Ray odierno political party

We have 8, policemen who are currently working in our AOR. So I like to talk about the 7, who are still working, who are still putting their lives on the line, knowing they are at risk, and they are being threatened by the FRL, but are willing to come to work every day Across the country, the U. Well, it has to do with That's what we were using to fund all these projects.

We had no appropriated funds to do that. The supplemental [appropriation passed by Congress] has done that. It's just going to take some time. I think it'll be the end of December, beginning of January, before we get that money and are able, then, to start again and continue these projects. Because we were just beginning to see people reacting to the successes we were having with the water treatment projects, with the school projects, with the sewage projects, with the police buildings and the courthouses being developed.

We were really starting to see some positive response to all of that. I'm not sure. We didn't see it coming. We thought we were going to have continued funds, and we didn't realize we were running out of "rays odierno political party." I can't answer. I really cannot answer. I don't know the answer to that question. We gotta move forward.

The Americans -- because it's what we have -- depend on money to buy information, to buy cooperation, to do reconstruction. But are we getting Iraqis to really share our vision for what we think Iraq can be? I think we are. I think through the engagement with the leadership that we initially put into place, and constantly talking, I think they want to -- Every Iraqi wants to move forward, because they think they can get a better life.

I think the majority, the large majority, of Iraqis see that, and want us to move forward and do that. I think we confuse that sometimes with the fact that being a Middle Eastern country, they're not crazy about having Western coalition forces in the country. But what they want us to do is they want us to come here and fix them, get them on the right path, far enough along where nobody can reverse that path, and then leave.

That's what we want, too. It's through trust, it's through understanding, that we are going to stay here for a period of time, and that we're going to follow through on this and not leave them before the job's finished. The number one issue that everybody tells me is that we need you here until the job is finished. So I think there's always a doubt in their mind whether we're going to hang in here until they know that they have an established government, established security, established infrastructure, that they can now carry forward on their own -- which they definitely want to do.

Some of the policemen I talked to told me they were frightened about the prospect of America leaving. Yes, and I think that's why our message has been consistent that we are staying, and the military, there's no sign of us leaving. The next rotation's been identified; we'll be in here. There's talk -- everybody throws a number out -- I don't think anybody knows how long it's going to be here yet, because it's conditions-based.

Until we get to that point, we will make the decision, then, to pull out. But we're behind it, and I think it's everybody. I think all politicians understand that we've got to stick to this. This has implications Ahmad Chalabi told me he thought we should get out. I said to him, "You don't have any security. I'm not familiar with his beliefs.

But, again, I would put that he wants us to get out at the right time. He's got a different time schedule maybe than we do. You decided to take this al-Awja neighborhood [outside Tikrit, where Saddam grew up] and throw barbed wire up around it. Why, and how effective is that? Was that your decision? It was. It was recommended to me, and I gave the approval to do that.

The reason we did that was twofold. One was, first, we had done so many raids in that specific town. We knew that everybody in that town is related to the old regime in some way -- could be just family members -- but they are related. So what we decided to do was, first we wanted to make sure we understood who was in that town, and we wanted to make sure that we were able to understand what they're doing.

Since we've done that, we've had a bit of calm in this area. The number of incidents is significantly down, and, oh, by the ray odierno political party, they are cooperating a bit more than they were before. So I feel very comfortable with that decision, and we've gotten positive feedback from the rest of Tikrit. No, no, no, no. All they do is, they have an identification card, and they're registered.

There might be a few people who, because of their past actions, might not be able to leave. But the large majority can come and go as they please. Right, and we know their movement. We know when they're leaving, we know when they're coming back. It keeps them from being active, and if they are, it's very easy for us to know that they are. We've come into this country.

We're facing challenges that we didn't expect. That shouldn't be anything new to a military guy. That happens, I understand that. But as honestly as you can give me, what is your take on the future for this place? Yes, I think the potential is there. It's going to take time. Where have we come?

Ray odierno political party: Ray Odierno is 54,

In seven months, we've removed a regime. I tell everyone, although we have resistance -- and although I'm not happy that we're taking casualties -- the status quo is a loss for the enemy, because every day we move forward is another day Saddam's not in power. It's another day that the infrastructure gets better. It's another day that the new government is in place.

It's another day that they see economic development occurring. It's another day that the Iraqi police and the Iraq Civil Defense Corps are taking better control and becoming better trained. As these things continue to occur, they will gain confidence in themselves. They will gain confidence in the establishment of a new government.

I'd like to see it go faster, and I think we can make it go faster. We can do that by maybe eliminating a little bit more of this threat. I think you've seen a change in the threat, that they're much more stand-off now in their attacks.

Ray odierno political party: Odierno, who commanded American and coalition

Basically their attacks are down to IEDs [improvised explosive devices], some mortar and rocket attacks, that are for the most part very, very ineffective. They're now attacking either Iraqis or they're attacking NGOs -- trying to discourage them. In my mind, that means they've been unsuccessful in attacking the coalition forces, and now they're trying to go about it another way.

But more U. Large-scale accidents. That's right. There was a large-scale accident in Mosul. There was a Chinook helicopter shot done in Falluja. Yes, they did some attacks on aircraft. Yes, there's some very high-impact effective attacks that occurred. Maybe some of them were lucky. Hitting an aircraft with an RPG is -- There's a lot of things that have to happen for that to happen correctly.

So, yes, they've had some things that have occurred this month. But I think we've got to look at that in such a way that -- That doesn't mean the resistance is any more effective. But again, people don't understand. They still have some things they have to reconcile with. So again, I think it's an evolutionary process. We are moving forwards in that process but we still have a way to go.

The provincial elections are the equivalent of elections for U. The elections present several firsts -- the first time individual candidates are on the ballot rather than general party lists, the first time it's been safe enough for candidates to campaign publicly and the first time Sunni parties are taking part en masse. This is a significant change from previous elections when Sunnis stayed away in droves, leaving themselves with little political representation -- a move now largely seen as a strategic mistake.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Arab-Kurd Tensions. Government of Iraq.

Ray odierno political party: Raymond Thomas Odierno /oʊdiˈɛərnoʊ/

Iranian Influence. Iraq National List Allawi. Iraqi National Project List Mutlaq. Iraqi Security Forces. Operation Iraqi FreedomIraq. Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Combat Action Badge. Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge. Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge. Army Staff Identification Badge. Defense Distinguished Service Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters.

Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster. Defense Superior Service Medal. Legion of Merit with silver oak leaf cluster. Bronze Star Medal. Defense Meritorious Service Medal. Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters. Army Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters. Army Achievement Medal. Secretary's Distinguished Service Award.

National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star. Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. Southwest Asia Service Medal with 3 bronze campaign stars. Kosovo Campaign Medal with 2 bronze campaign stars. Iraq Campaign Medal with four bronze campaign stars. Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Armed Forces Service Medal. Army Service Ribbon.