“The committee meets today to receive an update on the status of efforts to develop and support Iraqi Security Forces.  Our witnesses are Lieutenant General James Dubik, who less than a week ago left his post as the commander of the Multi National Security Transition Command – Iraq, and Christopher Straub, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East.  Welcome both of you, and thank you General Dubik for agreeing to appear before us today.  We appreciate your service as the commander in charge of training the Iraqi Security Forces as well as your willingness to come update the committee.  I understand that your wife, Sharon Basso, and several other members of your family are in attendance as well, and I would like to welcome them.

 “Recent events in Iraq, in particular the operations in Basra and Sadr City, have shown how far the Iraqi Security Forces have come in a short time.  But these operations also pointed out some problems that have to be addressed if any strategy that allows U.S. forces to leave in the near future is to depend on effective, nonsectarian Iraqi Security Forces. 

 “The Iraqi Security Forces were able to move over a division in a short period of time.  Combat operations in Basra relied almost entirely on Iraqis for ground forces with very few coalition troops in combat.  But the operations also highlighted weaknesses in planning, logistics, fire support, and command and control, and these are all problems that must be addressed if the Iraqis are to eventually provide security in their own country.
 
 “In our last hearing with General Dubik, in January, I mentioned the meeting I had with the Iraqi Minister of Defense, Abdul Qadir.  At that time, he expressed his personal belief that Iraq might be able to take responsibility for their own internal security as early as the first quarter of 2009 and would probably be able to handle their external security by 2018 or so. 

 “I hope General Dubik can help us understand if that very aggressive 2009 goal can be met and what it would take to meet it.  Similarly, I hope General Dubik will provide us with his best assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Iraqi Security Forces. 

 “We have been working on building the Iraqi Security Forces for five years.  We’ve spent billions of dollars on this effort.  The redeployment of American troops out of Iraq is dependent on the Iraqis being able to provide for their own security, and that redeployment is tied to our own national security.  We need a real, and clear, sense of where we are in this effort, how long it will take for the Iraqi Security Forces to be able to operate without us, and what the strategy is for getting us there.

 “Thank you.  I now turn to Mr. Hunter for any opening comments he might care to make.”