George Casey
George Casey
caused change division situation
And there's division there ... and that caused the situation to change a little bit,
amount coalition dependency exposes feeds forces increased iraqi notion presence security time
Increased coalition presence feeds the notion of occupation. It contributes to the dependency of Iraqi security forces on the coalition, ... It extends the amount of time that it will take for Iraqi security forces to become self-reliant. And it exposes more coalition forces to attacks.
battalions level year
In a year from now, if there's not more battalions at Level One, I'll be concerned. Right now, I'm not,
battalions concerned good level progress year
A year from now, if there are not more battalions at level one I will be concerned. Right now, I am not. I am concerned about level two and we are making very good progress there,
certainly course next
And we certainly do look to do that over the course of next year.
concerned readiness small unit
No, it's not a setback. I mean, unit readiness is going to fluctuate. And it is such a small number. And at this stage, I'm not concerned about small numbers,
concern force protection readiness share
I share your concern about our Army's operational readiness and force protection posture,
change involved variables
Things change in a battalion. We're making assessments on leadership, on training. There are a lot of variables that are involved here, senator,
cycle heard involved planning positive
They were involved in about a monthlong planning cycle with us. And they were well-integrated with us. ... I've heard nothing but positive things about how they performed,
freedom march power ready stop troops
do everything in their power to try to stop the march of freedom. And our troops are ready for it.
coalition critical element forces reduction
Conditions-based reduction of coalition forces is a critical element of our strategy,
critical days next
The next 75 days are going to be critical for what happens,
attacks generate increased insurgency last level seen
The level of attacks they've been able to generate has not increased substantially here over what we've seen in the last year, ... This insurgency is not progressing.
forces iraqi security
The development of the Iraqi security forces is very much on track,