RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
All this week, we've been tracking the success of the U.S. troop surge in Iraq. An announcement yesterday brought one more sign it's working. The U.S. military will hand back to the Iraqi government al-Anbar province - for years the most dangerous region in Iraq.
And while Anbar may now be stable enough for local control, the 25,000 Marines there will remain. Come next month, they'll be led by Major General John Kelly, who takes control over all multinational forces in western Iraq. General Kelly joined us on the line from Camp Pendleton in California to talk about it.
Good morning.
Brigadier General JOHN KELLY (U.S. Marine Corps): Good morning, Renee.
MONTAGNE: How different do you think Anbar will be compared to the last time you were in Iraq?
Brig. Gen. KELLY: Well, I can give you some insights as to how it is today because I traveled there in September and spent about two weeks in the same province. I'd left almost three years previously. And the change on the ground, the security situation on the ground, is nothing short of remarkable. I mean, I went places in September last without a helmet and flak jacket on, without drawn guns. And when I was there three years ago, I mean, you were in a gunfight going in and a gunfight coming out. Remarkable change.
MONTAGNE: And that change, is there anything that you would attribute it to other than the surge?
Brig. Gen. KELLY: It's been a continuous process of winning over the hearts and minds of people and defeating what predominantly were al-Qaida fighters. I think al-Qaida overplayed their own hand. As they moved in into the province after the fall of Baghdad, the al-Qaida were not only fighting us but they were trying, at least, to force the locals into their form of extremism, and over time we believe their excessive use of force drove the people into at least considering that perhaps the Americans - the coalition - was there to help. Once the locals started openly cooperating with coalition forces, telling us where the insurgents were, that became the big turn.
MONTAGNE: How much of that had though to do with relationships that Marines had developed with the local Sunnis, these sheik leaders, and how much had to do with the sheer numbers of forces coming into Iraq in the surge?
Brig. Gen. KELLY: It has everything to do with the relationship with the people. Our constant drumbeat, since we got to that part of Iraq, was if the security situation improves, then we can start delivering the goods and services, if you will, that you and your people all want so badly.
MONTAGNE: So how much of your mission when you get there will be having your Marines, as you put it, delivering the goods - reconstruction, that sort of thing?
Brig. Gen. KELLY: Much of my mission will be training Iraqi young men into their army and into their police forces. We have a very, very robust training program for both their army and for the police forces that are in the cities. We engage constantly with the local sheiks and the provincial government. And so the engagement is from absolutely the grassroots level all the way up to the governor in Ramadi. And then we - I'll have people - they have people there now who then kind of help the Ramadi provincial government bridge the gap to Baghdad.
MONTAGNE: Bridging that gap and getting the Shiite government to take in the Sunni forces or Sunni young men who want to be in the military has been difficult. The reporting that we've been hearing is that the Shiite-led government doesn't trust them.
Brig. Gen. KELLY: You know, again, it's hard, I'm not there yet. But certainly that was the case earlier on. Now, you got to remember, the overwhelming number of people that live in the province are Sunni, and your recruit base is all Sunni. But there are increasing numbers, and this is certainly what the Marines are doing out there right now, trying to increase the numbers of Shia into those units, and the government in Baghdad that may have been somewhat hesitant about, you know, a couple of Sunni divisions, they seem to have overcome that because the logistical supply coming out of Baghdad to those divisions, as I understand it, is approaching normal levels - vehicles, things like that.
But I think probably the biggest indicator is the central government deciding to deploy brigades out of the Al-Anbar province for temporary periods of time to hotspots to fight along side predominantly Shia units. And of course those decisions are not made by U.S. commanders. These are made by, you know, the central government in Iraq, and that's a huge indicator, I would think, of how the trust is beginning to build.
MONTAGNE: There is expected to be drawdown of U.S. troops in this coming year, following what might be the end of the surge. How does that fit into your mission there in Al Anbar?
Brig. Gen. KELLY: You know, one of the constant drumbeats, again, I think from certainly the policymakers in Washington have been that as Iraqi police and army forces, if they are taking more and more of the battle space over, will make some decisions down the line. And certainly I won't make those decisions. I'll probably make some recommendations. But I think General Petraeus is due to make some recommendations in March or April about force levels, and you know, obviously, we'll salute whatever we're told to do. But I think the whole process here is we work ourselves out of the job.
MONTAGNE: Thank you very much for talking with us.
Brig. Gen. KELLY: Okay, Renee.
MONTAGNE: That's Major General John Kelly. He will begin commanding the multinational forces in Anbar province next month. He spoke to us from Camp Pendleton, California.