George Casey
George Casey
armed base capability forces fully iraqi recognize support
We fully recognize that Iraqi armed forces will not have an independent capability for some time, because they don't have the institutional base to support them,
certainly expect forces military police render
We certainly do expect that there is some infiltration of the police and ... the military forces, ... But we don't see it in the way that would render these forces incapable.
coalition element forces iraqi key presence reducing remains security transition ultimately visibility
reducing the visibility and ultimately the presence of coalition forces as we transition to Iraqi security self-reliance remains a key element of our counter-insurgency strategy.
afraid armed committed forces iraqis members people tough understand
It is important for the American people to understand that we should not be afraid of this fight, ... This is a tough fight. Their armed forces members are committed to this. The Iraqis are committed to this.
coalition exists forces
the possibility for condition-based reductions of coalition forces still exists for 2006.
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.
coalition critical element forces reduction
Conditions-based reduction of coalition forces is a critical element of our strategy,
forces iraqi security
The development of the Iraqi security forces is very much on track,
three
What's important is ... is that the one and three are irrelevant,
happens progress steps taking yield
We say we make progress relentlessly in little steps a day at a time. And we just keep taking little steps. And every once in a while, you get to see what happens when all those little steps yield something.
believe deal fighting fights-and-fighting insurgency iraq less reason time
Fighting insurgencies is a long-term proposition, and there's no reason that we should believe that the insurgency in Iraq will take any less time to deal with.
expect gradually insurgency
We should expect the insurgency not to just go away, but to gradually reduce.
expect insurgency lots tough work
There is still lots of tough work to do and we should expect the insurgency not to just go away because there were elections.
caused change compact constitution division national situation
Now this constitution has come out, and it didn't come out as the national compact that we thought it was going to be. And there's division there, ... And that caused the situation to change a little bit.