Q The second-ranking American commander in Baghdad spoke by teleconference this morning to people over at -- reporters over at the Pentagon. And he said the U.S. military's goal was to have the Iraqi forces in control of 75 percent of the country by this summer. That would more than the President talked about in his speech last Monday. Is the President being more conservative? Is there some disagreement here with the military --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I don't think you have to view those in disagreement with one another. But the President spoke earlier this week about how we'd like to see Iraqi forces in control of more territory by the end of the year, I believe is what the President said in his remarks. What we need to continue to focus on is this -- this is one element of our strategy for victory, and that's training and equipping the Iraqi security forces. We're seeing more and more that they're in the lead. I think the commander that spoke earlier today also talked about one of a number of ongoing operations we've had over the last several months when it comes to going after terrorists who are seeking to derail the transition to democracy in the Samarra area. Specifically, there is some intelligence, I understand, that was picked up and then they're acting on that intelligence, as they have done previously in operations in the months preceding this time. And what's interesting here is that you have a large number of Iraqi forces going in with coalition forces. There are a number of areas where Iraqi forces are taking the lead in the fight, and we're playing more of a supporting role, and allows coalition forces to focus more on going after the terrorist elements that want to create sectarian strife and that want to derail the transition to democracy. And then it's also important to keep in mind the political process that's being made. Our ambassador has talked about how he is encouraged by the discussions that are going on among the Iraqi political leaders. The Iraqi leaders held their first meeting yesterday -- this was a government that was elected under a constitution approved by the Iraqi people. So the Iraqi people are showing time and time again that they want to live in freedom and chart their own future. And it's important that the government move forward on forming a government of national unity that represents all Iraqis. So we're continuing to urge them to work together, set aside any differences -- whether they're political differences or religious differences or sectarian differences -- and come together and form a government of national unity. I think the Iraqi leaders understand the importance of doing that and moving as quickly as possible, particularly when they look back on some of the recent events and recent violence that has taken place.

seen at 12:54, 17 March in Whitehouse Press Briefings. Email this to a friend.
Next item; Original source; Previous item;