Mark Kimmitt Quotations

We have said for the last couple of weeks that we have seen the enemy starting to attack soft targets, Iraqi targets, rather than military targets, ... He is attempting to intimidate the people of Iraq. He will not succeed.

Some areas are being turned over to this organization in a methodical matter. We understand a couple hundred of these prospective battalion members are going through a transfer of authority.

Going against soft targets is probably an easier way to achieve what the enemy is trying to achieve. He's attempting to intimidate the people of Iraq, and he's attempting to try to break the will of the coalition, ... He will be unsuccessful in both.

I suspect that most Iraqi people were as horrified,

I think there was a well-thought-out decision on part of the Marines that let's not rush headlong into there. There may be ambushes set up,

We are not going to do a pell-mell rush into the city. It's going to be deliberate, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming. We will not rush in to make things worse. We will plan our way through this and we will reestablish control of that city and we will pacify that city.

What we saw at the strike location, what we had prior to that attack and all of our post-strike intelligence continues to confirm that that was a safe house with a significant amount of ammunition being stored for whatever reason,

another day for the soldiers of the coalition.

It would not surprise us if there may be an attempt or two by perhaps some rogue groups that may not want to live up to this commitment, ... They may attempt to break this cease-fire. They will find that the coalition forces retain the right, the inherent right, to self-defense, and if they are fired at, they will respond.

After we've notified the families, I think we're going to be a little more forthcoming on what happened up there,

The building seemed to be somewhat of a dormitory,

You're going to need generals. You're going to need full colonels. You're going to need senior officers to command and control those organizations. Obviously, that is not a skill level that you can get in a series of weeks,

There may have been some kind of celebration, ... Bad people have celebrations too. Bad people have parties too.

the number of attacks on soft targets and civilians continues to rise ... we think this is a change on the part of the enemy.

Day after day after day as we continue to get more evidence in ... it is pretty clear to us that what happened that night -- from after midnight to about 0400 -- that the activities that we saw on the ground were somewhat inconsistent with a wedding party,

That soldier said: 'There are some things going on here that I can't live with'.

It takes a very few number of people in the country to create the kind of damage we are seeing,

They will be hunted down. They will be captured,

The negotiations, the discussions in the minds of the Marine commanders, continue to proceed, even though we did not see a tremendous number of weapons turned in today,

After the warning shots were neglected, the individuals got into their vehicle and drove toward the coalition base,

I know that your reporter may have confirmed it to you. But that's what your correspondents have been doing for the last few days, repeating and confirming lies,

the current strategy that we are implementing is in fact working.

The casualty figures that we have received from the enemy are somewhere about 10 times that amount, ... About civilian casualties, there is no authoritative figure out there.