Lieutenant General Frank Helmick Holds a Defense Department News Briefing

GENERAL HELMICK HOLDS A DEFENSE DEPARTMENT NEWS BRIEFING, BAGHDAD, IRAQ

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

SPEAKERS: LIEUTENANT GENERAL FRANK HELMICK, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL SECURITY TRANSITION COMMAND-IRAQ

ABDUL QADIR, IRAQ MINISTER OF DEFENSE

[*] FRANK HELMICK: Good afternoon to all of you, and thank you for joining us. It's a pleasure to be here today with Mr. Abdul Qadir, the minister of defense, to highlight some of the recent accomplishments of the Iraqi military.

The Ministry of Defense has a current operating strength of 206,000, including 202,000 army, 2,000 in the air force and 2,000 in the navy. The performance of the Iraqi military during operations in Basra, Sadr City, Al Amarah, Diyala, serve to illustrate the improved capabilities of these forces as they continue to improve with each operation.

Since June of 2007, 15 months ago, the military forces have grown by approximately 72,000. The minister is committed to building a security force necessary to win the counterinsurgency fight and provide an environment of sustainable security for the country of Iraq.

The minister of defense has developed a plan and strategy to grow and train the Iraqi military force to accomplish ...

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