NEWS TRANSCRIPT from the United States Department of Defense
DoD News Briefing Army Col. David Blackledge Friday, April 4, 2003
(Briefing on Free Iraqi Forces and humanitarian assistance remotely from Umm Qasr, Iraq with Col. Blackledge, commander,
354th Civil Affairs Brigade)
Staff: (From Arlington.) Let's go ahead and get started. It is 10:00, and I know that there are a lot of you that are
listening in your booths. But let's get this under way. Today we have Army Colonel David Blackledge, who is here joining
us, via the miracles of modern technology, from Umm Qasr. Colonel Blackledge is the commander of the 354th Civil Affairs
Brigade, and he is the one that has been heading the efforts of the Free Iraqi Forces there in Iraq. He's going to take
us through some of the things that they have been doing and how they're really making a difference in theater.
As we do this, keep in mind that there is about a five-second delay in the connection, and as you ask the questions,
Lieutenant Colonel Stoneking will hand you a microphone so that they can hear you on the other end. Okay?
And with that, Colonel Blackledge, do you want to say a few things before we get into the questions?
Blackledge: Yes. Again, I'm Colonel Dave Blackledge, commander of the 354th Civil Affairs Brigade, responsible for
coordinating and developing the distributions systems from Umm Qasr throughout the rest of Iraq. To do that, my unit
coordinates with the international organizations, the governmental organizations and the nongovernmental organizations,
as well as the military units, to get supplies forward. And the bottom line is that we're the link between the military
and the civilian organizations to redevelop distribution.
We've done some really neat things here. We've been here a little less than two weeks but have made some significant
progress in that time. And I can open up it up for questions on specifics.
Staff: Charlie?
Q Colonel, Charlie Aldinger with Reuters. Aside from getting in humanitarian aid, we understand you're in charge of the
Free Iraqi Forces. There are reports here in Washington that the United States may be preparing to set up an interim
Iraqi government in the south, even before Saddam or the government fall. Have you anything on that? And are you
preparing to do that, to use the Free Iraqi Forces to do that?
Blackledge: Well, I'm not in charge of the Free Iraqi Forces, although I do have a few Free Iraqi Force soldiers that
are working with me to assist in reestablishing the distribution network. As far as establishing an interim government,
that is not in my lane and not something that I'm doing.
Q Well then -- I'm sorry, this is Charlie Aldinger again. Could you give us maybe a quick breakdown of the kind of aid
that's starting to flow and how much of it's beginning to flow?
Blackledge: Well, the most significant thing that we've been able to do is get potable water distributed initially
right here in Umm Qasr through a pipeline that the government of Kuwait brought through the border. And we've
established a distribution system for distributing that with tanker trucks through Umm Qasr and starting to push that
north.
Also, in relationship to assisting the international organizations -- non-governmental organizations, just today the
ICRC made delivery of medical supplies to Basra.
Q Sir, this is Pam Hess with United Press International. Can you give us your assessment of what the humanitarian
situation is there; how great is the need for food and water and medicine?
Blackledge: Well, I can tell you what we've seen here in Umm Qasr. The exciting thing was that food was not that big of
an issue. Our assessment of the folks here is that they've got at least six to eight weeks of food stockpiled. So the
focus has been initially to get potable water distributed. The people in Umm Qasr, prior to the war, relied on
distribution to come down from Basra for potable water. Obviously, that was not the case more recently, so we had to get
that coming in. And so that's been the focus. But water was the big need. That need's been met. And we're now
resurrecting the distribution program so that we can start getting food out.
Q This is Pam again. Could you tell us how much water you're delivering on a daily basis or per person?
Blackledge: We've got seven tanker trucks that are distributing on a continuous basis from the water pipe that comes
from Kuwait. There is more than enough water from (sic) Umm Qasr. They can't drink all the water that's flowing and
coming in. In fact, we've got enough water to start distributing up north, which was the original intent, to do that.
Q This is Vince Crawley with the Army Times papers. Could you give us a sense of the security? Do you need armed
escorts for your water trucks? That has been one of the concerns, is getting the aid distributed in relative freedom.
Blackledge: We feel that it's a very permissive environment here in Umm Qasr; however, we do provide escorts with the
tanker trucks. The first couple of days of the distribution, the people weren't sure how long that was going to last and
wanted to get as much as they could, and we found that to maintain control of the crowds, it's been helpful to keep the
security force with the tanker trucks; and expect that as people see that the distribution is more and more routine,
we'll be able to back off on that.
Q Colonel, this is Jim Mannion from Agence France-Presse. Can you talk a little bit about whether you've made contact
with any civilians in other places outside of Umm Qasr, further north; I don't know, I'm thinking maybe Nasiriyah or An
Najaf; or is that completely out of your area?
Blackledge: My focus right now has been to get Umm Qasr up and going. We do have tactical civil affairs teams that are
with the maneuver forces making those initial contacts with civilians as they enter those areas, and some of that has
been done. I don't have the specific details on those contacts, though.
Q Good afternoon, sir. It's Meredith Buel from Voice of America. Can you tell us what sort of food distribution you
anticipate? Where is this food coming from? How much is available? And how many people do you think you'll be able to
feed, and in what time frame?
Blackledge: The goal has been to resurrect the oil-for-food distribution system that's been in place. It's been a very
efficient and effective system in Iraq, and with numerous food distribution agents. For example, right here in Umm Qasr,
there are over 40 food distribution agents. The local people knew who their distributor was to go get food, and we want
to put that back in place, since there was a functioning system, and then develop it from there. The food will be coming
from numerous sources. Ultimately, the -- probably the biggest source will be through the World Food Program, who just
today did an initial assessment here at Umm Qasr to begin moving that in. So, we're looking forward to the food they'll
be bringing in. Meanwhile, we've been bringing in food from both military sources and U.S. governmental sources through
USAID.
Q Just to follow up, please, could you give us a time frame on when the United Nations and World Food Program might
begin to be able to operate in an effective way there?
Blackledge: Well, I can't really speak for the United Nations. They have to make those assessments based on their own
rules. But it was encouraging that the U.N. did declare this particular area of Umm Qasr as permissive for their people
to come in and they declared that yesterday. And the World Food Program sent their assessment team today. So they're
leaning forward and coming in quickly. I just had a meeting with a representative from World Food Program this morning,
offering any assistance that we could provide as far as information that we've through the assessments to assist them in
getting the food out to the people that need it.
Q Colonel, good morning. This is Thomas Duffy with the newsletter Inside the Pentagon. Do you have plans to set up
distribution centers in other areas of the country outside of Umm Qasr? And also, what type of food are you
distributing?
Blackledge: Yes. Each major population center had food distribution agents as part of the oil-for-food program's
distribution network, and those are the systems that we're looking to use and to keep in place, because the people are
used to going to those individuals and they had a very good system. So each population center, each town, village and
city had that distribution network in place, and that's what we're looking to use to get the food through.
The food that's been coming in runs the gamut. We're preferring not to get perishable food at this point, but we have
had some come in. The government of Kuwait was very generous, sent in 30 truck loads of food of various types. We also
had food come in from -- as I said, through U.S. governmental sources. A lot of bulk water initially to bridge the gap
until we had the pipeline flowing from Kuwait. And then general foodstuffs such as lentils. One of the items that we
found through our assessment, that we knew before coming in, was that protein was a concern, lack of protein in the
diet. So we've been trying to focus on that through things like lentils. Other items include rice, cooking oil, tea,
sugar, as well has hygiene items, non-food items.
Q Could you tell us -- the United States has suspended the Free Iraqi Force training program. How useful have those
folks been to you, and do you see a problem with not having more coming in the pipeline? I gather there's just somewhere
in the 70s of those folks that are available.
And could you also describe for us how you worked the security angle? We saw some footage that looked really crazy when
you guys first started handing stuff out. And so what lessons did you learn about sort of crowd control and getting it
to the point where it's now orderly?
Blackledge: In reference to the Free Iraqi Forces, their contribution has just been invaluable. In my case, the folks
that are with me are from this area; they have family, they know the people, and have really been critical in
establishing the trust with the local people that we really were here to help them, and to identify the people that we
needed to work with to get distribution back up and going. So I can't stress enough.
As far as my mission, I don't see a problem with the termination of additional folks coming. I have what I need to work
with, and the other civil affairs units have that also.
And I can't remember what the second question was.
Q That was how you all -- we saw footage of the first distribution of food in Umm Qasr and it looked like a really
crazy scene. But you were eventually able to get it under control. Was that a function of the fact that the people were
so excited to finally get it, or was it more of a function you guys didn't quite have a handle on exactly how to be
distributing that? What lessons did you learn in crowd control, and have you seen any of this similar kind of melee
situations that you then have to come in and handle?
Blackledge: Yeah, the footage that you saw I believe was from the Safwan area where it was basically an uncontrolled
distribution -- it was a distribution made with good intent, but it was not done through the military.
What we've worked very hard to do here in Umm Qasr is to coordinate the distribution with the local leaders, such that
the word was brought out in advance that -- what the distribution was going to be, how it was going to be conducted,
where it would be conducted, and do that in a controlled fashion. And frankly, we've been very pleased with the response
from the local people here in Umm Qasr.
Q Chris Wright with Fox News Channel. This might be outside of your lane, but what do you think the prospects are for
returning Iraq to a real economy, a country that can actually feed itself? I understand in recent years it's basically a
command economy where the government distributes food, but it really can't produce enough to feed itself.
Blackledge: Wow, that's a big question. It is outside of my lane. My focus is to ensure that we get the distribution
system going now, and I really wouldn't want to try to speculate on the bigger picture there.
Q Yeah. Could you tell us what the Free Iraqi Forces working with you are actually doing, and also the water trucks --
is that U.S. troops driving them, or are those -- yeah, how much do they carry? And is that U.S. troops driving them?
And are they in armed convoys? Just trying to get a picture of what you're doing there. And I do have a follow-up.
Blackledge: Sure. To answer the question on the water distribution first, the goal all along here is to reemploy the
Iraqi people and the systems run by the Iraqi people to do their own distribution. So the water's a good example.
The drivers of the trucks are local drivers that we have hired to distribute the water. And so they are paid by -- in
this case, in Umm Qasr, they're paid by the British forces to distribute the water.
They do have an escort with the trucks to their distribution points, who then monitor the situation to make sure
nothing gets out of control during the distribution. But the actual contracts are with local Iraqi drivers, with their
tanker trucks, and they are paid for their services to provide that water to the people.
As far as what the Free Iraqi Force soldiers are doing, these -- again, I'd said that they -- in my case, they're from
this area, Umm Qasr, and surrounding area, so they're very familiar with the local people, have family here. They've
assisted us as we've gathered documents, particularly in the port facility, because we wanted -- we've been working to
get port workers back in place. And as those individuals have been rehired to work at the port, our Free Iraqi Forces
have helped verify that these are the actual individuals that are documented as previous workers, they do have the
skills necessary to work at the port.
They've also obviously been a great help in serving as translators and interpreters. And frankly, they've helped us
build the relationships with the community that have made the successes here so critical and so successful.
The other piece that's been very helpful -- as you can imagine, the local populace was somewhat nervous and scared. And
as we've reached out to try to find key workers for the port, our Free Iraqi Force soldiers have been instrumental in
locating those key workers and bringing them in and assuring them that we do want to rehire them and put them back to
work.
Q Okay. And I had a follow-up. Before this, before the war began, the White House had a briefing that there would be
about three crack teams of 20 or so nongovernmental as well as U.S. government aid experts rushing into the battle zone
to assist. Are you working with them? Have you seen them? These would be like USAID and State Department and some
Defense Department personnel.
Blackledge: What we've been working with so far -- and again, it's very early. The Umm Qasr area has just been declared
permissive by the U.N., and that is typically the key for the nongovernmental organizations also. Once the U.N. declares
it a permissive environment, that's typically the signal for them to come in. Prior to that, we've been working with the
USAID DART team individuals primarily, who declared it permissive for their purposes several days ago. So that's been
the primary thing.
Again, I was in Kuwait just this morning at the Humanitarian Operations Center meeting, where we have all the NGOs and
other international organizations and governmental organizations meeting to coordinate humanitarian assistance efforts
and coordinating their movement because, again, they want to come in quickly and just need the assurances of what the
environment is here and what the needs are here.
And I think that's probably the last question I've got time for.
Q No, one more. How many Iraqis have you employed, and how are you paying them? Is it U.S. dollars? Iraqi money? Or
food and water?
Blackledge: We've employed over 200 Iraqis already, and we're hiring every day. We are paying them in dollars at this
point. And again, that was a decision made above my level.
And I really have to cut it off there. So thanks very much.
Staff: Colonel Blackledge, thank you for joining us this morning, and we look forward to having a follow-on discussion
with you later on down the road.
Blackledge: Thank you.
Staff: As a reminder, our briefing today is at 1:30.
Q Is that Torie?
Staff: And we will see you -- yes, General McChrystal and Victoria Clarke.
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