Interview With General Mark Hertling
UNKNOWN: Peter Burks, he was really not only one of my best friend, but he was very responsible, very trustworthy person. He was a very big patriot. He said I'm a soldier, my country demands of me to go to Iraq to fight for freedom and this is my duty to serve my country. I just wish there were more guys like Pete in the world.</s>BLITZER: On this weekend where we remember those who fell in war, we shouldn't forget that there are still troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. For an update on the situation on the ground in Iraq, we spoke with U.S. army major general Mark Hertling just before the holiday weekend.</s>BLITZER: And joining us now from Tikrit in the northern part of Iraq, the U.S. commander, Major General Mark Hertling commands U.S. forces, Multi-National Forces north of Baghdad, all the way up through Kurdistan all the way up to Turkey in fact. You've got a major area of responsibility, General, thanks for taking a few moments to update our viewers around the world on what's going on. Let me get your immediate assessment, because you see this happening on the ground. Are the Iranians, the government of Iran -- is there evidence that Iranians are directly or indirectly involved in killing American troops in Iraq right now?</s>HERTLING: Well, I can't say the government of Iran, Wolf, I can certainly say we have seen some Iranian-made weapons, certainly not as much as I'd seen in the south or even in Baghdad. But we have seen some Iranian made weapons in the northern part of the country. We believe those have flowed across the border. They are some of the same weapons that they have found in Baghdad and in places south. But we have a different problem set in the north, and it's mostly the extremist groups. We have some Shia extremists, not as many as they do in the south and in Baghdad, but we certainly have the criminals and the various Sunni extremist groups as well.</s>BLITZER: Mosul is an area of your responsibility. I was there back in 2005. It was relatively quiet then, but there have been some heated battles going on in recent weeks. What's the latest in Mosul, because that has been one of the areas where Al Qaida in Iraq and other insurgents have really sought to gain some ground?</s>HERTLING: They have, Wolf. And what we've seen over the last, oh, almost half year-plus is, as Baghdad has become more secure, some of the insurgents, specifically Al Qaida, have moved to the north. As Anbar has gone through the awakening, some of the insurgents there, Al Qaida has moved to the east and then up. We've seen foreign fighters crossing the borders with Syria. And Mosul is a very historic and popular place. And it has ebbed and flowed in terms of the amount of insurgent actions up there. We have seen an increase, a huge spike in the last several months up there. And over, oh, the last three or four months or so, we have done some things in that city with both coalition forces and the Iraqi security forces to improve the security for the people. And the prime minister asked General Riyadh, my counterpart in the city, to begin operations. It was originally called Lion's Roar, as it's been reported. It's now called Umm al-Rabiain, or Mother of Two Springs, which is the nickname for the city. And it is -- it has been pretty exciting this week. Not a lot of battles this week, but over the last several months there have been a lot of contentious fights, both with coalition forces and Iraq security forces against the insurgents in that city and in all of Nineveh province, quite frankly.</s>BLITZER: On Wednesday, the New York Times published a story by two reporters, Michael Gordon and Alissa Rubin, in which they said this, the battles that have been going on, two other cities, in Basra and Sadr City, areas not of your direct responsibility. "In both cities, the militias eventually melted away in the face of Iraqi troops backed by American firepower. Thus nobody can say just where the militias might reemerge or when Iraqi and American forces might need to fight them again." In your area, in the north, is that happening? That Iraqi -- these militia groups are sort of melting away, disappearing, only to return on another day? Or are you crushing and destroying them?</s>HERTLING: Well, we have said over the last nine months or so that we have been in a pursuit operation. And what we have been attempting to do here in the north is secure the cities. And we have done that in Hawijah, in Samarra, in Kirkuk, and turned over to, in that particular city, the Iraqi police, which is really a centerpiece now. In Mosul, it has been a variety -- a literal variety of different insurgents groups, led by Al Qaida, led by Islamic State of Iraq, some smatterings of Nosh Kibandi (ph), another extremist group. Ansar al- Sunna, Jaish al-Islami. It really is a group of individuals up there led by Al Qaida. So Mosul is a different story. It's not a militia; it's a true terrorist organization. In some of our southern cities in Diyala, like Baquba and Muqdadiyah, we have been continuing to pursue Al Qaida, and there has been a balancing act with some other criminal agents that once Al Qaida leaves, some of the others have felt that they can grow stronger and begin to intimidate the population. So we've been attempting to do that balancing act, a very complex situation in Diyala province, which is our southernmost province, bumping up against Baghdad.</s>BLITZER: It sounds...</s>HERTLING: It has been just a complex counterinsurgency operations. And you throw in a little bit of criminal activity as well, and we're fighting on several fronts with our Iraqi partners.</s>BLITZER: It sounds as if you're making progress. And if you are, does that mean you're going to be able to reduce the U.S. troop levels in the northern part of Iraq anytime soon?</s>HERTLING: Well, I think you see, Wolf, that we will shift around our forces. And we have been doing that in the various provinces. The decisions to reduce are certainly made by others. But what I'll tell you is, we have shifted units around the various provinces as we've continued to pursue. But the key aspect of all this is what the Iraqi forces have been doing. I partner with four different Iraqi divisions up here now. And over the nine months we've been here, we have seen just an unbelievable improvement in those forces.</s>BLITZER: I know this is not your first tour of duty in Iraq. You have two sons that have served in Iraq as well. You have a daughter- in-law who has served in Iraq. Your family certainly has made a major sacrifice for this effort. I want to read to you, General, on this Memorial Day weekend, some words you said last summer in an NPR interview, National Public Radio, because I want you to explain what you mean, because you spoke from the heart. And here is what you said: "We are sometimes feeling like we are an army at war, not a nation at war." And then you went on and said: "It's very nice to have people say that they support the troops, but I think those in the military, those in the government sometimes don't see the actions being backed up by the words." On this Memorial Day weekend, General Hertling, tell our viewers what you were saying, in effect, what were you telling the American public?</s>HERTLING: Well, what I was saying at the time, Wolf -- and thank you for your great research on that -- what I was saying at the time was I think many of us in the military felt we were carrying the burden of this conflict on our shoulders. What I've seen since I've been over here now is we now have partners over here. The State Department has filled up the provincial reconstruction team. USAID is starting to do some significant work out here. The Department of Agriculture, the Department of Treasury are all contributing workers over here. So I think we're seeing other governmental organizations contribute, and that has been significant. What I see, quite frankly, we get support from the American people, but even now, as the elections are ongoing, it seems like the 140,000 soldiers that are over here sometimes take a backseat, and as you said on this particular Memorial Day -- frankly, Wolf, I went to a memorial service today for a young soldier in one of our units that was killed down in Samarra, near Samarra. And it struck me that we were conducting the memorial service at about 6:00 in the evening, and I just happened to look at my watch and I said, hey, there is probably a lot of people back in the United States right now trying to figure out how to get out of work early so they can start their long weekend. And here we are, memorializing this young soldier, Private Hadrick (ph), who gave his life for this cause. And I'm wondering if people truly understand that. And I hope during this Memorial Day weekend that people pause and reflect how much service their soldiers, Marines, airmen and Navy sailors are giving, not only to protect the freedoms of the United States, but to help -- really help the freedoms of this new emerging country over here in Iraq. So I hope everybody just takes a few minutes on this Memorial Day to thank a soldier or, more importantly, thank a family member of a soldier, because they are sacrificing just as much.</s>BLITZER: Very well said. General Hertling, on this Memorial Day weekend, let me thank you for your service, thank all the U.S. military personnel for their service under these difficult circumstances. Thanks very much for joining us.</s>HERTLING: And thanks for covering us over here, Wolf. There is -- you're sticking by us, and we appreciate all of the efforts that you're doing to tell the story over here.</s>BLITZER: Thanks so much, General.</s>BLITZER: And when we come back, we're going to wrap up what's been going on on this day. Gloria Borger and Bill Schneider, they'll be back. They're part of the best political team on television. "Late Edition" continues right after this.