The Long War Journal: An Interview with General Dempsey

Written by Bill Roggio on June 1, 2007 12:29 PM to The Long War Journal

Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/06/an_interview_with_ge.php

Tom Bevan of Real Clear Politics and I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Lieutenant General Martin E. Dempsey, the Commander of Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq (MNSTC-I). LTG Dempsey's command is responsible for developing, organizing, training, equipping, and sustaining the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), which includes the Iraqi Army, Iraqi National Police, Provincial Security Forces and local police.

You can listen to the interview in full here. [MP3 format | 14.5M file size]

The issues discussed include: A recent New York Times article on the performance of the Iraqi Army, the affect on the morale of U.S. Forces, and that this article described the exception, not the norm; the importance of leadership in the Iraqi Security Forces; the replacement of Iraqi National Police commanders ove rthe past year - 7 of 9 Brigade and 14 of 24 Battalion commanders relieved over the past year; the creation of the 11th and 12th Iraqi Army Division headquarters, the addition of 24 battalions and the effect of moving experienced cadres to new units will have on leadership; efforts to diversify the National Police from Shia to mixed (currently 85% Shia forces); the efforts of the ministries to take control over the security forces; and the logistical capabilities of the National Police.