TaraJonesE-mails700-1199

8/14/2019 TaraJonesE-mails700-1199

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From:rb)(6) ILTC 4ID PAO [ ~ a i l t o ~ ( sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 10:36 AM - ------------To: Vida", T o d ~ S D PA .Cc: rb)(6) vV CORPS PAO MNC-I V CORPS PAO; kb)(6) ILTC 410 Dep PAOSubject: RE: [U] RE: Thursday Pentagon Brief L _

From: Vic/an, Todd M ltCol OSD PA [ m a i / t o : t o d d . v i C i a n ~ b ( Sent: Wednesda N ber OB, 2006 7:01 PM ---To' b 6 LTC 410 PAOCc: b)(6) LTC VV CORPS PAC MNC-I V CORPS PAo; Kb)(6) ILTC 410 Dep PAOSUbject: RE: [U] RE: Thursday Pentagon Brief L

b ) ( 6 ) II ~ n ' t get a linethrough to you. Wehaven't sent out the invite yet. but would need to do so by 1630 our time. I'llwalt to hear from you .Thanks ,Todd

From: Viclan, Todd M LtCol OSD PA [mallto:todd.vidanfrib)(6)sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 12:12 AM '1 _To:Kb)(6) ILTC 410 PADSubject: RE: [UJ RE: Thursday Pentagon Brief

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIf this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from mandatory disclosureunder FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "000 Freedom ofInformation Act Program". DoD Directive 5230.9,"Clearance ofDoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview ofDoD Information for Public Release" apply.

LTC r)(6)PublicAr-affs-ar-r-s-'-O:Hffi=-ce-r---Mu Iti-National Division-BaghdadCamp Liberty, IraqDSN ~ r b ) = (2 = =====;-_VOIP b)(2)C o m m ~ ~ r - - 7 i a - - - . - : : - " ' b : - ; : 2~ - - - - - - - 'IRAONA Cell b)(2)

U Col Todd Vician, USAFDefense Press OfficerOffice of Assis ntSecretary of ~ (Public Affairs)b)(2) f a X ~ b ) ( 2 OSN b)(2) ----

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDTodd,The CG's schedule is iffy and may notaccommodate this conference call. We're in the middleof RIP . I'll begetting more guidance tonight. Please call me.fb)(6)


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Lt ColTodd Vician, USAFDefense PressOfficer

~ ( Imercial (b)(2)NACell b)(2))

Office of.Assisti nt Secretary ~ s (Public Affairs)Kb)(2) fax rb)(2)D S ~ ( From: rb)(6) ITC 4ID PAO [mallto b)(6)sent: Tuesday, November 07,2006 3:11 PM

From: Vician, Todd M ltCol OSD PA [mailto:todd.vlclanl.9fb) (6)sent: Tuesday, N o v e m b e ~ 07,2006 9:50 PM - ---To f b)(6) .tTC 410 PADSubject: RE: [U] RE: Thursday Pentagon Brief

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To: Vlcian, Todd M ltCoI OSD PASubject: RE: [U] RE: Thursday Pentagon Brief

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDI f this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from mandatory disclosureunder FOIA. 000 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom oflnformation Act Program". 000 Directive 5230.9."Clearance ofDoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview of DoD Information for Public Release" apply.

SIPRIL _Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDI f this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from mandatory disclosurennnpr J;'()T A nnn "Linn 71 ) "T"I"T"I V . ~ ~ A , , _ ~ ~ T _ ~ ~ _ ~ + : __ A _+ D..... . . T ' \_T ' \ T' \ ! _ _ ~ ~ r",," "

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Let me see if that works. Seems like an easy idea.Todd

Page 3 of7[b)(6) IThat'sQood n.ews. The call-in n U ~ b e r s , a r e ~ b ( lor b ) ( 2 ) IThe comm guys here saidyou have to dial t"e (412) number Ifcallmg from OCONUS, but I don't know if that affects your situation.Todd

Classification: UNCLASSIFlEDTodd,OurG6 says that we can do it via DSN , We just need to knowthe number to dial into.rb)(6)

I t Col Todd Vieian, USAFDefense Press Officer .Office of Assis nt Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)b)(2) faxrb)(2) IDSN b)(2)


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Lt Col Todd Vician, USAFDefense Press Officer. nt S o ~ s e (Public Affairs)b)(2) f a x ~DS b)(2) -

b)(6)From: Vician, Todd M Ltcol 050 PA [ m a l l t o : t o d d . v l c l a n ~ ~ -sent: Tuesday, November 07,20068:49 PM L.-__ -'To: Kb)(6) ILTC 410 PAOSubject: RE: [U] RE: Thursday Pentagon Brreffb)(6) I

~ b ) ( 6 ) Isaid she'd send you a list of the analysts invited for the call.t told her 1030 (1830 your time) for the call.She said they only havea commercial 800 numberto call in. If the CGcan't get a good commercial number, I'llsee what elsewe canwork out. Letme know.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIf this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from mandatory disclosureunder FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom ofInformation Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9,"Clearance ofDoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview ofDoD Information for Public Release" apply.

Thanks,Todd

From (b)(6) ILTC 4ID PAO [mailtolb)(6)sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 11:20 PM l _To: Vician, ToddM Ltcol 050 PA

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDTodd.What ifwe call theArmy Ops Centerand have them patch us in?fb)(6) ILTC tb)(6)Public-A......,ffs-a ~ i r - s . .O=ff i.-- lc-er----Multi-National Division-BaghdadCamp Liberty, Iraq

From$b)(6) ILTC 410 PAO [malltor)(6)sent: TUesday, November 07, 20061:19 PM -----.JTo: Viclan, Todd M Ltcol OSD PACc:Kb)(6) ILTC 4ID G6Subject: RE: [U] RE: Thursday Pentagon Brief

From: Vician, Todd M Ltcol 050 PA [ m a l l t o : t o d d . v l c l a n ~ ..sent: Tuesday, November 07,20068:49 PM ---To: Kb)(6) ILTC 410 PAOSubject: RE: [U] RE: Thursday Pentagon Brref

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Ce: Ballesteros, Mark J LTC OSD PASubject: RE: [U] RE: Thursday Pentagon BriefClassification: UNCLASSIFIEDTodd,The CG did agree to speak to somemilitary analysts thatMGCaldwell approached him about. Do you have anyinformation on whowould participate?@_6) _LTC K-'-b)..:....;(6) -'PublicAffairs OfficerMulti-NationaI Division-BaghdadCamp Uberty, Iraqos b)(2)VOl b)(2)C o m m ~ e - = - r : - : : - c l ; - : : : - ' a o r ; : l b:-:)"7.:(2::"") - - - -L --,IRAQNA Cell b)(2)L-- ---'NIPR[b)(6)SIPR --------------Classification: UNCLASSIFlEDIf this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from mandatory disclosureunder FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom ofInformation Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9,"Clearance ofDoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview ofDoD Information for Public Release" apply.

, ... . I' J " ." .. .... ~ , . _ " ,- ._ . J _ ....... _From: Vlclan, Todd M Ltcof OSD PA [mallto:tocId.vician


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-b)(2)

IP b ) ( 2 ) Imercial ~ b ( 2 IQNA Cell "b)(2)R b)(6)R

LTC r_)(_6) __Public Affairs OfficerMulti-National Division-BaghdadCamp liberty, Iraq

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIf this e-mail is markedFOROFFICIAL U SE O NLY it maybe exempt frommandatory disclosureunder FOIA. DoD5400.7R, "DoD Freedom oflnformation Act Program", DoDDirective 5230.9,"Clearance of DoD Information for Public Release", andDoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview ofDoD Information for Public Release" apply. .

Associated Press (Loli ta Baldor, Bob Burns , or Pauline Jelnik)

nll'- n - , IWe have all the info on MG Thunnan we need for prepping forThursday'S press brief at 0900 EST. Do you needmore info from us? Here's the latest list of reporters (a few mighthave changed-since your Boss did the briefingwith the press here in September).Also , will MG Thurman be able todo1-2 interviews with regional media (radio or TV) following the brief? He can

Thanks.

Closing remarks by briefer (1-2 minutes)

- Introduct ion by Mr Bryan Whitman (Deputy Ass is tan t Secr et ar y of Defense forPublic: Affairs)- Opening rema rk s by br ie fer (approx 3-5 minutes)- Q/A from press corps

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From: Vlclan, Todd M Ltcol OSD PA [ m a i l t o : t o d d . v i c l a n ~ b ( sent: Mondav. November 06,20069:33 PM ----To: vb)(6) ~ T 410 PACce b)(6) rLTC vV CORPS PAC MNC-I V CORPS PAD; Ballesteros, Mark J LTC OSD PASUbject: Thursday Pentagon BriefHifb)(6) IWe have all the info on MG Thunnan we need for prepping for Thursday's press brief at 0900 EST. Do you needmore info from us? Here's the latest list of reporters (a few mighthave changed-since your Boss did the briefingwith the press here in September).Also , will MG Thurman be able to do 1-2 interviews with regional media (radio or TV) following the brief? He canstay in place and we 'll use the DVIDS system to arrange these interviews.Thanks again ,Todd

PENTAGON PRESS CORPS :

FORMAT:

DSNVOlComIRA


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Reuters (Krist in Roberts or Andrew Gray)AFP (Jim Mannion)UPI (Pam Hess)McClatchey News Service (Drew Brown)Bloomberg News Service (Tony Capaccio)LA Times (Peter Spiegel)NY Times (Thorn Shanker or David Cloud)Balt imore Sun (Dave Wood)Washington Post (Ann Scot t Tyson)St Louis Post Dispatch (Phil Dine)MSNBC (Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube)ABC (Jon Karl and Luis Martinez)CNN (Barbara Sta r r and Jamie MCIntyre)FOX (Mike Emanuel and Nick Simeone)NPR ( John Hendren or Tom Bowman)VOA (AI Pessin)Stars and Str ipes Je f f Schogol or Lisa Burgess)Army Times (Gordon Lubold)RAI, Al Jazeera, TIME, and a few others at tend based on topic .

I t Col Todd Vician, USAFDefense Press OfficerOffic f A i nt Sb)(2) fax b)(2)DSN b)(2)

1 sa (Public Affairs)

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p , 7l~ e s d a v Noveq"lber 07,2006 11 :58 AM~ 6 ~ S D P AGen. Haake Contact Info

Kb)(6) _ _

Haake & Associates69

As requested, please find following Gen. Haake's contact info aswell as mine. As I said, Gen. Haake is happy to dowhatever he can to help and is availablewhenever needed.

Director ofGovernment Affairs

Haake & Associates

From:Sent:To:Subject:

--.

Office Phone: 202.408.8703Cell phonef_b)_(6_) _E m a i l : ~ _ b ) _ ( 6 _ ) _

Maj. Gen. Timothy M. Haake, USAR (RET)

Director of Government Affairs

Principal, Haake & AssociatesOffice Phone: 202.408.6700Cell Phone:fb)(6) I-> I

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202.408.8700

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~ b ) ( 6 ) . ICDR, JCS DOMMonday, November 06, 2006 8: 12 AMKb)(6) PSD PAFW: 050 media experts visit proposal

I "From:Sent:To:SUbject:

ISAF i s looking for more information about the mil i tary analyst group before they moveforward with the planning. I f you could send me addi t ional information (maybe some of ththings tha t you sent to CENTCOM to se l l the idea to them), it would be helpful .

; ~ ~ ~ ~ K ~ t ~ i n a L M e S S a Q e - - I [ ~ ~ i l to f_)_(_) _

Major NO ASO Cps Plans and PolicyPublic Information OfficeJFC HQ BrunnsumTel: ~ b ) ( 6 )

-------------'

; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l - M e S B a a e - - - - -[ m a i l ~ ' _ _ _ _ _ _Sent: 02 November 2006 07:20fWMlliiffi)

; ~ ~ ~ ~ K ~ t ~ i n a L M e S S a Q e - - I [ ~ ~ i l to f_),,--,,-)---=-=--=-:- - _Sent: Monday, November 06 , 2006 11:52 AMTo: Kb)(6) ISubject: RE: OSD media exper ts v i s i t proposal

Class if ica t ion: NON SENSITIVE INFORMATION RELEASABLE TO THE PUBLIC Any chance you havemore to provide? We have l i t t l e to add.

Commander rb)(6)Pub l i e Af f a----;-i-r-s----",O"""f"""f"i-c-e-r--------European Command L ia ison Of fi cePentagon, Room Kb)(2) IWashin ton DC 2 0 3 1 a - ~ 0 ~ 5 ~ 2 ~ 0 ~ __b)(2) DSN ~ b ) ( 2 )Ce11 : b)(2) --;c(N=E=W=)-----'U.S. European Command chttp://www.eucom.mil/> Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europechttp://www.nato.int/shape/index.htm>- - - - -Original Message - - - - - Kb)(6)From: Kb)(6) I[mailtoLSent: Monday. November 06 . 2006 7; 4-.L.AML ----========:;-- - - - - - - - - - -To: K,--,-b...:...,(6:,-)----==----=-==--------:;,...,----__ ----=--_...,..---,;-:-- .------ 1 CDR)Subject: FW: OSD media experts v i s i t proposal

Best,

71Class if ica t ion: NON SENSITIVE INFORMATION RELEASABLE TO THE PUBLIC Any chance you havemore to provide? We have l i t t l e to add.

I f there i s more information avai l iab le about th i s group, PIO JFCBS would appreciate i t .Class if ica t ion: NON SENSITIVE INFORMATION RELEASABLE TO THE PUBLIC

Thanks.

~ b ) ( 6 )

~ _ b ) ( _ 6 ) _


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Classi f ica t ion: NON SENSITIVE INFORMATION RELEASABLE TO THE PUBLICI t is our understanding tha t OSO wants to send 8 media expert analysts ( re t i red Generalsetc) to ISAF to provide them with a bet t e r degree of understanding allowing them tocomment more knowledgeably.Cappy: I assume th i s came from your direct ion; pIs provide more info i f you have i t .ISAF: pIs provide general comments th at w ill allow some form of planning to begin.Cheers.

73

OF4- UK

Lieutenant Colonel UK ArmyHQ ISAF Chief PIO

- ~ - - - O r i g i n a l Message-----F r o m : ~ ) I[ m a i l O t ~ l i ) - ( 6 - ) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Sent: 31. October 200/> 01- "To: b)(6)Cc:S U b ~ J = e ~ c = - t : ~ med1a exper t s V1S1t proposal

Office b)(6)Mobile~ b ) ( 6 )


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'

rb)(6) dates okwith me, but you will have to run this through SC, DASDJDA and ASO/PA. WR T Commissions, that isnot our lane ... Gordon can discuss with BrigGen TomHemingway in DC . Coord with Gordon, too, for best dates withinthe 9-16 window. Iwill be gonefor much of that, but that isOK as BGLeacock will be here while I'm gone,HH

5Ubject:

From:Sent:To:Cc:

We would like to take the Saturday, 9 Dec rotator out of NAS JAX and return there on the 16Dec flight.

Please let me knowif you will be able to process this request with existing information (i.e., personal dataon file from ourlast visit) or if you will need for us to update it.

Some areas of interestwouldbe any progress on Military commissions or other legal developments.

I'd like to start the processon working area clearance and transportation to visit the JT F on 9-16 December 2006.LTC(Ret) John Rudisill will accompanymeas he did on our previous visit. I mentioned these dates to Adm Harris and he iscomfortable with them. .

Appreciate your helpwith this request,

H. rb)(6)

74_ _ _ _ __ ' i i i - - _ . . - - r - _ . _ . --- .. , -_ . -- -" .- u .. 1""" . " " . ~ " u n ' l I l ~ ,II ' lW' I' I g l l ' - l ~ \ # ' ...,l "U U Ie . . , u u n ~ I I C I # I ' \ ~ I U I I 'Sly n wecould meetwith the Commanderand Deputy, Paul Rester, the newColonel who is head of the Joint Detention facility, andwith the legal people that would be a greatstart. As is usual, we'll probably discover new leadsto follow up once we're onthe ground.

all the best,

Some areas of interestwould be any progress on Military commissions or other legal developments.

Gordon Cucullu

We've still got some open areas in our research to fill prior to finalizing the manuscriptto the publisher. Accordingly if wecould meetwith the Commanderand Deputy, Paul Rester, the newColonel who is head of the Joint Detention facility, andwith the legal people that would be a greatstart. As is usual, we'll probably discover new leadsto follow up once we're onthe ground.

From: Gordon Cucullu [mailtofb)(6)S e n t : S u n d a Y , N o v e m b e r 0 5 , 2 = O O = 6 ~ 1 ' 1 : ~ 3 ~ 2 ' A ~ M ' - - - - - - - - - - - -To : fb)(6) ICOR U S S O ~ OCc: Paul EVallely; Rudy Rudisill; ~ o v , OASD-PA; Leacock, Edward A BG USSOllTHCOM JTFGTMO; Harris,Harry B. ROMl USSOUTHCOM JTFGTMOSubject: VisIt to JTF GTMO

_ _ _ _ _ _l ~ ~ Harris, Harry B. RDML USSOUTHCOM JTFGTMO [ H a r r y . B . H a r r i s ~ b ( Sunda November05, 2006 12:58 PM - - ------b)(6) COR USSOUTHCOM JTFGTMOGordon Cucullu b)(6) OSD PA; Leacock, Edward A ~ S S 0 l l I H . l ( 9 MJTFGTMO: Harris, Harry B. RDML USSOUTHCOM JTFGTMO; ~ A P TUSSOUTHCOMJTFGTMORE: Visit to JT F GTMO


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Subject: VP Cheney - Waterboarding and tortureAttachments: VP Cheney - waterboarding and torture

M',

Page I of I

--Friday October 27 2006 11 '55 AM, .

b)(6)

b)(6) ILawrence . Dallas 8 Mr aso PA:Kb)(6)b)(6)

From:Sent:To:

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b)(6)

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b ck w A . Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access tomillions of high-quality videos fromacross the web, free AOL Mail and more.k l-

_ . , . . . _.- - -- - -------- . - - - - r - - : - - - - r - - - - - - - - - - - - - ---- -years of age; is a drug that can extract Intel from a terrorist interrogatee at greater than a 90% successrate. Propofol works by awakening the brain in stages leaving the Pre Frontal Cortex until last. The PFCiswhere the mechanism that allows hwnans to lie or exaggerate is housed. It is used thousands of timesa day safely in the US in general surgery and yet, there are those that object to using it, or any drug, toextract Intel that will. and has. saved American lives. I can onlv hone that our CIA interrozators are

I am constantly amazed at the zeal withwhich the "Lefties" run to the aid ofthe terrorist's. The.Leftconstantly complains about being called un patriotic when they attack the Bush Administration policieson the war and interrogation. Yet, now, the VP expresses an opinion on an interrogation method, notconsidered torture by many of us who know the technique, and he isonce again lam basted as the tortureVP. Howmany times must it be said that the US does not torture, nor do we find it necessary to torture.Contrary to what the Left would have you believe, the interrogation techniques used by the CIA aresuccessful in extracting "Time Sensitive INTELt! as is evidenced by the Intel extracted from KSM et.a1., during their visit with CIA interrogators and before their transfer to Club Gitmo. I have advocatedthe use narcotics (Narcosis) during interrogations and fortunately for the American people, that option iscontained in the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Propofol, a short-acting intravenous anestheticagent used for the induction ofgeneral anesthesia in adult patients andpediatric patients older than 3years of age; is a drug that can extract Intel from a terrorist interrogatee at greater than a 90% successrate. Propofol works by awakening the brain in stages leaving the Pre Frontal Cortex until last. The PFCiswhere the mechanism that allows hwnans to lie or exaggerate is housed. It is used thousands of timesa day safely in the US in general surgery and yet, there are those that object to using it, or any drug, toextract Intel that will, and has, saved American lives. I can only hope that our CIA interrogators areusing Propofol to help protect the American people. I can safely say that, fortunately at this time in UShistory, we have a President who understands the stakes and has battled the Left to give our military andintelligence professionals the tools they need to continue to protect us.Take care.Wayne

A Cheney spokeswoman said Thursday that the vicepresident was not confirming the use 0/anyspecific interrogation techniques."He was talking about the interrogation program without torture, " spokeswoman LeeAnne McBridesaid. "The vicepresident does not discuss any techniques or methods that mayor lIUIy not have beenused in questioning. "

Those on the Left, the Democrats, Green Party, Socialists and of course Progressive Communist Partyare gasping in disbeliefat the Vice Presidents comments claiming that the use of an interrogationtechnique called water boarding is a "nobrainer." However........

From: ~ b ) ( 6 ISent: Friday, October 27,200611:44 AMTo: rb)(6) ISubject: VP Cheney - Waterboarding and torture


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Jeff

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F r o m ~ ( bSD PA [mailtofb)(6)sent: Thu 10/19/2006 6:03 PMTo: undisclosed-recipientsSubject: Possible Conference Call Tomorrow

Best.

Gentlemen,Iwanted to give you a heads up thatwe MAYbe able to put together a conference call with a senior u.s . militaryleader outof Iraq tomorrow morning to talk to you about the increased violence. Thecall would probably takeplace first thing in the morning (0800 eastern time), so please mark yourcalendars if you are able tojoin us. Iwillsend out call in info as soon as I can confirm that we're able to pull it together.In the meantime, please let me know if you are interested and available. .Thanks and have a great evening.EJ

Believe it or not I was at the bottom of theGrand Canyon and totally out of cellphone and email contact! Ift ere is a transcript of his remarks I would love to read it.

10; unmscicseo-recrpientsSubject: Possible Conference Call TomorrowGentlemen,Iwanted to give you a heads up thatwe MAYbeable to put together a conference call with a senioru.s . militaryleader outof Iraq tomorrow morning to talk to yOU about the increased violence. Thecall wouldDrobablv take

From: tb)(6) IOSD PASent: Monday, October23, 2006 5:47 PMTo: 'McCausland, Jeffrey'Subject: RE: Possible Conference Call TomorrowAttachments: 10-20-06 MG Caldwell transcript.doc

hi. welcome back .here is a rough transcript of the call. itwas actually on the record, butsince this hasn't been checked against thetape (and may never beat this point!! ) please don't pass along . but, you can use the material as much as youlike ! :}~ k

.. - - IFrom: McCausland, Jeffrey [mailtol_b)_6___ - - ~ - - - - - - Jsent: Sunday, October 22,20066:47 PMTo:Kb)(6) 105D PASUbject: RE: Possible Conference Call Tomorrowb)(6)

Public AffairsOffice of the Secretary of Defensefb)(2) I


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MG Caldwell (from Iraq)Conference call with military analystsFriday, Oct. 20, 2006Note: call was on the record except for some portions on background (those portions nottranscribed) ~ , . . . . -Transcriber: r_)_


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level of violence that's more normal to we're used to in America and what Westernerswould want to see. There is going to be some sort of level of criminal that is still going tobe here, then you're going to have some sort of sectarian violence still at some low level,and you're probably still going to have some level of terrorist activity, insurgent activitythat is still going to occur.What we have to do is develop the Iraqi Security Forces to such that they are able andcapable ofhandling those three various levels of violence, bringing them down to somelevel to where the security forces are just above them, and can handle it, and that's thepoint which we'll be allowed - or able - to disengage our forces.Ultimately what's going on is there's a need for a political solution more than a militarysolution at this point. Any place we go in and we have conducted operations just asanybody has seen for many, many years, we are able to control the situation where ourforces are present. But to ultimately bring the security, the relative security and prosperitythis country it's going to take and require a political solution to what's going on.There is a tremendous amount ofdialogue that is occurring. You've heard that the primeminister had this 24-point plan in June; he's had already now two ofhis nationalreconciliation conferences, they've announced a third one is going to be on Nov. 4, thatthey are going to do, we're not sure the final one. We know that he is working his fourpoint plan he outlined about two weeks ago, figuring out how to put that into place, andworking with the various political factions and the different sectarian elements here.But he is engaged in dialogue and working with all the different sects, and that's exactlywhat has to occur ifwe are going to eventually come to some political solution for thiscountry. Because it is ultimately up to the Iraqi people to rebuild and secure their owncountry; that's not something that we are going to be able to do completely for them; wecan only set the stage to allow that to occur.The prime minister did announce the formation of a special committee here about twodays ago - or a couple days ago now - that will address the issue ofmilitias and also takeon overseeing the reform of the security ministries, specifically the ministry of defense,interior and the INIS - the Iraqi National Intelligence Service. .And those are ongoing and there was initial reports that were due back out to the primeminister this week. Already we've seen some things occur, such as the two nationalpolice division commanders that have been removed from their duties and assigned otherduties, which is a very positive step forward with the government doing that type thing,because that needed to occur at the very top in both those cases. It was something we saw .that would be a very positive step forward, but theymade that on their own. It trulywasn't us forcing anything in the background; that was a decision they took unilaterallyand executed. We were in tremendous agreement with the decision they made, obviously,and very supportive of it.

country; that's not something that we are going to be able to do completely for them; wecan only set the stage to allow that to occur.The prime minister did announce the formation of a special committee here about twodays ago - or a couple days ago now - that will address the issue ofmilitias and also take


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We have said that the spike in violence that we are seeing would occur during theRamadan period; we announced it well before Ramadan even started. We have seen it forover the last two years; historically, it's about a 20 percent increase in the level ofviolence in terms of attacks, although that doesn't necessarily equate to casualties, someset number, but it does in terms of the amount of activity. Over the last two years it'sincreased; we're seeing a 22 percent increase already in the first three weeks ofRamadancompared to the last three weeks before Ramadan. So that is in fact occurring as wethought it would. And wejust yesterday got a tremendous spike in VBED (vehicle-borneexplosive devices) activity across the country. I want to say it was 17 altogether differentactivities occurring between vehicle IEDs and suicide-vehicle IEDs. And we can providemore detail- approximately 25 killed, about another I want to say about another 80wounded, but I can get those exact figures here momentarily for you.So that did occur, and again, this is on the night of (inaudible) power, and we though wewould see the spike there, in fact we did, just like we thought we did yesterday. But thatwill (?continue).You heard what happened at Balad. Initially the press was portraying this as a toughsituation that the government showed some kind of failure almost or something when infact, when it was all finally said and done and I had the opportunity to talk with one ofthe ground commanders on site, it actually turned out to be a fairly good news story interms of how the Iraqi leadership in that area reacted and responded to what occurred.It started with the Iraqi army having killed an AQI (al Qaeda in Iraq) figure - a SunniAQI member. In retaliation for that about 24 hours later, you know, we found a bunch ofShi'a who were killed in retaliation for that, 14 of them to be exact. And then the verynext day we saw 26 Sunni that were killed for that. And right away the mayor ofBaladplaced the city on a curfew, They called together a meeting with team leaders, startedtalking about how to diffuse this situation. The next day they saw some indirect fire in thecity; one more person was killed. And then on the 18th, they had a major conference ofjust over a couple hundred - 100, 200 people - that came together, including everybodyfrom the provincial governor, the vice governor of the Salah ad Din Province, to themayor, to the police chief, to some local sheiks -about seven or so local sheiks came in;they brought in the Iraqi army deputy brigade commander, the local Iraqi army battalioncommanders, we were present - the Coalition forces were present but not at all involved.And they all came together and signed a pact and agreed to stopwhat would have been acycle of violence that would have continued had there not been immediate response andaction by the leadership of that province. They took charge; they stopped it; and we havenot had another incident since then.The numbers were grossly exaggerated initially from what we had heard in the news interms ofwhat the casualties were. We actually went to the local hospitals and verified thenumbers, so it was somewhere around about 14 Shi'a and about 26 Sunni, so about 40people who were killed in the sectarian violence based on that (one mortar?) from thedirect fire.

piaceo me City on a curlew, They called together a meeting with team leaders, startedtalking about how to diffuse this situation. The next day they saw some indirect fire in thecity; one more person was killed. And then on the 18th, they had a major conference ofjust overa couple hundred - 100, 200 people - that came together, including everybodyfrom the provincial governor, the vice governor of the Salah ad Din Province, to the


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So there wa s no real reporting on that, although we did talk it at th e press conferenceyesterday, an d then stated in fact we were pleased to see them taking charge and goingthrough that piece.I could go on. I' d be glad to talk to any specifics yo u all would l ike to. I ca n goeverywhere from talking legislative actions the governor of Iraq is working and kind ofwhere we are and ho w we see that playing out. The president, Talabani, di d just post on aweb site his legislative actions that they w an t t o accomplish through the rest o f this year,2006, and then what they want to work into the beginning o f 2007. It's a timeline o fevents. In fact, in ties in very closely to everything we've been talking - we being theU.S. mission and Coalition forces - have been talking to the leadership over here about.But it's those kind o f activities that when you watch them occurring again gives ustremendous hope and promise for the future - th e fact that they're government isfunctioning; the Council o f Representatives is meeting, they're having debate. They'regoing through the first - their second read, and then voting on these laws. They havepassed a couple o f key critical pieces o f legislative actions, such as th e investment law,which was huge, an d they 'r e no w working ou t also things like p a yi ng b ac k d eb t they oweto the Turkish government which will allow for the border to be reopened an d fuel to .come across, which they are going to need throughout this winter time period, bu t theywere in arrears for about 200 million dollars) and they've managed to figure o ut h ow t oget money ou t o f their system and start paying back the government o f Turkey.We see things like an international exposition that took place in late September up inIrbil; about 800 companies from 20 different countries showed up there for that event,you know, people wh o were interested in investing and establishing businesses over here.We know that September they also passed their fuel import liberalization law, which isreally, really important that they did, and that should start helping w i th t h e black marketsales, and improve the fuel supply and reduce corruption by opening more the energysector to private investment, which is something they desperately needed to do, too,because corruption within the whole fuel business was very- wa s rampant, an d thingslike the fuel import liberalization law will help set better market prices; it will allow forbetter distribution so the black market - the lucrativeness o f doing that will no wdecreasing over time.Anyway those are - I mean, and I can go on some other things. We ca n talk about theregions law if yo u want, that they did pass, although I am no t an expert I ca n at least talkit some. Bu t the tw o that we're still focused on very heavily i s t he hydrocarbon la w andthe de-Ba'athification. Both o f those are going to be very important to be dealt with, anddiscussed, and hopefully addressed by the Council o f Representatives before the en d o fDecember when they are scheduled to go ou t o f session again for two more months, andthen come back in session in March. .With that, I'll take any questions anybody has, and I'll o pe n i t u p a nd tr y an d addressthings. But we were just a little concerned that after the press conference yesterday that itwas kind o f portrayed as if we felt that the plan was failing; and I think tha t anybody in

really, really important that they di d, and that should start helping with th e black marketsales, and improve the fuel supply and reduce corruption by opening more th e energysector to private investment, which is something they desperately needed to do, too,because corruption within the whole fuel business was very - wa s rampant, an d thingslike the fuel import liberalization law will help set better market prices: it will allow for


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the military that has served a couple ofdays at all understands that what we do is we infact revise, which is nothing new. We constantly reassess where we are; we have takenthis overall assessment ofwhether the conditions are still the same under which wedeveloped the plan; if they are not, we make revisions to our plan to adjust to theconditions that exist. And that's exactly what we're going through right now as wecontinue doing some detailed analysis of this plan.So we are very comfortable with where we are. We know that we've got to do somework; we've been doing it. And I think we'll see some minor modifications to the planhere in the very near future.And with that, I'll take any questions anybody has.Question: You said you were comfortable with the plan, but there was a report in the APthat a major terror leader had been arrested by American forces, and the prime ministerhad ordered General Casey to release him, and he had been released. I wasn't aware that(Prime Minister) Maliki could order General Casey to release people suspected ofmurder.Caldwell: What the personyou are talking about is Sheikh - he has a real long name Sheik Mazen Abdul Khaliz EI Saaezi - and we did, we picked him up at about 0330 inthe morning of the 17m, for allegedly being involved in illegal activities that are operatingoutside of the law. And the very next day at the request of the prime minister he wasreleased. And the prime minister made the request and the Coalition forces did releasehim. I am not sure I would call it being ordered; but the prime minister did make therequest that he be released and we released him. He did in fact sign a conditional releaseform in which he promised to support the government of Iraq and disavow future acts ofviolence when he was finally released.But anyway, that did occur, and our position on that is this is a sovereign nation, theprime minister is in charge, ifhe makes the determination that he wants somebodyreleased from custody and the request comes in, General Casey made the decision, or Ishould say really, it was probably - I' d have to find out exactly who made it, but it wasprime minister, General - I mean the ambassador, General Casey made the decision and(inaudible) their request to go ahead and release the person.Q: To follow up on that; you know, it has a very bad odor over here, because weunderstand this guy, you know, has been involved in planning or maybe even makingattacks on American soldiers. Is there some protest we made to Maliki? Is there something we've said that, you know, you can't demand that we release guys with blood ontheir hands?(Off the record)Q: Howwould you describe what you are doing right now tactically when we talk aboutgoing against the militias? Are you indeedjust conducting sweeps for arms and the

violence when he was finally released.But anyway, that did occur, and our position on that is this is a sovereign nation, theprime minister is in charge, ifhe makes the determination that he wants somebodyreleased from custody and the request comes in, General Casey made the decision, or I


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torture chambers an d that type o f thing? Are you actively trying to bring down themilitias as U.S. forces?Caldwell: I'll go back on the back record. I'll tell you, we know that within this city thereare, you know, (Army Maj. Gen.) J.D. Thurman probably said it best, there's at least 23different militia groups that operate within the city o f Baghdad. I mean, he's go t them allby name, can tell you generally where they are located. We track them as best we can byintelligence to understand wh o they are, what their goals are an d everything else, but weclearly stand by the position that if you are in fact operating outside the la w we are goingto come after you.We have a very - we have a special cell that has been formed, pu t together - GeneralCasey di d this several months ago, that does nothing bu t monitor, track an d help us targetthose wh o are involved in sectarian violence or extrajudicial killings, specifically withinthe Baghdad area. An d there's a lot o f resources that are used in that targeting effort, andthat 's wh y on any kind o f weekly basis, you are going to find we're picking up severalcell leaders and anywhere from 10 to 30 cell members in locations across th e Baghdadarea. And we do show that normally just about every press conference, or every other .press conference, kind o f where we are in terms o f th e operations over the last two weeks.But I think one o f th e most important things is we all realize that ultimately this wholemilitia thing is going to be solved by a political solution, not by a military solution.Kinetically, we'll continue to operate on when we know they're operating outside thelaw, bu t we really have are ultimately going to have to have the prime minister, throughhis efforts, find a political solution to this militia issue here that exists.Q: As far as the U.S. casualties are concerned, ca n you give me some estimation of howmany of U.S. casualties are a result of IEDs an d ambushes and no t as a resul t of directcombat? I mean the questions that we're getting a lo t o f t imes are are we killing as manyof them as they're killing of us, just to be as plain as we can be?Caldwell: We don't obviously publicly talk about where the majority o f ou r casualties arecoming from, although you could probably p ut i t together by taking all ou r press releases(inaudible) casualties and yo u would start seeing a trend that obviously - yo u know, weare very concerned about IEDs. There are a lot of attacks on us. Most o f th e attacks thatoccur against the Coalitionforces do no t produce many casualties because they're justnot very effective against us and it's a variety of factors, you can imagine, from ou r bodyarmor, to our gear, to ou r protection, to ou r responsive, to ou r suppressive fires, so th a t-although the largest number o f attacks (will?) occur against Coalition forces right no w ona daily basis, most are very ineffective in terms of producing the equivalent number o fcasualties. Although we have seen as we all know as o f yesterday there were 73 U.S.casualties - deaths, specifically, already in this month.We do know that if you go back an d you look in t he m on th of September within theBaghdad area detained -I know that the Multi-National Division-Baghdad themselves

many a t u.S. casualties are a result of IEDs an d ambushes and no t as a resul t of directcombat? I mean the questions that we're getting a lo t o f t imes are are we killing as manyof them as they're killing of us, just to be as plain as we can be?Caldwell: We don't obviously publicly talk about where the majority o f our casualties are


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Caldwell: Of that number, if you take September and October within Baghdad, youknow, we're at 1,300 or so, one thousand three hundred or so that were picked up at leastdetainees. They will go through the process ofproducing the evidence that they haveagainst these folks, and if it sufficient then they will put them in the detention system. Butyou are correct, at this point they are not into the detention system.I am not quite sure, and I was trying to think - I was talking to Jack Gardner today aboutwhere his current statistics stand in terms of how many people - yeah, he right now hasabout 13,700 people in the detention system. Now those are the folks that are being heldbecause in fact there is sufficient evidence to continue holding for a long period of timeand they will not be (immediately?) released.I think you know that the month of June that we did release - the prime minister did askand they went through the system and did release quite a few and that's part of the wholereconciliation process, about 1,500 or so as I recall were released. And in fact at thatpoint we were about 14,50D, went down to about 13,000.(Inaudible) how many people do go through the central criminal court of Iraq. They arecharged, like last week, they administered one more death sentence and quite a fewprison sentences and then they move out of our detention system and into the Iraqi prisonsystem. But right now we do have about 13,000 people in our system.Q: Do you know how many the Iraqis have?Caldwell: Boy, I don't know that answer. I can try to find out; I've just not asked thatquestion before. I know we don't readily have it here; I've not seen it in anything before,but we can ask tha t question.Q: Thank you.(cross talk)Q: Sir, I just want to let you know that everybody back here on this call and all thewounded soldiers I talk to on a weekly basis couldn't be prouder of what you're doingand what the res t of you guys do from over there. We truly appreciate you've got ourback and warm hearts and support and regards to what goes on.Q: Here, here.Q: Amen.Caldwell: Well, that's great. I sure appreciate that. You know it does amaze me whenyou go out and talk to young kids, at least one day a week I get out and spend time withsome unit out here just so that I am maintaining my situational awareness and can talkfrom anecdotal stories from young men and women out there. I am just continually - theysee the difference down at their level, When you talk to them, they actually feel like they

Q: Thank you.(cross talk)


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.

are making a difference. They can see it; they can feel it. And as I keep telling them that'sthe most important thing. Well, that's great to hear. Thanks.Q: Hooah.Q: On the other side, you know, I talked to a sergeant the other week, and I am hearingmore and more that these rules of engagement have restricted the soldiers far too much;that our forces can't be ruthless enough, even to the point back to releasing thesedetainees, the sergeant told me he was with the Iraqi forces and they still get fire frommosques and they can't do anything about it. So that's on the other side of the equation,that we are just not ruthless enough on bringing this enemy down. The governmentleadership over there is so weak that they can't even disarm the militias or order themdisarmed to the point where anybody caught with a weapon would be basicallyeliminated.So that's the other thing thatwe're getting back; and that's frustrating to hear that we'r erunning the same routes and getting more wounded and killed by IEDs and there'snobody seizing the momentum or changing the momentum enough. It's visual, anyhow.That's just a comment and observation.Q: Well you know, you are right. [can understand your frustration. One of the realchallenges is the nature has changed over here. In the last six months I've been here ittruly has gone from more to a non-kinetic fight to a kinetic fight. And that's a difficultand hard thing because there's still places where you need to be very violent and verykinetic, but there's more than ample other situations wherewe need to keep askingourselves do we need to be - do we actually need to bust that door down that house whenwe go in, or can we knock on the door? I mean, (inaudible) intelligence that unless weblow the door of f the hinges and knock it down with a battering ram or whatever the case,we are putting ourselves at grave risk. And when we have seen in Baghdad whendifferent units have done it differently, but one of the Stryker units, I was just amazed atthe attitude of the people, the atmospherics. You know we do a lot of internalatmospherics out there in the neighborhoods.I was amazed at the difference between one and the other, it was truly by the attitude thecommander had taken, to the point where he tells his people, look, you're not going torun them off the road, I want you every now and then let them go by first, you don't haveto make them always yield to you; exhibit a little more courtesy to the citizenry; do knockon the doors when we are doing these searches, don't batter down the doors. And therewas actually some real positive results of that that occurred.Now, true, there is the risk always that there's going to be that suicide element out there,either a vest or a car, that will take advantage of that ability to have a li ttle in closercontact with the Iraqis themselves. But the payoff from that also at least in this one areadoes appear to be tremendous for the unit that was operating there. So, the nature ischanging and that is hard for some of these young troops that have been operating verykinetically to tum and operate less kinetically. Because it is frustrating, because we move

blow the door of f the hinges and knock it down with a battering ram or Whatever the case,we are putting ourselves at grave risk. And when we have seen in Baghdad whendifferent units have done it differently, but one of the Stryker units, I was just amazed atthe attitude of the people, the atmospherics. You know we do a lot of internalatmospherics out there in the neighborhoods.


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'

- as we go towards a more political solution now than a kinetic solution that's also a verydifficult mindset to change, and it's a lot more frustrating, I know for those in the uniformdown there - it gets hard holding, as we watch this political process try to take hold andthe prime minister try to move it forward, he and President Talabani and everybody elseas they are making these strides. But there are activities - (inaudible) across the board.You know the conferences two weeks ago the prime minister had, with all the tribalelements from out in at Anbar sitting on that - the prime minister made some promisesand he follows through - already I think we delivered about $11 million out there sincethat conference now to projects that the money was promised earlier and now finally hasmoved in and the people out there are seeing that. We see the tribal elements comingtogether out there - they do not want al Qaeda out there. We see them in fact taking on alQaeda and fighting them, we're seeing some of that start to occur.So the dynamics of this whole thing, let the prime minister work these different elements.As you know yesterday he met Sistani and Sadr both down in Najaf. When you look atthe comments Sadr made after that conference some very positive in terms ofwanting, orat least stating publicly that he was going to let the system work and support the primeminister.So the prime minister is reaching out trying to touch all these different elements andcome to a political solution which is going to be the ultimate - onlyway this country isgoing to achieve that unity that it needs.Q: Thank you.Q: Is there any sort of - the Iraqis seem to arise to the occasion whenever they have adate certain. I mean, they did very well in the January elections, they did very well in theDecember elections. Is there any sort of impetus to havingmaybe a date imposed onwhen they turn over - or when they assume control ofprovinces or other milestonesalong the way so they do seem to perform better under those circumstances?Caldwell: You're exactly right. There has been if you look historically (inaudible)milestone, they tend to perform a little better. They seem to get focused (inaudible). Weare seeing that with some of their legislative initiatives. This thing that President Talabaniposted on to the web site, when you look at that, and we've gone through it in fairly gooddetail over the last few days. I f in fact all of these laws that they say they are going toachieve in 2006 - (inaudible) it's a one-law page thing the council president he discussesthe security situation the frame of the political timetables what the heading is, but it'severything from the law for the (IECI?), the elections piece, the law concerning theelections and the governance and specifying the date to hold them, a law concerning oilor as we call the hydrocarbon law, a law concerning de-Ba'athification, a law concerningthe flag logo and national anthem, a law approving (inaudible) dealing with militias. Imean, if in fact they meet all these timetables like they have just agreed to and (off therecord portion).

date certain. I mean, they did very well in the January elections, they did very well in theDecember elections. Is there any sort of impetus to having maybe a date imposed onwhen they turn over - or when they assume control ofprovinces or other milestonesalong the way so they do seem to perform better under those circumstances?


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Jeff- .: :From:rb)(6) I050 PA [mailtof_)_(6) _sent: Thu 10/19/20066:03 PM

To: undisclosed-recipientsSubject: Possible Conference Call Tomorrow

b)(6)

From: McCausland, Jeffrey b)(6)

Page 1 of I

Sent: Sunday, October 22,20066:47 PMTo: ~ b ) ( 6 ) 1050 PASubject: RE: PossibleConference Call Tomorrow

rb)(6) Believe it or not Iwas at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and totally out of cellphone and email contact! Ifthere is a transcript of his remarks I would love to read it.Best,

Gentlemen,I wanted to give you a heads up that weMAYbe able to put togethera conference callwith a senior u.s. militaryleader out of Iraq tomorrowmorning to talk to you about the increased violence. The call would probably takeplace first thing in the morning (0800 eastern time), so pleasemark your calendars if you are able to join us. willsend outcall in info as soon as I can confirm that we're able to pUll it together.In the meantime, please let me know if you are interested and available.n k and havea great evening.b)(

. \

Public AffairsOffice of the Secretary of Defenserb)(2) I

Public AffairsOffice of the Secretary of Defenserb)(2) I


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v i r - Bi l l Caldwell

Ruff, Eric Mr OSD PA;MNFI STRATEFF; Ballesteros,OSD PAt r_b)_6_) _

- XO


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-

-

-

TIME: 9:00 - 9:45 a.m.

Welcome and Introduct ion (GUIDELINES)

2

update on Situat ion in Baghdad

red Mil i tary Analysts

red Mil i tary Analysts

I osn publ ic Affai r s----------"

ImageG01.glf (9 K8)

ImageG01.glf (9 K8)

of Defense

AFPSi Sarber, All ison Me eSD PA; Bryan WhitmanSubject: Conference ca l l with Retired Mili tary Analysts

Colonel.Please find at tached (and pasted below) the agenda fo r the ca l l wit h R e ti re d MilitaryAnalysts in a hal f hour. The RSVP's I have received so fa r are on the s econd page. Thed ia l in number i s also on the Agenda. Please l e t me know i f you have any questions.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2006Ret

Thank you for your t ime.

Ret

As of 8:30 a.m.

Conference Cal l

AGENDA

9:01 a.m.

vir.

9:00 a.m.

"b)(6)


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3

Major General James S p i d e r ~ Marks (USA, Retired) CNN

(USAF. JAG) American

o & A

Conference Call Concludes (GUIDELINES)

Major General William Caldwell

Mili tary Analysts

Dia l - in - t e l ephone numbers are f_b_(_2_ 1o r l_b_)(_2_) _

9:30 a.m.

9:45 a.m .

Note:

Confirmed Ret i red Mil i ta ry Analysts :

Confirmed Ret i red Mil i ta ry Analysts :

Colonel John Garret t (USMC, Retired) Fox News

Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Cucullu (USA, Retired) Fox News

Mr. Jed BabbinSpectator

Mr. Jed Babbin (USAF. JAG) AmericanSpectator

Command Sergeant Major Steven Greer (USA, Retired) Fox News

Lieutenant Colonel Tim J . Eads (USA, Retired) Fox News

Major General Paul E. Vallely (USA, Retired) Fox News

Gene ra l Wil li am F. -Buck" Kernan (USA, Retired)

Lieutenant General Thomas Mcinerney (USAF, Retired) Fox News


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4


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VJR.

-Ruff, Eric Mr 050 PA; Caldwell William B MGresterosl Mar1t J LTC OSD PA;Kb)(6) 1AFPSi Barber, Allison Ms OSD PAi Bryan

.coml

han SES 050 PA' I'b)(6) 050 PA;;k:!U(6) IMAl MNFI STRATEFF: B( OSD P A (

Sent:To:

Sunday. October 22, 2006 7:41 AMKb)(6) IoSD PA; Thompson, Jonathan SES OSO P A : ~ b ) ( 6 ) [OSD PA:Ballesteros. Mark J LTC OSD PA; Barber, Allison Ms OSD PA------

ce . b ) ( 6 ) IMAJ MNFI STRATEFF; \Nhitman, Bryan Mr aSD PASubject: (U) RE: Conference call with Retired MilitaryAnalysts

b)(6)

From: fb)(6) leol STRATEFF b)(6)

b)(6)

Page I of4

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIIFOR OFFICIAL USE ONLYMr Thompson and f_)_6) _Please email to us soonest the transcript of MG Caldwell's Retired Military Analysts Conferencecall transcript. We'd like to use it to assist GEN casey for his PC with Ambassador Khalilzad.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIIFOR OFFICIAL USE ONLYIf this e-mail ismarked FOROFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from mandatory disclosureunder FOIA. DoD 5400.7R "DoD Freedom of Information Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9,"Clearance ofDoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview ofDoD Information for Public Release" apply.

b)(6)

Stay informedl: hrb)(6) IColonel, USAFDeputy Chief, Strategic CommunicationsStrategic Effects, MNF-IDSN I'b)(2)C o m m ~ ( Int'l l'b)(2)MCIr-b)(2)

b)(6)

Fromb)(6) 10 50 PA [mailtob)(6)sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 3:37 PM..--- - - - - - -To:Kb)(6) tOL STRATEFFCC: Thompson, JonatMNFI DCS STRATEFF

Kb)(6) 10 50 PAWhlbnanSubject: COnference call with Retired Military Analysts.


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As of8:30 a.m.

TIME: 9:00 - 9:45 a.m,

Welcome and Introduction (GUIDELINES)rb)(6) IA4;;'n. n ......u., A 4 T ~ : _ ~

Q&A


Conference Call Concludes (GUIDELINES) fb)(6) Military Analysts

9:00 a.m,

Conference CallRetired Military AnalystsFRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2006__ . __ _. . .._ . - __ . - _.n

Page 2 of4

Colonel,Please find attached (and pasted below) the agenda for the call with Retired Military Analysts in a half hour. TheRSVP's I have received so far are on the second page. The dial in number is also on theAgenda. Please let meknow if you have any questions.Thank you foryour time.

__ . __ _.___ _ . . __ ___ .. __ . - _.n

AGENDA9:00 a.m, Welcome and Introduction (GUIDELINES)

b I l OSD Public Affairs9:01 a.m. Update on Situation in Baghdad

9:30 a.m,

9:45 a.m.

vir,rb)(6) IPublic AffairsOffice of the secrejry of Defense[b)(2)


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Note: Dial-in-telephone numbers arer_b)_(2_) lorf_)_2_ -----'

Page 3 of4


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Confirmed Retired Military Analysts:Mr. JedBabbin (USAF, JAG) American SpectatorLieutenant Colonel Gordon Cucullu (USA, Retired) Fox NewsLieutenant Colonel Tim J. Eads (USA, Retired) Fox NewsColonel John Garrett (USMC, Retired) Fox NewsCommand Sergeant Major Steven Greer (USA, Retired) Fox NewsGeneral William F. "Buck" Kernan (USA, Retired)Major General James "Spider" Marks (USA, Retired) CNNLieutenant General Thomas McInerney (USAF, Retired) Fox NewsMajor General Paul E. Vallely (USA, Retired) Fox News

Page 4 of4


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Page 2 of3

.....

'P ' ' '

". - - -.-

,. . - . - -

From (b)(6) MAJ MNFI STRATEFF COMM5 ON [mallto: {b)(6)~ n " ! Frll 't;lv I " I r t n h P ~ . , n . , n n ~ 11 ',,)Sl. AM ------------

major,thanks. i wil l pass this along. there was also one more pending question from bing west, which mg caldwell saidhe would try to get the answer for. the question was: whafs the number held in prison under long sentences bythe Iraqis? is that something you can help with?also, what is the address for talibani's website?thanks tons,

FromJb)(6) MAJ MNFI STRATEFF COMM5 OIV [mallto: {b)(6)Sent: Frida October 20, 2006 11:28 AM ----------- -To: b)(6) OSO PAcc: b)(6) CNTR MNFI STRATEFF COMMS OIVSubject: [U] document from caldwell'sconference call

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIf this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from mandatory disclosureunder FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom of Information Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9,"Clearance of DoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview ofDoD Information for Public Release" apply.

From ( b)(6) 10 50 PA [ m a i l t o ~ ( _Sent: Fridav. October 20,20066:42 PMTo: b)(6) MAJ MNFI STRATEFF COMM5 OIVCc: ~ N T R MNFI S'l"AATEFF COMMS OIVSubject: RE: [U] document from caldwell's conference call

Clas.s.iflcation: UNCLASSIFIEDb ) ( ~I'll check on the number in Iraq prisons ...Talibani's web site is all in Arabic, which is Why we have a translated copy of info.EJ

sent: Frida r 20,200611:51 AMTo: b)(6) OSO PASub ect: RE: [UJ document from Caldwell's conference call

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIIFOR OFFICIAL USE ONLYKb)(6) IAttached is the document that MG Caldwell referenced today. This is a translation of the info taken directly fromPresident Talibani's official website. The info is specific to a timetable for critical political and economicmeasures. If I recall, Jim Garamone asked the question that spurred MG Caldwell to talk to this info.Kb)(6) IeMaj, U.S. Marine CorpsPAO, Multi National Force-Iraq, BaghdadCommerciaIKb)(2) IMel Cell:(b)m IDSN: b)(2)IraqnaS e c u r e L - - - = - P - r ; ;~ C ( - ; - - - INIPR: r_)_(6_) _


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.l'b)(6).I KEX: b)(6)

Page 3 of3SJPRCEN

Stay Informed: w w w . m n f ~ i r a q . c o m

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIIFOR OFFICIAL USE ONLYIf this e-mail is marked FOROFFICIAL USE ONLY it may be exempt from mandatory disclosureunder FOIA. 000 5400.7R, "000 Freedom oflnformationAct Program", DoD Directive 5230.9,"Clearance ofDoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview ofDoD Information for Public Release" apply.


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- - - - -- - . - - - -- -- - -- - - -- -- - .. - - .. - -_ ....- . ,_a - l "Y-J"

b)(6)

IMr OSD PA; Ruff, Eric Mr 050 PAL Caldwell William BMG

Sent:To:Cc:

From: Caldwell William B MG MNFr OCS STRATEFF ( W i l l j a m . c a l d w e l l ~ b ( Friday. October 20, 2006 11 :52 PM ---.Jrb)(6) loso PA;rb)(6) ICOL STRATEFFThorn SES OSO PAJb)(6) IMroso PA; Ruff, Eric Mr oso PA;b)(6) I STRATEFF' B r1< J LTC OSD P A K ~ b ) =( - - ' - - ) ..:....:.L- _b)(6 oso PA b)(6) b 6 AFPS; Barber. A I I i ~ n Ms oso PA;

au.......J: UL.dI.L..llL\lr OSOPA; b)(6) .Kb)(6) ICOMMS DIV ;b)(6) MAJ MNFI STRA Chief of Staff;b)(6) b)(6) _ XOSUbject: [U] RE: Conference call with Retired Military Analysts

From fb)(6) loso PA [malltotb)(6) _sent: Friday, October 20,20063:37 PMTo:Kb)(6) ICOL STRATEFFCc: Thompson, Jonathan SES OSD PA;Kb)(6)

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Page 1 of3

Colonel.Please find attached (and pasted below) the agenda for the call with Retired Military Analysts in a half hour. TheRSVP's I have received so far are on the secondpage. Thedial in number is also on the Agenda. Please let meknow if you have any questions.Thank you for your time.

fb)(6) IPublic AffairsOfficeof the Secretary of Defense

From fb)(6) loso PA [malltot-:-)_6) _sent: Friday, October 20,20063:37 PMTo:Kb)(6) ICOL STRATEFFCc: Thompson, Jonathan SES OSD PA;Kb)(6) IMr OSO PA; Ruff, Eric Mr 050 PAL Caldwell William BMGMNA DCS STRATEFF;l b)(6) IMAl MNFI STRATEFFi Ballesteros, Mark J LTC 050 PA; fb)(6) Ifb)(6) pSD P A ( ] OSD PAL fb)(6) !AFPS; Barber, Allison Ms OSD PAL BryanWhlbnanSubject: Conference call with Retired Military Analysts

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIIFOR OFFICIAL USE ONLYIf this e-mail is marked FOR OFFICIALUSE ONLY itmay be exempt frommandatory disclosureunder .FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoDFreedom of InformationAct Program", DoD Directive 5230.9,"Clearance ofDoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and PolicyReview ofDoD Information for Public Release" apply.

_ _ 'u"

VIr - Bill CaldwellAgain - appreciated your help, and trust you also received the materials to forward onto the Analysts.

Classification: UNCLASSIFIEDIIFOR OFFICIAL USE ONLYE thanks for making this all come together. Thought it was a very productive session. JonathanThompson was right in recommending this venue - one we need to sustain at some frequency which Iwill talk with Jonathan about.


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~ _ b ) _ ( 2 ) lor ~ b ) ( 2 )Note: Dial-in-telephone numbers arel l _

9:00 a.m. Welcome and Introduction (GUIDELINES) fb)(6) IOSD Public Affairs

9:018.m. Update on Situation in Baghdad

Page2 of3

As of 8:30 a.rn.

TIME: 9:00 - 9:45 a.m.z

18--

Q&A

Q&A

Conference Call Concludes (GUIDELINES)


Military Analysts

Military Analysts

~ b ) ( 6 )

Conference CallRetired Military AnalystsFRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2006AGENDA

9:30 a.m.

9:30 a.m.

9:45 a.m.

,


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Confirmed Retired Military Analysts:Mr. Jed Babbin (USAF. JAG) American SpectatorLieutenant Colonel Gordon Cucullu (USA. Retired) Fox NewsLieutenant Colonel Tim J. Eads (USA. Retired) Fox NewsColonel John Garrett (USMC, Retired) Fox NewsCommand Sergeant Major Steven Greer (USA, Retired) Fox NewsGeneral William F. "Buck" Kernan (USA, Retired)Major General James "Spider" Marks (USA, Retired) CNNLieutenant General Thomas McInerney (USAF, Retired) Fox NewsMajor General Paul E. Vallely (USA, Retired) Fox News

Page 3 of3


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I'b)(6)

From:Sent:To:SUbJect:Attachments:

10-20-06 MGcaldwell Iraq paIt..,

rb)(6) IOSD PAFriday, ~ o 2006 5:29 PMf ( aSD PAaldwell10-20-06 MG Caldwell Iraq partial 2.doc

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MG Caldwell (from Iraq)Conference call with military analystsFriday, Oct. 20, 2006Note: call was on the record except for some portions on background (those portions nottranscribed) ~ " . - - - - -__Transcriber: ~ b ) _ ( 6 _ _Caldwell: I guess the first thing to start off with is obviously from the press conferenceyesterday (Oct. 18) that we did over here in Baghdad there has been a lot of questionsabout what mayor may not have been said, and I just really wanted to help first, clarifythat, that there has been a question about whether or not we feel l ike the plan has been afailure. And that's not the case at all. I think talking to (inaudible) especially everybodyunderstands anytime you devise a plan, you put into implementation of it, you areconstantly reassessing and re-evaluating it. That's what we have been doing from thebeginning. Weare continuing to do that with this plan, and whenwe said yesterday thatwe are going back and continuing to refine it, that's exactly what we are doing.

We are going to make adjustments to it. We are talking with the government of Iraq on aweekly basis ofwhat we call the Ministerial Committee for National Security, and thenof course the CO (commanding general), General Casey, does it on a even probablyinformal basis directly with the prime minister, too.So those are things that are ongoing that perhaps they portrayed it as some kind of justdramatic shift that is going to occur, and it's not. You know I was talking really at thetacticallevet, tactically what we are looking at within the plan.We do want to make some adjustments and refinements to it. We are going to do that,and we will continue executing the plan.Our theme that we keep kind of using is the fact that violence and progress do co-existhere in Iraq. That's something General Casey said back in Washington about two weeksago. It's something we've recognized over here - that we're not going to have one beforethe other, that in fact they are both going to have to be worked in parallel to each other.We're going to have continue working on progress within country - with the rebuildingportion of it, with the governance piece, with the economic piece, simultaneously we'redealing with the levels of violence that we experience at different intensities at differenttimes at different areas.But obviously, our overall goal is eventually to build the government of Iraq to where itcan handle its security itself, where, you know, i t 's self reliant to handle the levels ofviolence. And there will be varying levels of violence that are still always going to occurhere, evenwhen it reaches a point whenwe are quote-unquote "successful" and haveachieved the desired end state. You'll have heard different people refer to it as, youknow, a country that's at peace with its neighbors, lives in peace and security, but in factwe recognize the fact that it 's going to be many, many years before this country sees a

and we will continue executing the plan.

Our theme that we keep kind of using is the fact that violence and progress do co-existhere in Iraq. That's something General Casey said back in Washington about two weeksago. It's something we've recognized over here - that we 'r e not going to have one before


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level of violence that's more normal to we're used to in America and what Westerners 'would want to see. There is going to be some sort of level of criminal that is still going tobe here, then you're goingto have some sort of sectarian violence still at some low level,and you're probably still going to have some level of terrorist activity, insurgent activitythat is still going to occur.What we have to do is develop the Iraqi Security Forces to such that they are able andcapable of handling those three various levelsof violence, bringing themdown to somelevel to where the security forces are just above them, and can handle it, and that's thepoint whichwe 'l l be allowed - or able - to disengage our forces.Ultimately what's going onis there's a need for a political solution more than a militarysolution at this point. Any placewe go in and we have conducted operationsjust asanybody has seen for many, many years, we are ableto control the situation where ourforces are present. But to ultimately bring the security, the relative security and prosperitythis country it's going to take and require a political solution towhat's going on.

There is a tremendous amountof dialogue that is occurring.You've heard that the primeminister had this 24-point plan in June; he's had already now two of his nationalreconciliation conferences, they've announced a third one is goingto be on Nov. 4, thatthey are going to do,we're not sure the fmal one. We know that he is working his fourpoint plan he outlined about two weeks ago, figuring out how to put that into place, andworking with the various political factions and the different sectarian elements here.But he is engaged in dialogue and working with all the different sects, andthat's exactlywhat has to occur ifwe are going to eventually come to some political solution for thiscountry. Because it is ultimately up to the Iraqi peopleto rebuild and secure their owncountry; that's not something that we are going to be able to do completely for them; wecan only set the stage to allow that to occur.The prime minister did announce the formation of a special committee here about twodays ago - or a couple days ago now - that will address the issue.of militias and also takeon overseeing the reform of the security ministries, specifically the ministry ofdefense,interior and the INIS - the Iraqi National Intelligence Service.And those are ongoing and there was initial reports that were due back out to the primeminister this week. Alreadywe've seen some things occur, such as the two nationalpolice division commanders that have been removed from their duties and assigned otherduties, which is a very positive step forward with the government doing that type thing,because that needed to occur at the very top in both those cases. It was somethingwe sawthat would be a very positive step forward, but they made that on their own. It trulywasn't us forcing anything in the background; that was a decision they took unilaterallyand executed.We were in tremendous agreementwith the decision they made, obviously,and very supportiveof it.

- -country; that's not something that we are going to be able to do completely for them; wecan only set the stage to allow that to occur.The prime minister did announce the formation of a special committee here about twodays ago - or a counle davsazo now - that will address the issue.of militias ann also take


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We have said that the spike in violence that we are seeing would occur during theRamadan period; we announced it well before Ramadan even started. We have seen it forover the last two years; historically, it's about a 20 percent increase in the level ofviolence in terms ofattacks, although that doesn't necessarily equate to casualties, someset number, but it does in terms of the amount of activity. Over the last two years it'sincreased; we're seeing a 22 percent increase already in the first three weeks ofRamadancompared to the last three weeks before Ramadan. So that is in fact occurring as wethough it would. And we just yesterday got a tremendous spike in VBED (vehicle-borneexplosive devices) activity across the country. [ want to say it was 17 altogether differentactivities occurring between vehicle IEDs and suicide-vehicle IEDs. And we can providemore detail - approximately 25 killed, about another I want to say about another 80wounded, but I can get those exact figures here momentarily for you.So that did occur, and again, this is on the night of (inaudible) power, and we though wewould see the spike there, in fact we did, just like we thought we did yesterday. But thatwill (?continue).

You heard what happened at Balad. Initially the press was portraying this as a toughsituation that the government showed some kind of failure almost or something when infact, when it was all final ly said and done and I had the opportunity to talk with one ofthe ground commanders on site, it actually turned out to be a fairly good news story interms of how the Iraqi leadership in that area reacted and responded to what occurred.It started with the Iraqi army having killed an AQI (al Qaeda in Iraq) figure - a SunniAQI member. In retaliation for that about 24 hours later, you know, we found a bunch ofShi'a who were killed in retaliation for that, 14 of them to be exact. And then the verynext day we saw 26 Sunni that were killed for that. And right away the mayor ofBaladplaced the city on a curfew. They called together a meeting with team leaders, startedtalking about how to diffuse this situation. The next day they saw some indirect fire in thecity; one more person was killed. And then on the 18th, theyhad a 'majo r conference ofjust over a couple hundred - 100,200 people - that came together, including everybodyfrom the provincial governor, the vice governor of the Salah ad Din Province, to themayor, to the police chief, to some local sheiks -about seven or so local sheiks came in;they brought in the Iraqi army deputy brigade commander, the local Iraqi army battalioncommanders, we were present - the Coalition forces were present but not at all involved.And they all came together and signed a pact and agreed to stopwhat would have been acycle of violence that would have continued had there not been immediate response andaction by the leadership of that province. They took charge; they stopped it; andwe havenot had another incident since then.The numbers were grossly exaggerated initially from what we had heard in the news interms ofwhat the casualties were. We actually went to the local hospitals and verified thenumbers, so it was somewhere around about 14 Shi'a and about 26 Sunni, so about 40people who were killed in the sectarian violence based on that (one mortar?) from thedirect fire.

- . -placed the city on a curfew. They called together a meeting with team leaders, startedtalking about how to diffuse this situation. The next day they saw some indirect fire in thecity; one more person was killed. And then on the 18th, theyhad a 'major conference ofjust over a couple hundred - 100, 200 people - that came together, including everybodyfrom the provincial aovernor. the vice zovernor of the Salah an Din Province. tn thp.


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So there was no real reporting on that, although we did talk it at the press conferenceyesterday, and then stated in fact we were pleased to see them taking charge and goingthrough that piece.I could go on. I'd be glad to talk to any specifics you all would like to. I can goeverywhere from talking legislative actions the governor of Iraq is working and kind ofwhere we are and how we see that playing out. The president, Talabani, did just post on aweb site his legislative actions that they want to accomplish through the rest of this year,2006, and then what they want to work into the beginning of2007. It's a timeline ofevents. In fact, in ties in very closely to everythingwe've been talking - we being theU.S. mission and Coalition forces - have been talking to the leadership over here about.But it's those kind of activities that when youwatch them occurring again gives ustremendous hope and promise for the future - the fact that they're government isfunctioning; the Council of Representatives is meeting, they're having debate. They'regoing through the first - their second read, and then voting on these laws. They havepassed a couple of key critical pieces of legislative actions, such as the investment law,which was huge, and they 'r e now working out also things like paying back debt they oweto the Turkish government which will allow for the border to be reopened and fuel tocome across, which they are going to need throughout this winter time period, but theywere in arrears for about 200 million dollars, and they've managed to figure out how toget money out of their system and start paying back the government ofTurkey.We see things like an international exposition that took place in late September up inIrbil; about 800 companies from 20 different countries showed up there for that event,you know, people who were interested in investing and establishing businesses over here.We know that September they also passed their fuel import liberalization law, which isreally, really important that they did, and that should start helping with the black marketsales, and improve the fuel supply and reduce corruption by openingmore the energysector to private investment, which is something they desperately needed to do, too,because corruption within the whole fuel business was very - was rampant, and thingslike the fuel import liberalization law will help set better market prices; it will allow forbetter distribution so the black market - the lucrativeness of doing that will nowdecreasing over time.Anyway those are - I mean, and I can go on some other things. We can talk about theregions law if you want, that they did pass, although I am not an expert I can at least talkit some. But the two thatwe're still focused on very heavily is the hydrocarbon law andthe de-Ba'athification. Both of those are going to be very important to be dealt with, anddiscussed, and hopefully addressed by the Council ofRepresentatives before the end ofDecember when they are scheduled to go out of session again for two more months, andthen come back in session in March.With that, I'll take any questions anybody has, and I'll open it up and try and addressthings. But we were just a little concerned that after the press conference yesterday that itwas kind ofportrayed as ifwe felt that the plan was failing; and I think that anybody in

really, really important that they did, and that should start helping with the black marketsales, and improve the fuel supply and reduce corruption by openingmore the energysector to private investment, which is something they desperately needed to do, too,because corruption within the whole fuel business was very - was rampant, and thingslike the fuel import liberalization law will help set better market prices: it will allow for


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torture chambers and that type of thing? Are you actively trying to bring down themilitias as U.S. forces?Caldwell: I'll go back on the back record. I'll tell you, we know that within this city thereare, you know, (Army Maj. Gen.) J.D. Thurman probably said it best, there's at least 23different militia groups that operate within the city ofBaghdad. I mean, he's got them allby name, can tell you general ly where they are located. We track them as best we can byintelligence to understandwho they are, what their goals are and everything else, but weclearly stand by the position that i f you are in fact operating outside the law we are goingto come after you.We have a very - we have a special cell that has been formed, put together - GeneralCasey did this several months ago, that does nothing but monitor, track and help us targetthose who are involved in sectarian violence or extrajudicial killings, specifically withinthe Baghdad area. And there's alot of resources that are used in that targeting effort, andthat's why on any kind ofweekly basis, you are going to find we're picking up severalcell leaders and anywhere from 10 to 30 cell members in locations across the Baghdadarea. And we do show that normally just about every press conference, or every otherpress conference, kind ofwhere we are in terms of the operations over the last two weeks.But I think one of the most important things is we all realize that ultimately this wholemilitia thing is going to be solved by a political solution, not by a military solution.Kinetically, we'll continue to operate on whenwe know they're operating outside thelaw, but we really have are ultimately going to have to have the prime minister, throughhis efforts, find a political solution to this militia issue here that exists.Q: As far as the U.S. casualties are concerned, can you giveme some estimation of howmany ofV.S. casualties are a result ofIEDs and ambushes and not as a resul t of directcombat? I mean the questions that we're getting a lot of t imes are are we killing as manyof them as they're killing of us, just to be as plain as we can be?X (checked to this point except the sheik's name - trying to confirm that via Tara withCaldwell's people).Caldwell: We don't obviously publicly talk about where the majority ofour casualties arecoming from, although you could probably put it together by taking all our press releases(inaudible) casualties and you would start seeing a trend that obviously - you know, weare very concerned about IEDs. There are a lot of attacks on us. Most of the attacks thatoccur against the Coalition forces do not produce many casualties because they're justnot very effective against us and it's a variety of factors, you can imagine, from our bodyarmor, to our gear, to our protection, to our responsive, to our suppressive fires, so that-although the largest number of attacks (will?) occur against Coalition forces right now ona daily basis, most are very ineffective in terms of producing the equivalent number ofcasualties. Although we have seen as we all know as of yesterday there were 73 V.S.casualties - deaths, specifically, already in this month.

many ofV.S. casualties are a result of IEDs and ambushes and not as a result of directcombat? I mean the questions that we're getting a lot of t imes are are we killing as manyof them as they're killing of us, just to be as plain aswe can be?X (checked to this point except the sheik's name - trvinz to confirm that via Tara with


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We do know that if you go back and you look in the month of Septemberwithin theBaghdad area detained - I know that the Multi-National Division-Baghdad themselvesdetained over 750 people and killed over another 80, but - in the month of Septemberthat is.But we don't normally go through and talk a lot about the casualty figures; we have beenvery concerned about not getting into some body count. Ifyou go into this month ofOctober we are in a very high glide path having detained already well over 580 at thispoint and have already killed over 30 insurgent activities within the city of Baghdaditself; this is not countrywide, obviously we've go t other operations that are going on byour specialized forces, our Marines out west, and other places, too.But that's just within Baghdad city. So there's been a tremendous amount of activitywithin the Baghdad area when you start looking at those kind of figures, if that helps putsome of that into perspective for you.Q: I think there's been an awful lot ofmisreporting about what the president's said aboutIraq versus Vietnam. I understood him to only say that there's a parallel in that the enemyis trying to influence public opinion. I didn't understand him to say anything more thanthat. What was your understanding ofwhat he said?Caldwell: That was my exact understanding, too, and I had carefully read the text. It wasa question that was given to him and he didn't come up with that, he was responding tosomebody asking about that; he said, yeah, I think you could make that analogy orsomething like that. When asked a question when he specifically was talking about it interms of the media and how that can turn public opinion and how it was used back then,in fact did turn public opinion. We have already seen onjihadist web sites within the lastweek, at least I know of two occasions right now - there may be more, we're having ourteams look, where in fact they have already come out and stated that elections are goingto be occurring in the United States next month, and we need to continue to inflict asmany casualties as we can on the American forces, because that will force the Americanpeople (inaudible - that will?) want to leave, or something like that, by doing that. Sothey recognize themselves and are already talking to themselves on their web sites aboutthe importance of the media, inflicting American casualties and how that can beperceived by Americans during the election period. And we did mention that yesterdayduring our press conference, that we think that's one of the three kind of reasons nowwhy we see an increased focus and effort against Coalition forces in terms of trying toproduce casualties against us.Q: That's great, thanks.Q: Following up on the detainees, the troops refer to it as the catch-and-release programbecause something like 80 percent of all the detainees are released within four months.When you're using the word detainee, is that what you mean, that we can expect the vastmajority of these people to be released back out on the street? Or do you mean arrests

week, at least I know of two occasions right now - there may be more, we're having ourteams look, where in fact they have already come out and stated that elections are goingto be occurring in the United States next month, and we need to continue to inflict asmany casualties as we can on the American forces, because that will force the Americanpeople (inaudible - that will?) want to leave. or somethinz like that. bv doino that. So


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thatwill actually result in prison terms so these same guys won't be back out in thestreets?Caldwell: Of that number, if you take September and October within Baghdad, youknow, we're at 1,300 or so, one thousand three hundred or so that were picked up at leastdetainees. They will go through the process of producing the evidence that they haveagainst these folks, and if it sufficient then they will put them in the detention system. Butyou are correct, at this point they are not into the detention system.I am not quite sure, and I was trying to think - I was talking to Jack Gardner today aboutwhere his current statistics stand in terms ofhow many people - yeah, he right now hasabout 13,700 people in the detention system. Now those are the folks that are being heldbecause in fact there is sufficient evidence to continue holding for a long period of timeand they will not be (immediately") released.I think you know that the month of June that we did release - the prime minister did askand they went through the system and did release quite a few and that's part of the wholereconciliationprocess, about 1,500 or so as I recall were released. And in fact at thatpoint wewere about 14,500, went down to about 13,000.(Inaudible) how many people do go through the central criminal court of Iraq. They arecharged, like last week, they administered onemore death sentence and quite a fewprison sentences and then theymove out of our detention systemand into the Iraqi prisonsystem. But right nowwe do have about 13,000 people in our system.Q: Doyou know howmany the Iraqis have?Caldwell: Boy, I don't know that answer. I can try to find out; I've just not asked thatquestion before. I know we don't readily have it here; I've not seen it in anything before,but we can ask that question.Q: Thank you.(cross talk)Q: Sir, I just want to let you know that everybody back here on this call and all thewounded soldiers I talk to on a weekly basis couldn't be prouder ofwhat you're doingand what the rest of you guys do from over there. We truly appreciate you've got ourbackand warm hearts and support and regards to what goes on.Q: Here, here.Q: Amen.Caldwell: Well, that's great. I sure appreciate that. You know it does amazeme whenyou go out and talk to young kids, at least one day a week I get out and spend time with

calowell: Boy, 1don 't Know that answer. I can try to find out; I've just not asked thatquestion before.

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