Iraq: Philip J. Crowley Assistant Secretary Daily Press Briefing Washington, DC
Assistant Secretary Feltman Returning from Iraq
Ambassador Jeffrey Presented His Credentials in Baghdad
August 19, 2010
Withdrawal of Combat Troops/ Remaining Troops to Provide Training/ Work Remains/ US to Double Security Contractors to Provide Security to Protect our Diplomats and Development Experts/ Ramping Up Effort for a Temporary Amount of Time/ Roles for Contractors/ Contractors Will Assist in Training Iraqi Police Force/ Seeking $2 to $3Billion Dollars from Congress
QUESTION: The New York Times says that the State Department is going to more than double the number of security contractors it has following this withdrawal. Is that right?
MR. CROWLEY: Yes.
QUESTION: So --
MR. CROWLEY: Obviously, when you have 150,000 troops in Iraq, you’ve got security in key areas around the country. As you reduce that number, the Iraqi security forces step up to accomplish much of this responsibility, but we will still have our own security needs to make sure that our diplomats and development experts are well-protected, whether they’re moving around – wherever they’re moving around the country or where they’re posted where we’ll have consulates and these embassy branch offices. The level of violence in Iraq is well – it’s been reduced significantly, but it’s still a dangerous place. So where the military has provided security in the past, we’re not– we now have to provide that security. This is a case where contractors actually – for what we think is a transitory requirement, this is where contractors actually are fruitful. We’re able to ramp up an effort for a temporary period of time and then reduce that effort as the security situation improves.
QUESTION: So you’ve begun contacting them – DynCorp or Xe security?
MR. CROWLEY: Yeah. We have very specific plans to increase our security because – as the military is leaving. This will be expensive. This is not a cheap proposition, even though when you compare what we will be – what we’ll need to spend in Iraq, a couple of billion dollars, two or three billion a year for the next few years, there will be for the American taxpayer a significant savings from the peak spending that we had with a large number of U.S. military forces there.
QUESTION: These contractors – will their function be restricted to providing personal security, or will it go beyond that?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, we have contractors who are guarding our Embassy and we’ll have contractors who are, as they are today, helping with our mobility and helping with personal security as our diplomats move around the country.
QUESTION: And the contractors’ presence will be coordinated very closely with the Iraqi Government?
MR. CROWLEY: Absolutely.
QUESTION: Did you call Ambassador Feltman before he left Iraq today?
MR. CROWLEY: Did I? (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Usually, you get updated.
MR. CROWLEY: I have not – I did not talk to Jeff Feltman before he left to go home.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2010/08/146103.htm
