Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - Lessons Learned During Operations in Afghanistan and Iraq

Federal News Service

July 9, 2003 Wednesday

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
 
SUBJECT: LESSONS LEARNED DURING OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ
 
CHAIRED BY: SENATOR JOHN WARNER (R-VA)
 
LOCATION: 218 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

General Franks, let me begin my remarks by joining my colleagues in thanking you for a truly outstanding career. Our country owes you an enormous debt of gratitude. And I join my colleagues in saluting you.

Mr. Secretary, I was honored to be part of the Armed Services Committee trip to Iraq recently, and like my colleagues, I had the opportunity to talk with many of our troops.

I want to echo the impressions that Senator Reed received in his conversations. To a person, I found that our troops' morale was very high, despite the harsh conditions under which they're serving and despite the dangers to which they are exposed. But I also found a weariness among our troops. and over and over I heard, "I'm proud of our mission. I helped free the Iraqi people. But when do I get to go home?" So I think it is important that we communicate to the men and women who are serving so that they will have some expectations.

One soldier from Maine told me, "I can deal with another three months, I can deal with another six months, but I just need to know." So I would encourage you, and I know that General Abizaid is working on this, but to share that information with our men and women in uniform as quickly as it is available so there can be some certainty.

I would also ask you, Mr. Secretary, to project for us what you see as the percentage mix of American troops versus troops from other countries as part of the coalition forces by the end of the year. Obviously, we can rotate troops home more quickly if we can replace them not just with American troops but with troops from other countries. Can you give us some rough estimate of what you see as the percentages of American troops versus troops from other countries as part of the coalition forces by the end of the year?

SEC. RUMSFELD: Well, as General Franks and I have indicated, we now have about 148,000 troops there; we're hoping to get—have the non-U.S. coalition forces up to something like—at the moment we're looking at 30,000 sometime late summer, early fall; we intend to have the Iraqi army grow as rapidly as we can do so; and there's actually a fourth source of forces, and that's contract forces for site protection to the extent that that might make sense. And that's roughly what it looks like to me going out towards the end of the year.

SEN. COLLINS: You mentioned, Mr. Secretary, in your statement that Iraqis no longer wake up every morning in fear wondering whether this will be the day that the death squads come. And indeed, all of us feel a great pride of freeing the Iraqi people from the breathtaking brutality of Saddam Hussein and his regime. But nevertheless, what I found during the trip is that there still is very much a climate of fear in Iraq. There's a fear that the Americans and the coalition forces will go home too soon and that Saddam Hussein will return to power.

I was struck by a conversation that we had with an Iraqi who is running an oil refinery in Basra, whom, whenever we asked any question that involved Saddam Hussein, would not respond. How important is it that we capture or kill Saddam Hussein? And how high a priority is it for the coalition forces?

SEC. RUMSFELD: The president has said, and we all agree, that the United States and the coalition forces are committed to stay as long as is necessary and not a day longer. So the idea that we would leave too soon and Saddam Hussein come back is not a realistic concern that anyone ought to have. Saddam Hussein's not coming back.

How important is it that he be caught or killed, and that closure come to that? It would be helpful. There's no question but that this individual has created such fear on the part of the Iraqi people because of his brutality and the numbers of—tens of thousands of people he's killed, and the willingness to use chemical weapons on his own people and on his neighbors, that—that there is a fear, not just in Iraq, but in the region, that he—that we have to be certain that he is not going to be around. I think that that'll take some time. People don't get over that fear immediately. But he's not coming back. He's through. That regime is over.

SEN. COLLINS: You and I know that. You and I know for certain that Saddam Hussein is not coming back. But I am convinced that the fear that Saddam will come back is impeding our progress in reconstructing Iraq.

Prior to this trip, I would have said that as long as he's out of power, that's sufficient. I came back with a very different feeling, a determination that unless we capture or kill Saddam, that our progress is going to be far slower.

SEC. RUMSFELD: I agree with that. And I will say, however, that, in answer to your question of what's the priority, the priority is very high—as I'm sure you were briefed.

SEN. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.