only within their army but between their police and border organizations … because, again, fusing that intelligence allows them to get after threats both internal and external,” the general said.

Perkins said his troops have spent much time putting together doctrinal and instructional manuals and getting them translated to Arabic.

“After we leave, again, there is something that they can build on,” he said. “We also videotaped and recorded … infantry movements, all the basic kind of things so they can take a very immature force, recruits, show them what right looks like and then move forward on it.”

Iraq’s defense capability will increase with its recently announced purchase of 18 F-16 fighters, the general said.

“I think the significant part is that they have made that commitment to get 18 [fighters] initially, which means they are now going to have a modern air force,” Perkins said. “They're going to have pilot training; they're going to have to have a maintenance program … and then adding aircraft after that is much easier.”

That sort of capability-building already has taken place in the Iraqi intelligence-gathering community, Perkins said.

“They weren't asking for their own [intelligence and surveillance] platforms because they didn't even know they had them,” he said. “And so once we told them that they had them, once we showed them how to ask for them, then that became self-sustaining because they generated a demand signal which then had to be met by their institution.”

Over the past year U.S. forces in northern Iraq have decreased from around 10,000 in 38 bases to about 5,000 in 14 locations, Perkins said.

“We have tried to do it in a very deliberate manner, in going over in a very deliberate way how they are going to conduct security,” he said.

“We've been very pleased, I think, with their ability to stand up and not only control the base and equipment, but keep security under control here in the north,” he said.

The United States has invested “a lot of treasure, both human and financial” in Iraq, the general said.

“Each day we hand more and more of the responsibility off to the Iraqis … [and] they are grabbing hold of and running with it,” he said.

Iraq’s leaders will determine how successful their country will ultimately be, Perkins said.

“It is up to the [Iraqi] political leadership to make this thing work and do the kind of tough work, selfless service, to make those hard decisions that are for the benefit of their country to make sure that this is a viable democracy,” he said.

Commander Says Iraq Transition on Track

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – As the Dec. 31 departure date approaches for approximately 46,000 U.S. troops remaining in Iraq, Iraqi security forces in the north are prepared to manage internal security and external defense, a U.S. brigade commander posted in Iraq said today.

“It's not the end of something, it's the transition of something,” Army Col. Brian Winski, commander of 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, told Pentagon reporters today during a video briefing from U.S. Division North headquarters at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, near Tikrit.

Since the “Long Knife Brigade” deployed in September 2010, Winski has led the mission to advise, train and assist Iraqi security forces throughout Nineveh province and Mosul.

His forces’ main efforts over the year, the commander said, have been to transition former U.S. bases to Iraqi control, and help the Iraqi army rebuild combat skills that have languished over several years of employing police functions during counterinsurgency operations.

The training emphasized “the ability to conduct an attack and defense [and] employ combined arms, employ artillery, mortars and similar proficiencies that were not typically exercised over the last several years as the Iraqi army forces have been focused on internal security,” he said.

Winski’s brigade partnered with some 60,000 Iraqi security forces, including about 20,000 police, 35,000 soldiers and members of the federal police or a border enforcement brigade, the colonel said.

His troops also monitored Iraqi-Kurdish operations in 15 areas of mutual concern between the Kurdish regional government and the Iraqi central government, Winski said.

“[There is now] a long-term sustainable security solution implemented in all those areas, where the Iraqis and the Kurds are securing it bilaterally now … quite effectively,” he said.

His brigade’s soldiers are in the process of returning to Fort Hood, Texas, Winski said, and will be replaced with a smaller force that will remain focused on completing transition efforts.

Much of that work is complete or nearly so, Winski said.

“At about the midway point of our rotation, we were in 22 bases across the province,” he said, noting that most were in the combined Iraqi-Kurd areas.

“We transitioned all of those to the bilateral security arrangement,” he added.

The training mission for Iraqi forces has also largely shifted to an Iraqi lead, Winski said.

“We are now training and certifying and preparing Iraqi trainers to continue the training that we were doing over the course of this past year,” he said. “So where we had a substantial number of forces committed to training Iraqi army forces on those traditional army tasks I described, we're now assisting their trainers as they conduct that.”

Iraqi forces already are planning and conducting internal security operations with only minimal U.S. support, the colonel said.

He offered as an example an event this morning in Mosul, during which some 35 Iraqi prisoners charged with terrorism-related crimes tried to tunnel out of a detention facility.

“Almost immediately, the Iraqi security forces recaptured the majority of [the prisoners],” Winski said. “They know exactly who it is that's still at large … and [are] preparing to conduct operations to detain them when they surface, wherever that may be.”

U.S. assistance in the capture involved air surveillance via aerial reconnaissance assets and helicopters, he said. Meanwhile, the Iraqi security forces positioned their troops to contain the escapees’ movements and conducted “good, aggressive patrolling actions to pursue where these individuals have likely fled to or are hiding.”

Iraqi security forces are likewise leading the fight against insurgent activity, in many cases eliminating threat cells before they become active, the colonel said.

“Speaking to Nineveh alone, those Iraqi security force actions -- where they're finding and clearing caches, they're finding these [vehicle-borne bombs] before they're employed, they're identifying the enemy cells before they conduct the attacks -- the vast majority of those are unilateral Iraqi security force operations,” he said. “We assist with some intelligence. We assist with some advisory efforts. But that is enhancing. It's not a make-or-break type of assistance effort.”

Insurgent, criminal and extortion activities in the province are all connected, Winski said, and “are being dealt with … very effectively by the Iraqi security forces -- the federal police, the Iraqi army forces and their counterterrorism forces.”

While any extension of U.S. troop presence in Iraq is a policy matter for the Iraqi and U.S. governments to decide, Winski said, transition in his area of operations is proceeding smoothly and according to plan.

“I'm very confident that the Iraqi security forces will continue to prosecute very effective internal security operations,” he said. “I'm likewise confident that they have a foundation for an external defense and they, more importantly, have training systems that will endure past our departure [and they] will continue to build that foundation and capability for external defense.”

Situations Similar to Libya Unlikely, Gates Says

By John D. Banusiewicz

American Forces Press Service

MOSUL, Iraq, April 8, 2011 – It’s unlikely that a situation like the one in Libya would occur in another country, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told U.S. soldiers here today.

As part of a three-day visit to Iraq, Gates visited the 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Advise and Assist Brigade to thank the soldiers for their work in U.S. Division North mentoring Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

Before posing for a photo with each of the hundreds of soldiers present –- and handing each a commemorative coin with his personal thanks –- Gates fielded questions. One soldier asked whether the recent turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa could result in military action similar to the NATO-led effort under way in Libya.

The rate of the spread of unrest in the region is without historical precedent, the secretary noted.

“I was the deputy national security advisor when we went through the liberation of Eastern Europe in 1989, and that went from about February until December,” he said. “But this is all happening in like 10 weeks, and so I think our overall approach has to be that we support addressing these political and economic grievances. We believe that the demonstrations ought to be nonviolent, and the actions of the governments need to be nonviolent.”

Within those principles, Gates said, each country must be considered individually.

“And I think what has made Libya unique is, first of all, a request which is unprecedented in my experience -– which only goes back 45 years –- of the Arab League actually asking for an intervention in the Middle East to take on an Arab government mistreating its own people,” Gates said. “That was then supported by a resolution of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and then the U.N., and the demands, frankly, of our allies like Britain and France.

“So it’s hard for me to imagine those kinds of circumstances being replicated anyplace else,” he added.

After the troop visit, Gates had lunch with soldiers in their dining facility before leaving Iraq to continue his overseas trip in the United Arab Emirates. He visited Saudi Arabia earlier this week, continuing a series of recent visits to countries in the region.

Gates Wraps Up Iraq Visit, Arrives in UAE

By John D. Banusiewicz

American Forces Press Service

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, April 8, 2011 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates concluded a three-day visit to Iraq with two stops in the north today before flying here to meet with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nubayan.

The meeting with the crown prince, who is the deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates armed forces, was the latest in a series of visits Gates has made to Middle East leaders in recent weeks to exchange perspectives during a period of regional unrest.

Gates left Baghdad for northern Iraq this morning to meet in Irbil with President Masoud Barzani of the Kurdish regional government. He then traveled to Mosul where he spoke with soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Advise and Assist Brigade working in U.S. Division North.

The secretary thanked the soldiers for their work in mentoring Iraq and Kurdish forces. As the person who signed their deployment orders and those of all other service members sent into harm’s way, he added, his highest priority has been to get them what they need to complete their mission successfully and go home safely.

Noting that he was pleased to be able to offer his gratitude to them in person, Gates asked that the soldiers pass his personal thanks to their families the next time they email or call home.

“Their support is what makes it possible for you to do what you do,” the secretary said.

In a question-and-answer session, Gates said a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq beyond this year is possible if the Iraqi government wants it. An agreement between the two nations calls for all U.S. forces to be out of Iraq by Dec. 31. The secretary said he discussed the possibility of a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq with all of the Iraqi officials he met with this week.

“My basic message to them has been [that] if there is to be a presence to help them with some of the areas where they still need help, we’re open to that possibility,” he said. “But they have to ask, and time is running out in Washington, because we’ve got a lot going on around the world. And in terms of prioritizing and how we employ and deploy the force, we’ve got to make some decisions.”

Any presence beyond this year would be a fraction of the 47,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq today, Gates added, and would have to be worked out if Iraqi officials seek it. Whether it would be for a finite period or the long term and what kind of mission it would be would depend on what the Iraqis want and what the United States can provide and afford, he said.

Gates Visits Troops, Meets Officials in Iraq

By John D. Banusiewicz

American Forces Press Service

BAGHDAD, April 6, 2011 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived here this evening to visit U.S. troops and to meet with Iraqi officials.

The secretary traveled here from Saudi Arabia, where he met with King Abdullah earlier today.

Gates is scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani, and also with Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq.

A senior Defense Department official told reporters traveling with the secretary that in his meetings with Iraqi officials, Gates plans to discuss the importance of completing the formation of Iraq’s government, especially the security-related ministries, as the United States draws down its forces. He’ll also discuss the need for progress in implementing the reconciliation agreements that were part of the initial government formation process in the fall, the official said.

Gates also will reaffirm the U.S. commitment to a long-term partnership with Iraq, the official added, and will emphasize the mutual benefits of a relationship that continues beyond the scheduled departure of U.S. forces by the year’s end.

The official said the post-2011 relationship probably will be driven by three factors: the state of the Iraqi security forces, stability challenges Iraq will face, and the U.S. ability to engage with Iraq across a whole range of activities.

Iraq’s security forces are doing a good job with internal security, the official said.

“Keep in mind we’ve drawn down over 100,000 forces and handed over security responsibility for the entire country to the Iraqi security forces over the last two years,” he said, “and security incidents wiggle around, but they’re basically flat at the lowest levels that they’ve been for the entire war.”

The bigger challenge facing the Iraqi security forces, he added, is external defense –- such as protecting Iraqi airspace –- because Iraq’s forces haven’t been trained and equipped for such a large conventional capability.

“That will be something that they’ll have to continue to work on moving forward,” he said.

Extremist groups will continue to pose a challenge in Iraq beyond 2011, the official said.

“I don’t think we see it as a strategic threat to the overall stability or viability of the Iraqi state,” he added, “but you will see organizations like al-Qaida in Iraq and some of the other extremist groups that are capable of periodic spectacular attacks, just as they are today.”

The ability of the United States to engage with Iraq across a spectrum of diplomatic, cultural, economic, educational, scientific and security activities beyond 2011 rests upon adequate funding for the State Department, the official said, noting that Gates has stressed this point in congressional testimony.

“The State Department has asked for money to continue the police training mission,” the official said. “We think that’s incredibly important, so that the police can get up to a capability so that they take over the internal security mission and the Iraqi army gets out of that job over time.

“The State Department has asked for money so that they can have a robust presence throughout Iraq, not just in Baghdad,” the official continued. “Then we could have consulates in the north and the south, and some temporary diplomatic facilities along the Arab-Kurd fault line. It’s important that the State Department gets the money for that.”

The official also stressed the need for Congress to fund continued support for Iraq’s security forces and to provide the funding and authorities needed to stand up an office of security cooperation in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to continue security assistance and cooperation after 2011.

“That’s a basket of things that fall under the State Department and their [fiscal 2011 and 2012 budget requests] that the secretary feels very strongly needs to be resourced,” the official said.

Kurdistan Regional Security Passes to Iraqi Control

By Tim Kilbride
Special to American Forces Press Service

, June 1, 2007 – Day-to-day security concerns in the three provinces making up Iraq's Kurdistan region are now the direct responsibility of Iraqi representatives, a Multinational Force Iraq official said yesterday. The provinces of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Dahuk transferred as a bloc to regional Iraqi control during a May 30 ceremony, said Air Force Maj. Gen. Kurt Cichowski, deputy chief of staff for strategy, plans and assessment, during a call with "bloggers" and online journalists.

The transfer means the Kurdistan regional government, as an element of the government of Iraq, will oversee the Iraqi army and police, as well as ancillary security forces working in the area, Cichowski said. Such supplementary forces include the officially sanctioned "peshmerga," now known as the Kurdish Regional Guards, he explained.

The region has been administered by the Kurdistan regional government since 2003, the general said, and provinces transferred all at once instead of individually at that government's request.

The transfers were conditioned on the achievement of four key standards, graded by U.S. and Iraqi officials, Cichowski said. These were: security in the region; the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces in the area, with a focus on the police; local governance capability; and the status of the relationship between coalition forces and the local government.

Basically, Cichowski said, the key questions on readiness are, "What is happening in the provinces and can a local government take care of it, primarily with the domestic police?"

Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Dahuk became the fifth, sixth and seventh provinces to transfer to Iraqi control.

Describing the significance of the transfer, Cichowski said the Kurdish leadership has been very engaged in Iraq's national political process and will continue to make use of the Iraqi army in securing the region, as well as continue to share Kurdish forces for security operations elsewhere in the country.

The Kurdish region is "an indivisible part of the government of Iraq as a whole," Cichowski said, citing the Iraqi national security advisor and the prime minister of the Kurdish regional government.

Describing the region's relative prosperity, Cichowski noted, "The environment up north is a little different than in the other parts of Iraq."

The area features four-star hotels, modern construction and a growing roster of international airlines, he said. That prosperity is part of what made the transfer of security possible, Cichowski said. While coalition force levels in the region are expected to remain the same, "there is a very important change in status."

Going forward, the general said, the coalition will need to coordinate with Kurdish government authorities prior to conducting training or exercises with the regional security forces.

(Tim Kilbride is assigned to New Media, American Forces Information Service.)

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