Defense Department Report, September 16: Iraq Situational Update

Washington -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cited a list of accomplishments September 16 to support his contention that U.S. and coalition forces have made progress in stabilizing Iraq since the end of major combat operations four and a half months ago.

"Four and a half months of freedom is not a long time for a nation that was politically and economically repressed for decades," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon briefing. "There has been measurable progress in that short period."

Since major combat operations ended, Rumsfeld said, 23 million Iraqis have been liberated, the regime of Saddam Hussein has ended, and 42 of Iraq's 55 most wanted Ba'athist leaders have been captured or killed.

"The country is being put on a path to democracy and representative government, a country that is at peace with its neighbors," he said.

Rumsfeld cited these accomplishments since the end of major military operations:

-- Iraq has its own Governing Council composed of 25 members drawn from the Iraqi people;

-- The Governing Council has appointed cabinet ministers to run the civilian government;

-- Approximately 90 percent of Iraqis now live in towns, villages and cities that have functioning local councils;

-- Nearly all of the schools, hospitals and universities in Iraq are open;

-- 6,000 reconstruction projects have been completed;

-- 56,000 Iraqis are providing for their own security through police, army, border guards, site protection and a civil defense corps; and

-- Another 14,000 Iraqis have been recruited and are in training, which effectively brings to 70,000 the number of Iraqis now serving across the country.

"If you compare the progress in Iraq to what happened in Germany after World War II, I'm told that in Germany it took three years to get an independent central bank. In Iraq it took two months," he said. "To get German police established, it took 14 months. In Iraq, two months. To get a new German currency, three years. In Iraq, two and a half months."

He said the Iraqis formed their own cabinet in four months, while it took 14 months in Germany.

"Without a doubt, the work in Iraq is difficult; it's going to take time, it's going to take patience, and it's going to take sacrifice," Rumsfeld said. "And there's no question but that there will be setbacks. But success is critical to the security of the American people."

Responding to a question regarding the possible need to send more troops to Iraq, Marine Corps General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who appeared with Rumsfeld, said that there are fewer U.S. troops in Iraq today than at the end of major combat, when the troop level was at 160,000 personnel. He said there are approximately 130,000 U.S. forces in Iraq along with 24,000 British and other international forces, and that more than 56,000 Iraqis are serving in the police, army, border guard and civil defense corps.

Pace said 32 nations currently have forces in Iraq. He added that another nation is preparing to send forces while 14 more countries are discussing the sending of forces.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)