Interview With General Odierno; Two Major Al Qaeda Operatives Killed in Iraq
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. We now have an opportunity to take you live, exclusively, into Iraq. That's where General Ray Odierno is joining us now by phone. There is what appears to be some fantastic news that's coming out of Iraq. General, are you there, sir?</s>GENERAL RAY ODIERNO, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ (via telephone): I am, Rick. How are you this evening?</s>SANCHEZ: I'm doing fine, sir. I hope you're holding out OK out there. Would you go ahead -- rather than me give the news to our viewers, you give the news to our viewers about these two big arrests today.</s>ODIERNO: Sure. On -- actually, it was on early Sunday morning, Iraqi forces, long-supported U.S. forces, conducted operations about ten kilometers south of Tikrit, and in the operation we killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri, AAM, who was the of AQI. He's been the head of AQI since 2005. He's Egyptian born.</s>SANCHEZ: AQI being Al Qaeda in Iraq?</s>ODIERNO: That's correct, Al Qaeda in Iraq. And then along with him, we also killed, AUAB, his name is, Abu Umar al-Baghdadi, who has served AQI as the leader of the proclaimed Islamic state of Iraq, which held the title of "Prince of the Faithful." That is the Iraqi side of Al Qaeda that has been developed here in Iraq over the last several years.</s>SANCHEZ: How do you --</s>ODIERNO: This is a very significant operation, because they are the two leaders of the organization.</s>SANCHEZ: Well, but, and here's the question that a lot of folks would have when they think about this, general, the possibility that, you know what, those are great figure heads, and those are big numbers, one and two. But can they easily be replaced? Or can't they? That's what we want. Your perspective, sir?</s>ODIERNO: Yes, I think it will be very difficult for them to be replaced. You know, frankly, over the last 60 days or so, we have been able to conduct a number of operations that have gone after several levels of the Al Qaeda network. And some of that culminated in the killing of these two on Sunday. There are still some mid-level leaders who will probably attempt to reinvigorate Al Qaeda here. I think it will be difficult for them to do that, but us working with the Iraqi security forces will do the best we can to suppress that and continue to degrade Al Qaeda network here.</s>SANCHEZ: When we hear stateside, sir, the terms "Al Qaeda in Iraq," is there a -- is there a direct, or can you explain to us what the operational line is between that organization and Al Qaeda in general, maybe leading even all the way to bin Laden?</s>ODIERNO: Well, Abu al-Masri, who was Egyptian, was, in fact, the link to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. That was the foreign element of Al Qaeda that was established here in Iraq back in 2004 and '05. And he has been the leader since al Zarqawi was killed in 2005. And he has been the link between Al Qaeda in Iraq and mainstream Al Qaeda in the Pakistan/Afghanistan area. So that's why he is so significant. And then they learned, in order to try to win over the Iraqi people, they formed this Iraqi network called Al Qaeda in Iraq when the leader was Abu Umar al-Bagdadi, the other individual killed. That's why that was so important. Over the last two years, Iraqi people have rejected Al Qaeda completely, and that has made it obviously easier for us to attempt to get after these individuals.</s>SANCHEZ: And just as you're coming to this, there are still plans to bring some 45,000 American troops out of Iraq come September. Is that still the plan, the goal, sir?</s>ODIERNO: Yes, it is. And I think we're on plan. And this was a good example of why. You know, this -- this was an Iraqi-led -- both by their commando units, security forces, as well as their intel organizations. We obviously provided them some support, and some of our special operations forces contributed to this mission. But that's the way it is in Iraq. The Iraqis lead operations, and we have been slowing moving toward this the last year. And this is what is allowing us to reduce our presence. And I feel very comfortable with us going down to 50,000 as the Iraqi security forces significantly continue to increase their capacities and capabilities.</s>SANCHEZ: General, could you give us a sense of your working relationship with this White House -- with the president of the United States, how often you're in contact, and whether you're both in agreement in terms of the way things are working out right now on the Iraqi theater?</s>ODIERNO: Well, first off, since the day -- the first day -- first full day President Obama was in office, I did about a three-hour BTC with him. And since then, we have been in regular contact. I know he reads my report I submit every week. I meet with him whenever I'm back in Washington. I speak regularly with the vice president, who he's kind of given the Iraq pile to. I talk with him quite regularly. And we developed a plan here together over time, based on the security agreement that was signed back in December 2008 under the Bush administration. And then President Obama and his administration have taken this over now, and we have continued to execute it with their new policy guidance. And there's been great collaboration between myself and General Petraeus and the chairman, the secretary of defense, and the White House in developing this policy. And we're all in line with it, and we continue to work very closely. We assess the risk on a constant basis, and so far, we believe our plan is working very well.</s>SANCHEZ: General Ray Odierno joining us live from Iraq, on two Iraqi -- or two Al Qaeda leaders, I should say, who have been taken out, as he described for us. My thanks to you, general, job well done, sir. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.</s>ODIERNO: And thank you, rick. And I do appreciate all the great men and women over here who sacrifice every single day. They work awful hard, and continue to do it every day. So thank you very much, sir.</s>SANCHEZ: Well said, sir. We appreciate it. Here is another story we're going to be following in a little bit. Toyota agrees to pay a record fine for its sticky pedal effect in its cars. Yes, it continues. And then -- the "Brooke Block." And here she comes. And we love saying "Brooke Block." What did you think of the general?</s>BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Awesome.</s>SANCHEZ: Thumb's up. I like that. We're going to be right back.