COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY BRIEFING WITH BRIGADIER GENERAL MARK KIMMITT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS; AND DANIEL SENOR, SENIOR CPA ADVISOR LOCATION: BAGHDAD, IRAQ DATE: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2003 (C) COPYRIGHT 2003, FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC., 1919 M ST. NW; SUITE 220; WASHINGTON, DC - 20036, USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION CONSTITUTES A MISAPPROPRIATION UNDER APPLICABLE UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW, AND FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PURSUE ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO IT IN RESPECT TO SUCH MISAPPROPRIATION. FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. IS A PRIVATE FIRM AND IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. NO COPYRIGHT IS CLAIMED AS TO ANY PART OF THE ORIGINAL WORK PREPARED BY A UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE AS PART OF THAT PERSON'S OFFICIAL DUTIES. FOR INFORMATION ON SUBSCRIBING TO FNS, PLEASE CALL JACK GRAEME AT 202-347-1400. THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. ------------------------- MR. SENOR: Good afternoon. General Kimmitt has a brief opening statement, after which we will be happy to take your questions. General Kimmitt? GEN. KIMMITT: Good afternoon. Coalition military forces express our condolences to the citizens of Spain and Japan for the loss of their countrymen to terrorist activities in Iraq. At the specific request of the governments involved, we are referring all questions regarding these incidents to the appropriate Spanish and Japanese ministries. Those telephone numbers are available in the Coalition Press Information Center. Coalition forces remain on the offensive against anti-coalition elements, while also continuing stability and support operations to enable to the restoration of a free Iraq. In the past 24 hours, the coalition conducted 1,682 patrols, 25 raids, and captured 72 anti- coalition suspects. There were 11 military engagements across the area of operations, although the number of attacks on soft targets and civilians continues to rise. In the north, the 101st Airborne Division continues Operation Eagle Curtain and intelligence-based raids, cordons, and searches. Forces conducted 311 patrols, four cordon-and-knock operations, and detained eight individuals during the past 24 hours. Forces conducting a cordon-and-knock in central Mosul targeted a Saddam Fedayeen operative. The individual was not located at the residence, but the residents led coalition forces to the target's location, where the target was detained. Yesterday an Iraqi citizen notified the division of a booby trap concealed a supply route in north Mosul. Soldiers discovered a second booby trap in central Mosul and a third in Ash Shura. All were destroyed without injury to troops. Additionally, citizens continued to turn in weapons and ammunition to the coalition. Yesterday, 31 hand grenades, nine RPG launchers, nine rounds, one complete mortar, 20 mortar rounds, and nine heavy machine guns were handed over to the 101st in the north. These incidents to the significant increase in intelligence provided by Iraqi citizens. As but one example, the number of tips provided to our divisions on weapons and tips leading to the capture of wanted persons has increased from 25 in July of this year to over 152 in November. Two significant examples of civil-military progress occurred in Sulimaniyah yesterday. General Schloesser joined the dean of Al Sulimaniyah University in the opening of an internet center established coalition signal troops while General Petraeus joined Minister Barham Salih at the opening of the regional airfield rebuilt by coalition engineers. Additionally, coalition forces and local Iraqis will celebrate the opening of Hawler International Airfield in Irbil tomorrow, and media are certainly welcome to attend that ceremony. In the north, 427 personnel also graduated from the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps training course in Al Sulimaniyah. This will bring the total number of Defense Corps members to over 3,500 in that zone, and approximately 12,700 Defense Corps members are working today throughout Iraq. Additionally, 182 more members will graduate tomorrow morning in Mosul. In the north-central zone, coalition forces continue Ivy Cycle, conducting 238 patrols and capturing 25 individuals for suspected involvement in anti-coalition activities. Yesterday afternoon, forces conducted two raids near Kirkuk to capture targets suspected of producing and distributing anti-coalition material. Seven personnel were captured, and anti-coalition propaganda, DVDs, and weapons were seized. Yesterday morning near Balad one civilian contractor, a citizen of Colombia, was killed and two associates were wounded when attackers using small-caliber weapons fired on a convoy. One other item for the northeast zone of operations. There were erroneous press reports concerning an incident in Baqubah. On 27 November, a coalition patrol observed two individuals digging 20 feet from the side of the road north of Baqubah. The patrol engaged the two men, but they escaped. The patrol cleared the area and discovered a deceased girl 10 to 12 years of age. The girl had been dead for an undetermined period of time. The patrol informed the Iraqi Police Service and assessed that the two men were attempting to bury the body. The Iraqi Police Service and military police initiated an investigation and transported the remains to the Baqubah General Hospital morgue. Later, investigators returning to the scene discovered the remains of a second young girl in the same area. These incidents are under investigation by both the Iraqi Police Service and by coalition military investigators. In Baghdad, coalition forces conducted 508 patrols and other offensive operations against individuals suspected of ties to Saddam Fedayeen and other anti-coalition forces. Based on a tip from a local Iraqi, the force captured a target suspected in the downing of the CH- 47 helicopter in Fallujah on 2 November. Throughout the zone, forces have experienced an increase in the number of voluntary turn-in or the dumping in visible points of outlawed weapons and munitions. Over the past 24 hours, 11 mortar rounds, three RPG rounds, nine mortar fuses, two grenades, 14 tank rounds and three mortar tubes were turned in. Like in the north, a new Iraqi Civil Defense Corps class started today with 350 trainees. In the west, coalition troops conducted five offensive operations, 168 patrols, including joint patrols with the Iraqi border guard and Iraqi police, and cleared two weapons caches. During these operations, two U.S soldiers were killed in action and one was wounded. One enemy was killed and nine were captured. Soldiers conducting two simultaneous cordon-and-searches in Iskandariyah captured two targets -- a former Iraqi intelligence officer believed to be responsible for killing pro-coalition Iraqis, and a reported Wahhabist who coordinated and supported anti-coalition activities. As part of Operation Rifle Blitz, coalition forces established three checkpoints and conducted numerous dismounted and mounted patrols in the al Qaim area. Two enemy personnel were captured, and personnel -- 182 personnel lacking passports or documentation were refused entry into Iraq. Two soldiers were killed and one seriously wounded when their convoy was ambushed and attacked with rocket- propelled grenades and small-arms fires east of Husaybah yesterday. In Multinational Division Central South, coalition forces conducted 116 patrols and detained 148 personnnel later deported to Iran. The coalition patrol discovered a roadside bomb in As Suwariya (ph). The bomb consisted of two artillery shells linked together and was destroyed by an Iraqi Civil Defense Team. Finally, in the southeast zone, coalition forces conducted 237 patrols, detaining six personnel. Five were captured for smuggling operations at a diesel fuel pipeline west of Basra. That concludes our opening statements. We're happy to take your questions. Jane? Q Thank you. Jane Arraf, CNN. General Kimmitt, those attacks on the Spanish and Japanese personnel seem to be bolder than the attacks we've been seeing. Can you tell us anything more about those, and whether you do think it might be a change in tactics? GEN. KIMMITT: In terms of the tactics, we have said for the last couple of weeks that we see the enemy starting to attack soft targets, Iraqi targets, rather than military targets. We think this is a change on the part of the enemy. He realizes that attacking a military target will probably lead to his death or capture, and going against soft targets is probably an easier way to achieve what the enemy is trying to achieve. He is attempting to intimidate the people of Iraq, and he is attempting to try to break the will of the coalition. He will be unsuccessful in both. MR. SENOR: Yeah, I would just add that they clearly are targeting coalition members in an effort to intimidate all allies from operating within Iraq and discouraging our participation in the reconstruction of Iraq. The enemy -- the former regime elements and the foreign terrorists -- recognize that the stakes are high, and that's the basis of these targets, regardless of whether or not the tactics shift. And we recognize the stakes are high, too. The important point here is tragic as these incidents were, both the Japanese government and the Spanish government have made very strong statements that they intend to continue to be engaged in the reconstruction of Iraq. I'll quote a senior official from the Japanese government who said, "Our view that we should not yield to terrorism will not change as a result of this." GEN. KIMMITT: Next question. Yeah? Q James Hyde (sp) of the Times. Dan, are you now considering direct elections for the interim government, after Ayatollah Sistani last week voiced his objections to the plan whereby regional caucuses would nominate an interim government? MR. SENOR: On November 15th, the coalition signed what we believe is a very important agreement with the Governing Council, a political agreement that outlines principles and a framework for the political process going forward for an interim, what we call a basic (law ?) on the transitional assembly. It outlines a process. And we are now working on the issues related to the implementation of the process. We intend to honor the agreement we signed. Q Steve Kirby from AFP. General, the attack on the Spanish was clearly a very carefully prepared ambush that had been prepared in advance. Are you confident that you've got operational security as you look ahead to this troop restructuring that's being done through the Christmas period, in which I understand the number of American troops is being reduced and the number of Iraqi auxiliaries and Iraqi contractors are being increased. Isn't the ambush on the Spanish again evidence that there is a big security risk in doing that? GEN. KIMMITT: Well, we have a responsibility to provide for a safe and secure environment in Iraq. We take that mission seriously. We use every opportunity, every piece of actionable intelligence, to go after those that would kill or injure innocent civilians. And during the period, the upcoming period, we feel confident that we have the capability on the ground to accomplish that mission. Q On the issue of it was a prior planned ambush, there was clearly a leak of intelligence to the insurgents ahead of time; someone must have told them. Are you confident that you've got the security within your own operation? GEN. KIMMITT: Well, I'm not sure that that's clear at all, that there is a distinct linkage between the ambush on the ground and prior knowledge. This could have been any enemy that saw a soft target and saw an opportunity to shoot at either a coalition vehicle, at a private vehicle or at a military vehicle. I'm not sure those linkages have been established. And if you have any information on that, we'd certainly appreciate that so that we can go after the perpetrators of that crime. Yeah? Q Peter -- (inaudible) -- from BBC. You have been saying that the insurgency is changing its tactics, moving away from the military, and that the attacks on the military are reducing. Is that correct, is that the way you see it? GEN. KIMMITT: Yeah, that is correct. Q This month, by your figures alone, some 68 American troops have died. That's almost double any other month since the end of -- since Baghdad fell. And even if you take away the helicopter deaths, the Chinook and the Black Hawks, you still wind up with as much, if not more, than the highest month so far. How can you stand there and say that with a straight face? GEN. KIMMITT: Say what with a straight face? That the number of engagements -- ? Quantitatively, the number of engagements that we are seeing on a day-to-day basis is going down. We saw it as high, earlier this month, as 47 in a single day. Today we had 11. Now, every one of those attacks that injures American military or Iraqi civilians is a tragedy to the individual, it's a tragedy to their family, and it's a tragedy to their relatives. But in terms of objective numbers, on the number of engagements, those have showed a downward trend as the enemy has decided rather than going after the military, at this point he seems to be shifting to a strategy of going against softer targets, such as neutrals and civilians. Yeah? Q Thanks. Mark Stone, ABC. General, do you think that there is some coordination between the enemy, as you call it? Are they going to be coordinating between north and south in order to carry out these attacks, or is it still willy-nilly? GEN. KIMMITT: Well, we have seen some patterns at different times, such as simultaneous demonstrations in different parts of the country, that would sometimes suggest that there is some coordination, some linkage. But at this point, our analysts indicate to us that the linkages are weak, at best. And the analysts who are working on this question day and night still don't believe that they are seeing any central direction for these activities, that most of them are small cellular type. Are there linkages between families? Are there linkages between organizations? Are there linkages among former regime elements? That's what we're trying to find out. But we just haven't come to a firm conclusion on that. Q But you would admit that they are becoming more sophisticated? GEN. KIMMITT: We have said over the last couple of weeks that this is a clever adaptive enemy who will try something new at different times. But he also is facing a clever adaptive enemy himself. And we quickly learn his techniques. We get intelligence that we develop ourself, or from the people of Iraq, and we'll strike at the time and place of our choosing against those that would try to kill American coalition military and innocent Iraqis as well. Q Sorry, can I follow up with one last clarification? Can you just clarify how many U.S. soldiers were killed in the last 24 hours? Was it two up near the Syrian border and two near Ramadi, or was it just two? GEN. KIMMITT: We'll get you that exact number. I don't have that number. We don't typically collect those numbers to be able to sort of talk about them on a time-by-time period. Q You mentioned just earlier on -- GEN. KIMMITT: I mentioned individual vignettes. I don't know if that was the full number over the past. I believe it was. But let's talk afterwards and we'll get you the exact number. MR. SENOR: Yeah? Q Hi. Maureen Fan with Knight Ridder. I'm wondering, with these recent attacks with the Spanish and the Japanese, they're not in the Sunni Triangle, and you previously were saying that that's where most of this was concentrated. Are you concerned about the increase in violence outside of this area? What does that tell you? GEN. KIMMITT: Well, we remain concerned about violence anywhere in Iraq. We have a responsibility for the entirety of Iraq. We have seen some attacks that are going out of the patterned area of the Sunni, the Ba'athist, the FRE Triangle, but what we do is -- we are not concerned about that; we continue to focus our intelligence out of that area to try to find out why that's happening, where it's happening from, and who is responsible for it. SENOR: And I would just add that, regardless of where the attacks take place, the anecdotal and statistical survey information we continue to see remains the same. The overwhelming majority of Iraqis say three things: One, we're grateful for the liberation; two, we don't want you to leave, we don't want the -- the majority of Iraqis don't want the coalition to leave until the security situation improves and the country is passed over to some stable democratic environment; and three, they want the security improved. That's what we are hearing from the overwhelming majority of Iraqis. So while there may be attacks in different parts of the country, it doesn't detract from the fact that the overwhelming majority of Iraqis are grateful for the liberation and want us to finish the job. Yes? Q Lourdes Navarro, AP Broadcast. Yesterday journalists who came across the scene where the seven Spaniards were killed saw Iraqis celebrating the deaths of these soldiers. What does that tell you about some of the attitudes towards the coalition? And are you really -- have you already lost perhaps hearts and minds? MR. SENOR: I would way -- repeat what I just said: The overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people are grateful for the liberation and they don't want us to leave. There will be isolated pockets of events like the one you just described. But they are just that: isolated pockets. They do not represent the mindset and the attitude of the overwhelming majority of Iraqis. Q Alan Cypress (sp), Washington Post. General, what details can you provide us about the attack on two foreigners, apparently South Korean contractors, who were seriously injured near Tikrit? And, additionally, what other details can you provide us about the two American servicemen who were killed yesterday near Husbayah? GEN. KIMMITT: On the -- we were starting to receive reports as I left the headquarters that there was an incident I know that had been reported that there may have been personnel contractors from South Korea involved. We don't have the full report yet. I think it would be premature to start talking about that. With regards to -- we had yesterday an attack on a convoy from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment that was picking up some resupply, heading back to their home base in the 82nd Airborne Division area. This was a large convoy. It received ground fire, RPGs. Our soldiers were killed. Some were injured. But they drove off the attackers. They got the wounded to a military hospital. We think most of those wounded will be returned to duty. Q Hi, I'm Patrick McDonnell from The Los Angeles Times. The Italian police seem to think that they've identified a number of the suicide bombs in past attacks here as militants who've come through Europe. And indeed there's been some speculation in the European press that the Al-Rashid Hotel attack may have been traced to some militants who came through Europe. Is there any confirmation of any of this? Does this ring true at all with any of you? MR. SENOR: We have no details on that to release. Q (Name inaudible) -- Yomiuri Newspaper. Regarding two Japanese diplomats, is this incident -- is it done on purpose? That means the attackers have some kind of intelligence system or network to specify the targets? Or it just happened randomly? And what is the message or motive behind that? Thanks. MR. SENOR: To our knowledge at this point we do not -- we're not aware of any information that the attackers had about the specific country represented by the coalition personnel they attacked. I come back to what I said earlier: The enemies of freedom in this country -- the former regime elements, the foreign terrorists -- are trying to break the coalition's will, and they're trying to break the Iraqi people's will to rebuild their country. The stakes are high. They recognize the stakes are high, but so do we. And that's why, while the implications of this incident are tragic, one should also note the comments and the statements coming out of the governments that were affected. They intend to stay the course. Their will is stiffened. And the reconstruction moves on. Q Peter Stiegle (sp) with The Financial Times. General, if you can comment on the overall security situation, because I think these reports of declining engagements with coalition troops, the picture we're being presented is an improvement in the overall security situation because less soldiers are being attacked. And yet, at the same time, if you're saying they're simply just shifting attacks to softer targets, the impression then is that there is no improvement in the overall security situation, that simply they are just -- there's no less violence, there's just shifting violence. Can you address those two contradictory -- GEN. KIMMITT: Well, sure. I mean, I think we've got to go back to the first principle: Are we making progress here on the ground? And the answer is yes. You can see the progress being made everywhere, whether it's in restoring essential services, whether it's restoring the economy, whether it's moving to a system of governance from the Iraqi people -- certainly we're making progress in that regard. All of that has to be done with as safe and secure an environment as possible. We have not only a responsibility to protect the coalition forces, but also to create an environment where those other activities can continue. And it is our assessment at this point that the vast majority of the country of Iraq is in fact safe; that you have these little -- that you have these incidents throughout the country that would try to give the impression that this country is unsafe. But I think the facts on the ground would demonstrate otherwise. MR. SENOR: And I would just add, not only is the majority of the country normal and returning to normality, and is at peace, but the reconstruction continues. Approximately 14,000 reconstruction projects have been completed to date -- almost 100 per day across the country. That hasn't changed. In the last couple of days, we had the first class for the Jordanian training facility for the Iraqi police service; 500 Iraqis heading over to Jordan to begin their eight-week training course for the Iraqi police force. In the last few days, we've had Iraqis stand up and organize a demonstration against terrorism, against terrorism in their own country; Iraqis expressing their freedom of speech, this new-found freedom that they have not been able to even think or dream about in the past 35 years. So, we have -- we continue with the progress; the reconstruction moves on. And while there are isolated incidents of violence and instability, they are nothing more than isolated incidents. Q Yes, hi. Steve Komarow with USA Today. We've been told about the improvements being the most here in Baghdad on security. And yet the security surrounding General Sanchez's news conference yesterday was truly extraordinary, and the green zone has been expanded. Can you tell us, is the general receiving specific death threats, the same way the officers are up in Mosul? GEN. KIMMITT: I'm not even going to answer that. It would offer -- there's no value in talking about whether there are or they're aren't. I don't understand your point, though, about the extraordinary security. I didn't notice yesterday any difference in the security that General Sanchez had at the press conference than he did the week before. Yeah? Q Ed Wong from the New York Times. In the early fall, we saw the numbers of American soldiers dying per month decrease, and in November, I count 81 soldiers dying here, with 12 of them non-hostile deaths, and the other ones related to enemy fire or some hostility. When your men examine these numbers starting from September up to now, and look at the month-by-month trends, what kind of conclusions are you drawing from this? GEN. KIMMITT: Well, I think the conclusion that we draw from that is that the coalition forces are on the offensive. We can't sit back and let the former regime elements, we can't let the foreign fighters, we can't let the subversives and the extremists grip this country and take control of this country, and we won't let that happen. We have been on the offensive. To do that, you develop actionable intelligence and you conduct combat operations that go after the enemy. In those engagements, we will lose American soldiers, we will lose coalition soldiers, but the alternative is to sit back and do nothing and watch the overall security situation deteriorate. And even though each of those events when a soldier is wounded or a soldier is lost is a dreadful event and we grieve with their fellow soldiers and their families and their relatives, we have a mission here to provide a safe and secure environment to the people of Iraq, and we will not be bullied away from that mission. Christine? Q Christine Spolar, Chicago Tribune. Can we go back to the AP question about the effect of crowds cheering and jeering over dead bodies? That happened -- you had youths run from a gas line to pillage two soldiers who died in Mosul last week and were cheering there, and you had the same thing with the Spaniards. What's the psychological effect of that? How do you answer to that? Are the troops concerned about that? GEN. KIMMITT: Well, I think any time the troops see something on TV, when they see their comrades nd their colleagues on TV in that manner, it certainly has an effect on them. But I think all of the soldiers recognize that that's part of the mission. Would they prefer that everyone here opened their arms and embraced them every time they turned around a corner? Certainly we would, because then we'd know the mission was successful. But there are people in this country that have not yet recognized that there's an opportunity for this to be a free Iraq, one that embraces human dignity, individual rights, freedom of expression. And our soldiers understand, sometimes painfully, that part of the job is to get out there, show their presence, and even though they may not always get a most welcome embrace every time they walk up and down the streets, they know ultimately that their mission is to bring peace to this country, and not every day we're going to see a peaceful country. They need to work for it, they need to achieve it, and thus far they seem to be doing a pretty good job accomplishing their mission. MR. SENOR: I would just add that many of these soldiers and the majority of the coalition civilian personnel every single day are interacting with Iraqis, are working hand in hand, side by side with them on the reconstruction. There's Iraqi security personnel increasing in terms of number of recruits, not decreasing. And this isn't, you know, gunpoint conscription, like the days of Saddam Hussein. These are people who are speaking with their feet, acting with their feet, signing up, saying that they want to be a part of protecting the new Iraq. And those individuals are working with our coalition troops too, and those are relationships and interactions that are certainly important for our morale. Q Given what you've just said, is there anything that you can do specifically to make soft targets less soft, given the fact you've deflected attention from the coalition forces onto civilians and contractors? GEN. KIMMITT: Oh, absolutely. And I think that comes down to the help that we need from the people of Iraq. There's no doubt in our minds that many of these attacks, while they are carefully planned, in fact there are a lot of people that know about that. There are a lot of people that can provide us intelligence. And we continue to encourage the people of Iraq to take control of their own destiny, provide us information so that we can thwart these attacks before they happen, and, in those cases where they do happen, after the fact provide us intelligence so we can take offensive actions to kill or capture those that would kill the innocents. Yeah? Q Murray Oliver, Canadian Television News. Dan, there's been an exodus of NGOs from Iraq since the Red Cross and U.N. bombings. And I'm wondering what steps you're taking to encourage these NGOs to come back, and how you're filling the gap. Certainly we've seen in hospitals and other areas a real detriment in social services with them gone. MORE MR. SENOR: We have said many times from this podium that this is a dangerous environment, this is the central front in the war on terror. It's not the only front in the war on terror. If you are discouraged or do not want to be in an environment where terrorism is a threat, then the same applies for Indonesia and Saudi Arabia and Morocco and Turkey over the last few months and over the last few weeks. But, again, it is a dangerous environment. It's the central front in the war on terrorism. There are risks with being involved here. We encourage people to stay. We encourage coalition forces and NGOs and anyone who wants a role in rebuilding this country to stay, if they are comfortable with the situation on the ground. And it's a decision that every individual is going to have to make on their own, and we are pleased about the number of NGOs and the number of coalition partners that are choosing to stay here every single day, even when we have incidents like yesterd! ay. Q But I just wonder if I could just ask quickly a follow-up. I mean, what specific measures are you taking? Have you offered to increase the security at the sites where the organizations are set up or something like that? I mean, the UN has told us that about 50 percent of the NGOs who were previously in Iraq have now suspended their operations. MR. SENOR: I can't get into the operational security details in terms of our coordination with other entities. So I'm just going to have to leave it at that. Yeah? Q Kevin Flower, CNN. If there's a shift in the attacks towards civilian and softer targets, and especially civilian targets, how much harder does it make it, or does it make it harder, to win over the Iraqi population now that they seem to be on the receiving end of more attacks? GEN. KIMMITT: Well, I think one would hope that the Iraqi people would recognize the true motives behind these people that are carrying out these attacks. They're trying to terrorize them -- the old axiom of "kill one, terrorize a thousand" -- and we would hope that the Iraqi people would understand that the best way of preventing this in the future is to provide us intelligence about how is committing these crimes. And we have seen that. Month after month, week after week, the number of tips, information, that we're receiving from the Iraqi people is continuing to increase. That, in fact, the best way to prevent these actions from happening in the future is to give the intelligence so that we can act on that intelligence before it happens. MR. SENOR: And just to complement General Kimmitt's point, I keep repeating this point, that the number of Iraqis involved with the reconstruction of their country and the number of Iraqis involved with the security of their country is increasing, not decreasing. To us, that's the standard: Iraqis standing up and working side by side, hand in hand with the coalition on the future of their country. And they are -- in record numbers I should add. Q (Name inaudible) -- Romanian radio. Have you received any claims of -- (inaudible) -- from these guys during the attacks? Any demands from them? What makes you so sure that they are indeed Saddam loyalists? GEN. KIMMITT: We are not aware of any intelligence at this point that has come in of any group claiming that they were responsible for these attacks. We don't know if these were former regime loyalists. We don't know if they were terrorists. We don't know if they were criminals. But we will continue to investigate and bring to justice those that were responsible. MR. SENOR: We have time for one more question. Someone who hasn't asked one yet if there is, and if not -- Jane, go ahead. Q Thanks. I'm just wondering, with the opening of the Irbil airport in the north, is there any thought to allowing civilian aircraft to land there instead of Baghdad, which has proved to be somewhat dangerous? MR. SENOR: There's been no decision made on that just yet. We'll let you know if there is. Thanks, everybody. #### END