« The Coming War on American Sovereignty | Main | President Obama Disgraces Himself in Europe »
April 3, 2009
Iraq Briefing - 01 April 2009 - Final Thoughts by Lt. Gen. Austin
This briefing is by Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin III, Commander of Multi-National Corps - Iraq, who on Wednesday spoke with reporters in Iraq, providing his final update on ongoing security operations.
Gen. Austin assumed command of Multi-National Corps - Iraq in February of 2008. The job of the corps commander is to implement the policies of the commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq. The divisional commanders, each of which headquarters one of five regions, all report to General Austin.
However, Austin is nearing the end of his current tour, so as mentioned this is his final briefing. Given the continued improvements in Iraq, it is a job well done and all Americans owe him a debt of gratitude.
As the second-highest commander in Iraq, Austin reports Gen. Odierno, commander of Multi-National Forces - Iraq. Odierno reports to the commander of CENTCOM, General Petraeus. Petraus, in turn, reports to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
Prior to his present duties, Austin served in Iraq as the deputy commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division from March to May of 2003. This is his fifth briefing that I have covered.
This video and others can be seen at DODvClips. In cases where the briefing was not transmitted back to the Pentagon, I've found a transcript is not provided. As such, I'll not analyze the briefing in my usual manner.
Austin mostly stressed the enormous progress that has been made from the time he arrived. There were a number of questions from the assembled American and foreign journalists, and as always I encourage readers to view the video and judge for themselves.
Posted by Tom at April 3, 2009 9:33 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.theredhunter.com/mt/refer.cgi/1314
