Pentagon update from Major General John Kelly

Major General John Kelly, Head of Multinational Forces West talks about progress in Anbar.
General Kelly spoke about several updates that are significant to the citizens of Anbar province and to U.S. military personal.

There are approximately 25,000 Marines and 28,000 Iraqi police present in the province right now. The training of the Iraqi police forces is going better and faster than was expected.
This is leading to a reduction of US personal at a faster pace. Presently, the U.S. has six battalions which are in one form or another training Iraqi’s in both civil and military operations matters.

The General was very concerned about the present actions of Iran. The incursion of some Iranians into Iraq was at the top of his list. The Iraqi’s want to take care of their border security but are not prepared right now. The U.S. will stay as a deterrent until the Iraqi military and Iraqi police can protect the province of Anbar and the the country as a whole.

The region has had fewer and fewer incidents of violence. This has lead to to a significant shift towards the concerns of the citizens in Anbar. The General stated that security was the primary focus during meetings with the citizenry and tribal chiefs as well as the regions governing bodies in the past. Because of the decline in violence, these concerns have shifted to rebuilding infrastructure, education and health care.