General Calls Iraq Operations 'Worth It' in Final News Briefing
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By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Support

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2011 – As the final U.S. military convoys roll out of Iraq these next a few weeks, marking the end of eight years of operations, Americans can be proud of the work support members did there, U.S. Forces Iraq’s deputy commanding general said today.

In USFI’s final news briefing from Baghdad, Army Lt. Gen. Frank G. Helmick told the Pentagon press corps that Americans and Iraqis will have different thoughts about whether Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn “were worth it.”

“From where I sit, it was,” Helmick said.

It was because of the U.S. military role that the country held historic elections in March 2010, giving Iraq “the opportunity for a sovereign future,” the general said. And, he extra, violence is at an eight-year low.

Helmick said his beliefs are underscored by the positive comments of some wounded warriors and family members of the fallen, which totals more than 4,500 U.S. support members.

“My firm belief is that there is no other military in the world that can do what yours did in Iraq,” he said. “For eight years, they have been building and securing this country.”

U.S. troops’ best legacy in Iraq, Helmick said, is in the professionalism, confidence and esprit de corps of the Iraqi protection forces.

“We gave 28 million Iraqis the best gift anyone can give and that is their freedom,” he said.

Helmick marked the historic situation by calling the veterans of Iraq operations the next “Greatest Generation,” a reference to those who served in World War II.

“The significance of this day doesn’t escape me,” the general said on the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. For their support in Iraq, he said, “America discovered the next best generation.”

“Words cannot begin to express the pride I feel about America’s military performance and support in Iraq,” he extra.

The 18-month process of drawing down forces in Iraq “is simply historic,” likely from 300,000 support members and more than 5,000 installations in 2007 to 8,000 troops and five bases today, Helmick said. Military drivers have logged 16 million miles, “moving a mountain of equipment and personnel,” mostly through southern Iraq and into Kuwait, and have fewer than 1,000 truckloads left, he said.

U.S. forces built the Iraqi protection forces to more than 700,000, trained them, and left them with “some of the best [equipment] we have,” including the M1 Abrams tank and artillery equipment, the general said. U.S. forces also were in charge of the country’s protection until 2010 when Iraqi forces took the lead.

Every piece of U.S. military equipment “goes through an agonizing process” of determining whether it should be transported out of the country or left for the Iraqis, Helmick said. The U.S. military has incurred significant savings in transportation costs by leaving equipment, particularly office furniture, in Iraq, he said.

Iraq still has challenges, Helmick said, including continued threats from al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, Iranian meddling, and internal ethnic tensions.

Iraq has made good progress on police work, the general said, and is capable of securing the country internally, if not externally. “The Iraqis understand they have a protection gap if someone comes into their air space who doesn’t want to be seen,” he said.

Whether or not the Iraqis choose a future U.S. military role in protection is up to them, the general said.

“The sense I get from the Iraqis is that they want to have a strong relationship with our country,” he said.

Asked about the military’s “lessons learned” in Iraq, Helmick said, “We performed, really, beyond expectations.”

Early on, the general said, support members in Iraq had to do things they weren’t necessarily trained to do. They weren’t very good at advising Iraqi farmers on wheat crops, “but we did that,” or in helping with the oil refinery and distribution processes, “but we did that,” he said.

“The military had to branch out through all the different portions of the federal government sector