Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - Nomination of General George Casey, Jr. to be Commander of the Multinational Force in Iraq

Federal News Service

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: NOMINATION OF GENERAL GEORGE CASEY, JR. TO BE COMMANDER OF THE MULTINATIONAL FORCE IN IRAQ

CHAIRED BY: SENATOR JOHN WARNER (R-VA)

WITNESSES: GENERAL GEORGE CASEY

LOCATION: 106 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

BODY:
SEN. COLLINS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

General, let me begin by joining my colleagues in thanking you for your willingness to take on what is a daunting and dangerous challenge. We very much appreciate your public service.

General, we all awoke this morning to the very bad news of coordinated attacks on a number of police stations in three different cities in Iraq. Less than a week from now, the coalition will complete the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis. In view of these continuing attacks, and the targeting of Iraqi police forces, what is your assessment of the ability of the new Iraqi Army and the police forces to provide security for the Iraqi people?

GEN. CASEY: As I said, Senator, right now my assessment is that they are not capable of providing security country-wide. They are capable in different places around the country, but not country-wide. So, as President Allawi-Prime Minister Allawi has asked, they need the support of coalition forces for an interim period here as we build strong Iraqi security forces to take the role themselves.

SEN. COLLINS: Is there still a problem with the Iraqi forces being infiltrated by insurgents, and thus when called upon to fight the insurgents, we're finding that it's not clear whose side some of the Iraqi police forces are on?

GEN. CASEY: I think you always have a problem like that in the situation we have right now. I did not get a sense that it is a severe problem, but it is something that everyone is keenly aware of. I did hear an interesting report about this 36th Battalion of the ICDC that was formed out of the representatives from the political parties. It was really a multi-ethnic unit, and because of that it became self- vetting. And if someone was a bad guy and reporting, the other folks were telling on him. And that will help us a lot.

One of the things we talked about in the security discussions was, in fact, vetting. The Iraqis know themselves who the bad guys are, and I think it will make a big difference after the 30th of June.

SEN. COLLINS: I also want to talk to you about security from a different perspective. From all reports, we have an unprecedented number of private security forces that are supplementing our troops in Iraq. Some, in fact, have suggested that private security forces numbering approximately 20,000 people comprise the third largest armed force in Iraq. Does our heavy reliance on private sector contractors for security suggest that we have either an inadequate number of troops in Iraq, or the wrong mix of troops on which to draw.

GEN. CASEY: Senator, that's a great question. And I don't know enough about the private contract security to give you a credible answer right now. So I'd like to take that one and get back with you, if that's okay.

SEN. COLLINS: Does it trouble you or concern you that we have such large numbers, at a time when it appears we do not have an adequate number of military police units, for example?

GEN. CASEY: Again, Senator, I don't know enough about the private security contractors to give you a credible answer. So I will get back with you on that.

SEN. COLLINS: Well, it's an important issue to this committee, and also to the Governmental Affairs committee, which I chair. The issue has arisen, for example, in the prison abuse case, where it appears that some private sector contractors may have been involved in the abuse. We know that a lot of the security for coalition authority personnel is being provided by private firms, we've seen the problem of private contractors being killed, or subjected to violence. I'm just wondering, that seems to be an unusual war where we're so heavily dependent on the private sector to provide the troop strength, essentially, that in previous conflicts would have been provided by the military itself.

GEN. CASEY: It's a different dimension, I agree with you. I'd also note that, as we have talked previously, with what we're doing in the army to rebalance our low density, high demand capabilities, we are, in fact, creating 24,000 additional MPs over the course of the next 3 or 4 years. So we are taking some steps there to mitigate that. But, the whole contractor issue is something that I need to get a lot smarter on, and I think you're right. It's an issue we all need to pay attention to.

SEN. COLLINS: Well, I look forward to continuing a dialogue with you on that issue. I wish you well. Be safe.