On his way to Warsaw, Poland, for the NATO summit yesterday, Defense Secretary Ash Carter highlighted the issues he said he expects alliance leaders to discuss during the two-day meeting.
Carter told reporters traveling with him that NATO and the United States have a strong and balanced approach toward Russian aggression along the alliance’s eastern border.
The defense secretary also discussed the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and how it will continue following President Barack Obama’s decision to keep 8,400 U.S. service members in the country into 2017. “It’s the unity and combined strength of the alliance that helps it to make a difference in a number of different areas of the world,” Carter said.
Concerns About Russia
The United States and NATO must deal with a revanchist Russia, adding that the U.S. and NATO approach regarding Russia is strong enough to deter aggression in Europe, but also is balanced, with the lines of communication remaining open to the Russians.
“I think the president will be making very clear what the contributions are that his country and our Defense Department has made to and is making to moving from reassurance to deterrence,” the secretary said. “Just let me remind everyone that the American presence in Europe … is greatly strengthened this year relative to many years in the past by the addition of a rotational armored brigade combat team, the equipment for an armored BCT [and] the agreement by the United States to serve as a framework nation among the four framework nations that will position four NATO battalions in the Baltics and Poland.”
Europe’s Southern Flank
Operations on the alliance’s southern flank also will be discussed in Warsaw, Carter said, as will instability in the Middle East and North Africa and the concomitant refugee crisis.
“NATO’s role in combating [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] is going to be one of the things that are discussed,” Carter said. “We believe that NATO can play a useful role, and that’s going to be one of the things that will be discussed there.”
Afghanistan and the Resolute Support mission is also on the summit agenda, the defense secretary said. NATO has been integral in the Resolute Support mission and it has made “enormous amount of progress in building up the Afghan security forces” and will continue to do so, he said.
Obama’s announcement that 8,400 U.S. service members would remain in Afghanistan into 2017 sets the stage for continued progress in the country, Carter said. The president made the decision in view of changed circumstances over the last year and “what we've learned over the last year in terms of what we can accomplish if we do a little more with the Afghans,” he added.
Flexibility
The secretary praised the president for the flexibility he has shown, as U.S. presence in Afghanistan was due to drop to 5,500 troops by the end of this year. This announcement comes on the heels of the president’s decision to change the authorities granted to the U.S. commander in Afghanistan to assist Afghan security forces in anticipation of need, rather than waiting until they get into a circumstance where a problem looms, Carter said.
Carter gave reporters some background into the discussions that led to the president’s troop decision for Afghanistan. Defense leaders got to their recommendation of 8,400 service members, he said, by looking at the tasks and functions that need to be accomplished.
“An important lesson we learned over the last winter is the importance of helping Afghan security forces to reset after … the fighting season, and before the 2017 fighting season begins,” he said. “That is the kind of experience we took into account in making this recommendation to him. It's based on the roles that we thought we could play to give the Afghan security forces the highest chances of success there as a security force.”
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