US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter spoke to reporters at the Pentagon last Tuesday,5 May,along with outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey,US Army.Mr.Carter highlighted a number of important issues on the Pentagon's agenda,but especially the new program to train a force of ultimately 15,000 moderate Syrian rebels to engage ISIL in ground combat.
1.Earlier today we met with Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani about the fight with ISIL.We reaffirmed our commitment to working together by,with and through the Iraqi government to deliver a lasting defeat to ISIL.We believe a unified Iraq is critical to this.
2.We have begun training a company-size group from moderate Syrian forces,to be followed by a second group in the next few weeks.
3.Given that the current defence budget is a road to nowhere,we need Congress to agree to a multi-year budget.We are eroding our tech edge and our military readiness is declining.Our adversaries are paying attention,too;they are watching us lurch from continuing resolution to continuing resolution,and they are adapting.
4.We commend the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations and the Trade Promotion Authority bill as strengthening the US and the Asia-Pacific region.
5.We have a lot of work to do in the months ahead.I want to thank General Dempsey for his stong leadership and thoughtful advice.He has made our world safer.I'll really miss him and Vice Chairman Admiral James Winnefeld,US Navy.I have absolute and complete confidence in their sucessors,General Joseph Dunford,US Marine Corps,as Chaiman,and General Paul Selva,US Air Force,as Vice Chairman.*
On the topic of the struggle with ISIL for control of Iraq's Beiji oil refinery,General Dempsey said it's a part of Iraq's critical infrastructure.It's geographically significant.The Iraqis have lost some of the perimeter and some of the road network that leads to it,but just recently the Iraqis configured 18 of the 18 pallets needed to resupply their troops in the refinery by air.*
As to the training of the moderate Syrian rebel forces,Mr.Carter explained that there are about 90 of the trainees in a company-sized tranche.It takes place in a secure location.Our people are very experienced in this type of training.There are several locations,and we'd rather not talk about them.The first disposition of those forces will be decided on by them and us in a few months.Of course we would have some responsibility to protect those forces.We definitely would work to protect them with intelligence,search and rescue,and potentially with air help.We definitely would have some responsibility for their safety as well as their training.
This is a complex program that will have to evolve over time.We're figuring out what the best training is and disposition of the forces is;but you have to start somewhere,and this is where we're starting.There's a limit to the kind of arms this type of force will get.The training is starting now.These trainees are recruited and vetted,and only then are they put into training.These forces are being trained and equipped to fight ISIL.It's not part of our program to have them engage with Assad's forces.ISIL would be their principal mission.We have not determined yet all the rules of engagement.
These Syrian rebel forces do receive some compensation.An explicit part of their training is how to conduct themselves in accordance with international law.ISIL has taken over and mistreated the places from which they came.They have a commitment to the country of Syria as a whole and the place from which they came.
I think we have to take the domestic ISIL threat seriously.It's concerning;it's yet another reason why the defeat of ISIL is so important in Syria and Iraq-that they have the capability to inspire such individuals,Defense Secretary Ashton Carter pointed out to reporters at the Pentagon briefing.
Showing posts with label General Martin Dempsey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General Martin Dempsey. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Syria:Bigger By the Day
A number of Obama administration officials continued their lobbying efforts for military action against Syria on Wednesday,fielding wide-ranging questions from sometimes irate Members of Congress.The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations did vote to approve the mission 10-7 after a classified briefing.
Polls show the American public largely opposed to the mission.The story is huge and growing,taking up the lion's share of cable news broadcasts.Some are calling for the President to address the American people on Syria from the Oval Office in prime time.
*We know that Assad will read our silence as a sign he can use his weapons with impunity.Iran and North Korea are listening for our silence.This is a vote for accountablity,Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.Degrading his chemical weapons will have an impact on the battlefield.There will be downstream impacts.
These weapons pose a grave threat to our allies Israel,Jordan,Saudi Arabia and Iraq.North Korea maintains a massive chemical weapons stockpile that threatens 20,000 US troops on the border.
There have been 60-100 officer and enlisted defections from the Assad regime in the last day or so.There are serious questions in the elite of Syria that are asking if Assad has gone too far.
Currently in the region,a number of countries have offered to be part of the military action-more countries than our military thinks we need.France and others in the region are prepared to be part of the operation with us.
Arab countries have offered to bear the cost and assist us.They've been quite significant offers-up to the whole cost,if the US does what it's done in the past.
*This will not be a pinprick;it will be a strike that degrades his capability,added Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.We have spent days and days going over every option and contingency,such as embassy security and collateral damage.
Allies will provide basing and overflight rights,noted General Martin Dempsey,Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.The focus and purpose will give us the best chance of limiting it.I can never discount the possibility of escalation,but we've kept it as low as possible.
Congressman Eliot Engel,D-New York,an expert on Syria,is concerned about the message we send to Iran as they pursue a dangerous nuclear capability.His colleague Dutch Ruppersberger,D-Maryland,pointed out that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against Iran and the Kurds in the 1980s.Unchallenged,he went on to invade Kuwait in 1990.
*The whole Senate seems likely to approve the mission at this point,but the House of Representatives is an open question.It could be that the President will have to cast the deciding vote himself,as it were.
Polls show the American public largely opposed to the mission.The story is huge and growing,taking up the lion's share of cable news broadcasts.Some are calling for the President to address the American people on Syria from the Oval Office in prime time.
*We know that Assad will read our silence as a sign he can use his weapons with impunity.Iran and North Korea are listening for our silence.This is a vote for accountablity,Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.Degrading his chemical weapons will have an impact on the battlefield.There will be downstream impacts.
These weapons pose a grave threat to our allies Israel,Jordan,Saudi Arabia and Iraq.North Korea maintains a massive chemical weapons stockpile that threatens 20,000 US troops on the border.
There have been 60-100 officer and enlisted defections from the Assad regime in the last day or so.There are serious questions in the elite of Syria that are asking if Assad has gone too far.
Currently in the region,a number of countries have offered to be part of the military action-more countries than our military thinks we need.France and others in the region are prepared to be part of the operation with us.
Arab countries have offered to bear the cost and assist us.They've been quite significant offers-up to the whole cost,if the US does what it's done in the past.
*This will not be a pinprick;it will be a strike that degrades his capability,added Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.We have spent days and days going over every option and contingency,such as embassy security and collateral damage.
Allies will provide basing and overflight rights,noted General Martin Dempsey,Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.The focus and purpose will give us the best chance of limiting it.I can never discount the possibility of escalation,but we've kept it as low as possible.
Congressman Eliot Engel,D-New York,an expert on Syria,is concerned about the message we send to Iran as they pursue a dangerous nuclear capability.His colleague Dutch Ruppersberger,D-Maryland,pointed out that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against Iran and the Kurds in the 1980s.Unchallenged,he went on to invade Kuwait in 1990.
*The whole Senate seems likely to approve the mission at this point,but the House of Representatives is an open question.It could be that the President will have to cast the deciding vote himself,as it were.
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