CENTCOM - U.S. Strategy in the War on Terror an Ongoing Efforts at International Coalition-Building

April 6, 2006, CENTCOM, Tampa, Florida
Contacts: Foreign Press Center Defense Liaison Officer Andrew Strike and Washington Foreign Press Center Program Officer Wendy Lyle
Andrew Strike: Telephone: 202-504-6356, Email: strikeap2@state.gov
Wendy Lyle: Telephone: 202-504-6362; Email: lylewp@state.gov

Twenty-nine TV, radio, and print journalists from NATO, Coalition, and Pan-Arab countries took part in an FPC-sponsored reporting tour to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on April 6.  The tour was the largest media visit ever hosted by CENTCOM, the first of its kind involving significant numbers of foreign media, and the first opportunity for several journalists to talk to a senior U.S. military official on the record.  To open the tour, Brigadier General Kimmitt delivered an authoritative on-the-record briefing on the "Long War," which clarified U.S. strategy in the global war against terrorism, as well as an update on current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Participating radio and TV organizations each followed up with one-on-one interviews with General Kimmitt.  Major General Minetti and general officers from several other coalition countries then provided background briefings on ongoing Coalition military coordination efforts against Al-Qaida and other transnational threats.  Ken McGraw, the Deputy PAO for Special Operations Command (SOCOM) also briefed on the role of US Special Operations forces in the Long War that was another first for foreign media.  The program concluded with a dinner at a seaside restaurant and additional one-on-one interviews with coalition military representatives and U.S. soldiers who recently returned from Iraq.