1 00:00:02,540 --> 00:00:06,510 Mhm . Okay . A couple things at 2 00:00:06,510 --> 00:00:06,960 the top 3 00:00:10,940 --> 00:00:13,051 today , undersecretary of Defense for 4 00:00:13,051 --> 00:00:15,560 policy . Dr Colin Kahl met with Saudi 5 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:17,670 Vice Minister of Defense , his royal 6 00:00:17,670 --> 00:00:20,410 highness Prince Khalid bin Salman to 7 00:00:20,410 --> 00:00:22,354 reaffirm the U . S . Saudi Defence 8 00:00:22,354 --> 00:00:24,980 relationship under Secretary call 9 00:00:24,980 --> 00:00:27,147 emphasize the US commitment to helping 10 00:00:27,147 --> 00:00:29,320 Saudi Arabia defend its territory and 11 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,500 its people . The two leaders discussed 12 00:00:31,510 --> 00:00:33,650 efforts to end the war in Yemen and 13 00:00:33,650 --> 00:00:35,761 share the U . S . Saudi commitment to 14 00:00:35,761 --> 00:00:38,094 counter Iran's destabilizing activities . 15 00:00:38,094 --> 00:00:40,094 Dr carl thank the Vice Minister for 16 00:00:40,094 --> 00:00:42,320 working closely and constructively with 17 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,320 US special envoy tim linder King to end 18 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,264 the war in Yemen and condemned the 19 00:00:47,264 --> 00:00:49,487 Houthi cross border attacks . The Under 20 00:00:49,487 --> 00:00:51,598 secretary also noted the need to work 21 00:00:51,598 --> 00:00:53,209 together on a addressing the 22 00:00:53,209 --> 00:00:55,320 proliferation and dangers of unmanned 23 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,250 aerial vehicles . The Secretary uh 24 00:00:58,260 --> 00:00:59,871 Defense Austin also took the 25 00:00:59,871 --> 00:01:01,927 opportunity to take a few moments of 26 00:01:01,927 --> 00:01:04,038 the bilateral engagement , to express 27 00:01:04,038 --> 00:01:05,704 our commitment to our defence 28 00:01:05,704 --> 00:01:07,816 relationship with Saudi Arabia and to 29 00:01:07,816 --> 00:01:10,149 discuss regional security and stability . 30 00:01:10,149 --> 00:01:09,780 The chairman of the Joint Chiefs 31 00:01:09,780 --> 00:01:12,830 General Milley also took time to 32 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:14,800 participate in a portion of that 33 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,060 meeting with the Saudi Vice Minister 34 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,120 onto uh exercise sea breeze . 21 over 35 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,009 the weekend , Ukrainian President 36 00:01:24,009 --> 00:01:25,953 Zelinsky visited the Arleigh Burke 37 00:01:25,953 --> 00:01:28,450 class guided missile destroyer USS ross 38 00:01:28,460 --> 00:01:30,349 to reinforce the bonds of our two 39 00:01:30,349 --> 00:01:32,850 nations . Today , USs ross got back 40 00:01:32,850 --> 00:01:34,794 underway , continuing to build our 41 00:01:34,794 --> 00:01:36,961 maritime interoperability in the Black 42 00:01:36,961 --> 00:01:39,490 Sea . Also in Seabreeze , us Ukrainian 43 00:01:39,490 --> 00:01:41,830 Canadian Polish and Georgian divers are 44 00:01:41,830 --> 00:01:43,663 working side by side to remove a 45 00:01:43,663 --> 00:01:47,260 civilian vessel that sunk in 2016 and 46 00:01:47,260 --> 00:01:49,482 is now blocking a portion of the Odessa 47 00:01:49,482 --> 00:01:51,593 port pier . This cooperative dive and 48 00:01:51,593 --> 00:01:53,690 salvage operation and will increase 49 00:01:53,690 --> 00:01:55,640 port access and maritime safety , 50 00:01:55,650 --> 00:01:57,594 demonstrating the tangible lasting 51 00:01:57,594 --> 00:01:59,650 impacts of our partnerships . And as 52 00:01:59,650 --> 00:02:01,817 we've said , exercises like sea breeze 53 00:02:01,817 --> 00:02:03,983 allows participants to learn from each 54 00:02:03,983 --> 00:02:05,928 other and strengthen relationships 55 00:02:05,928 --> 00:02:08,150 between NATO allied and partner nations 56 00:02:08,150 --> 00:02:11,090 in the region . Uh And lastly , I think 57 00:02:11,090 --> 00:02:13,312 you all are aware of the tragic news on 58 00:02:13,312 --> 00:02:15,880 sunday from out of the Philippines . Uh 59 00:02:15,890 --> 00:02:18,057 Secretary did offer his condolences to 60 00:02:18,057 --> 00:02:20,168 the government of the Philippines and 61 00:02:20,168 --> 00:02:22,223 the families of all those lost uh in 62 00:02:22,223 --> 00:02:24,279 that crash in Salou . Well , we will 63 00:02:24,279 --> 00:02:26,334 continue to provide whatever support 64 00:02:26,334 --> 00:02:30,110 the Philippine government needs uh to 65 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,720 to respond to this tragedy . Secretary 66 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,130 is scheduled tonight to speak on the 67 00:02:35,130 --> 00:02:37,230 phone with the Secretary of National 68 00:02:37,230 --> 00:02:39,230 Defense of the Philippines . Delfin 69 00:02:39,230 --> 00:02:41,520 Lorenzana , and certainly will provide 70 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,940 a readout of that call after it happens . 71 00:02:43,940 --> 00:02:45,996 But that's that's the schedule now . 72 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,184 Okay . We'll go to questions looks 73 00:02:48,184 --> 00:02:52,180 likely to europe . Hi john , thanks to 74 00:02:52,180 --> 00:02:55,570 things . Um One , can you 75 00:02:55,580 --> 00:02:59,200 um say on the meeting with KBS , was 76 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,920 there any discussion about any specific 77 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:03,950 requests that the Saudis have or 78 00:03:03,950 --> 00:03:05,839 anything from the United States , 79 00:03:05,839 --> 00:03:08,190 including um noting the recent 80 00:03:08,190 --> 00:03:10,357 withdrawals ? Some patriots from their 81 00:03:10,357 --> 00:03:12,480 country ? And then secondly on 82 00:03:12,490 --> 00:03:15,360 Afghanistan , General Miller is at NATO . 83 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,360 Can you talk a little bit about his 84 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:21,040 message to um to the knack and 85 00:03:21,050 --> 00:03:24,000 to um Stoltenberg today and whether 86 00:03:24,010 --> 00:03:25,843 he's going to be doing any other 87 00:03:25,843 --> 00:03:27,843 diplomatic meetings over the coming 88 00:03:27,843 --> 00:03:29,788 days ? I don't have any additional 89 00:03:29,788 --> 00:03:33,320 detail on the meeting uh with the Saudi 90 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,560 Vice Minister of Defense . Other than 91 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:37,504 what I just read out here . I mean 92 00:03:37,504 --> 00:03:41,100 clearly they talked about a range of um 93 00:03:41,110 --> 00:03:43,740 of security interests there in Saudi 94 00:03:43,740 --> 00:03:46,600 Arabia . And as I said , uh from our 95 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,220 side we reaffirmed the Saudis 96 00:03:50,230 --> 00:03:53,480 uh right and responsibility 97 00:03:53,490 --> 00:03:56,510 capability to defend themselves and 98 00:03:56,510 --> 00:03:58,677 their territorial integrity from these 99 00:03:58,677 --> 00:04:00,843 uh these Houthi attacks , particularly 100 00:04:00,843 --> 00:04:02,954 U . A . V . Attacks . And we take our 101 00:04:02,954 --> 00:04:04,788 commitment to helping the Saudis 102 00:04:04,788 --> 00:04:07,066 contribute to that self defense . Very , 103 00:04:07,066 --> 00:04:09,177 very seriously . So I think I'll just 104 00:04:09,177 --> 00:04:11,232 leave it at that . Um As for General 105 00:04:11,232 --> 00:04:14,770 Miller's visit to brussels , it was uh 106 00:04:14,780 --> 00:04:16,960 may have seen the secretary General 107 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,550 Stoltenberg issued a tweet after that 108 00:04:19,550 --> 00:04:21,717 meeting was over . It was very much an 109 00:04:21,717 --> 00:04:24,180 opportunity for the general to update 110 00:04:24,190 --> 00:04:27,040 uh the Secretary General on the 111 00:04:27,050 --> 00:04:29,210 progress of the drawdown and of the 112 00:04:29,220 --> 00:04:32,340 coming authority . I'm sorry command 113 00:04:32,340 --> 00:04:34,660 authority changes that that I briefed 114 00:04:34,660 --> 00:04:37,160 you on on friday . Uh And I would 115 00:04:37,170 --> 00:04:40,000 really refer more to to NATO and the 116 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,944 secretary General to speak in more 117 00:04:41,944 --> 00:04:44,278 detail of reading out that that meeting . 118 00:04:44,278 --> 00:04:47,950 But again , as I and I I said this on 119 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,440 friday , I mean , we can expect over 120 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,607 the next week or so as we get ready to 121 00:04:52,607 --> 00:04:54,773 do this transition of authority , that 122 00:04:54,773 --> 00:04:56,773 General Miller may be moving in and 123 00:04:56,773 --> 00:05:00,440 around the theater and elsewhere to 124 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,480 prepare for the proper transition over 125 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,591 to General Mackenzie . And this visit 126 00:05:05,591 --> 00:05:07,970 to uh the NATO was part of that . It's 127 00:05:07,970 --> 00:05:10,350 also , you know , we need to remind the 128 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:12,980 Operation Resolute support still exists . 129 00:05:12,990 --> 00:05:14,950 Uh He is still the Commander of 130 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,127 Operation Resolute support . It is not 131 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,150 on common , very typical for him to 132 00:05:20,150 --> 00:05:22,640 brief NATO leaders about about his 133 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,060 activities in in that role as the 134 00:05:25,060 --> 00:05:27,393 Commander of Operation Resolute support . 135 00:05:27,393 --> 00:05:29,338 As for additional travel . I'm not 136 00:05:29,338 --> 00:05:31,338 gonna get ahead of his schedule . I 137 00:05:31,338 --> 00:05:33,338 think you can all understand why we 138 00:05:33,338 --> 00:05:35,560 wouldn't do that . But as we get closer 139 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,320 to this transition of authority from 140 00:05:38,330 --> 00:05:40,480 General Miller to General Mackenzie 141 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:42,700 will certainly keep you updated to the 142 00:05:42,700 --> 00:05:45,160 degree we can tom welcome through what 143 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:46,938 happened in bagram . The Afghan 144 00:05:46,938 --> 00:05:49,104 military is saying the U . S . Left in 145 00:05:49,104 --> 00:05:51,271 the dead of night didn't inform them . 146 00:05:51,271 --> 00:05:54,060 Looters broke in grab a lot of stuff 147 00:05:54,070 --> 00:05:56,014 and there's also reports that left 148 00:05:56,014 --> 00:05:58,160 behind work hundreds of armored and 149 00:05:58,170 --> 00:06:01,410 unarmored vehicles . Yeah , so I mean , 150 00:06:01,410 --> 00:06:03,660 I've seen those press reports tom uh 151 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,080 what I can tell you is that there was 152 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,860 coordination with afghan leaders , both 153 00:06:09,870 --> 00:06:11,930 in the government as well as in the 154 00:06:11,930 --> 00:06:14,880 Afghan security forces , uh about the 155 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:18,650 eventual turnover Of Bagram Air Base . 156 00:06:18,650 --> 00:06:21,160 As you know , it was the 7th and the 157 00:06:21,170 --> 00:06:24,790 final base that we turned over 158 00:06:24,990 --> 00:06:27,268 to the Afghan National Security Forces . 159 00:06:27,268 --> 00:06:29,268 You don't do that in a vacuum . And 160 00:06:29,268 --> 00:06:31,434 this wasn't done in a vacuum . I can't 161 00:06:31,434 --> 00:06:34,130 speak for the level of information that 162 00:06:34,140 --> 00:06:36,630 that uh that went down the Afghan chain 163 00:06:36,630 --> 00:06:38,686 of command . But I can tell you that 164 00:06:38,686 --> 00:06:40,852 afghan leaders , civilian and military 165 00:06:40,852 --> 00:06:43,074 were appropriately coordinated with and 166 00:06:43,074 --> 00:06:45,130 briefed about the turnover of bagram 167 00:06:45,130 --> 00:06:48,390 air base . Uh And in fact , some of 168 00:06:48,390 --> 00:06:51,990 that briefing uh included a walk 169 00:06:51,990 --> 00:06:54,690 through of facilities on the base with 170 00:06:54,690 --> 00:06:57,310 senior Afghan leaders and Aviation 171 00:06:57,310 --> 00:06:59,532 Authority people . A bigger part was it 172 00:06:59,532 --> 00:07:01,810 with the civilian aviation authorities ? 173 00:07:01,810 --> 00:07:04,032 I don't know the details of that . I do 174 00:07:04,032 --> 00:07:06,143 know that there was a walk through of 175 00:07:06,143 --> 00:07:05,710 the facilities with senior afghan 176 00:07:05,710 --> 00:07:08,740 leaders and was done . Uh just let me 177 00:07:08,740 --> 00:07:12,500 finish the uh conversation , 178 00:07:12,510 --> 00:07:14,280 the specific conversation and 179 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:16,391 coordination about the turnover black 180 00:07:16,391 --> 00:07:19,000 room . The final conversations occurred 181 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,270 about 48 hours prior . Obviously for 182 00:07:22,270 --> 00:07:24,159 operational security reasons , we 183 00:07:24,159 --> 00:07:26,326 didn't go into the exact hour at which 184 00:07:26,326 --> 00:07:29,370 all US forces would would leave bagram 185 00:07:29,380 --> 00:07:31,610 again . As I said from the outset , we 186 00:07:31,610 --> 00:07:33,277 have had to operate under the 187 00:07:33,277 --> 00:07:36,490 assumption that this drawdown could be 188 00:07:36,490 --> 00:07:38,546 contested at any time . And so we're 189 00:07:38,546 --> 00:07:41,140 very careful about what we say and how 190 00:07:41,150 --> 00:07:43,317 how much detail we provide out there . 191 00:07:43,317 --> 00:07:45,372 But there was coordination now as to 192 00:07:45,372 --> 00:07:48,430 exactly who I'd refer you to General 193 00:07:48,430 --> 00:07:50,350 Miller staff for the more , more 194 00:07:50,350 --> 00:07:52,660 details on that . But uh , there was 195 00:07:52,660 --> 00:07:54,882 coordination done at , at higher levels 196 00:07:54,882 --> 00:07:56,771 and the government and the Afghan 197 00:07:56,771 --> 00:07:58,938 forces . It was done in plenty of time 198 00:07:58,938 --> 00:08:00,993 and it's not like the closure or the 199 00:08:00,993 --> 00:08:03,380 turnover of bagram was at all in 200 00:08:03,380 --> 00:08:05,213 dispute throughout this drawdown 201 00:08:05,213 --> 00:08:07,590 process . Everybody knew that was 202 00:08:07,590 --> 00:08:09,810 happening . And uh , there was general 203 00:08:09,810 --> 00:08:12,143 understanding about roughly win . Again , 204 00:08:12,143 --> 00:08:14,270 as we got closer , more detail was 205 00:08:14,270 --> 00:08:17,350 provided to Afghan leaders what was 206 00:08:17,350 --> 00:08:19,710 left behind when their armored vehicles 207 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:21,824 have been reports that hundreds of 208 00:08:21,824 --> 00:08:23,824 armored and unarmored vehicles left 209 00:08:23,824 --> 00:08:25,824 behind and there were some vehicles 210 00:08:25,824 --> 00:08:27,936 obviously left behind and some turned 211 00:08:27,936 --> 00:08:30,102 over to Afghan officials . Again , I'd 212 00:08:30,102 --> 00:08:32,047 refer to resolute support and uh , 213 00:08:32,047 --> 00:08:34,269 General Miller staff for more detail on 214 00:08:34,269 --> 00:08:36,269 exactly how many and what condition 215 00:08:36,269 --> 00:08:38,380 they were . But yes , there were some 216 00:08:38,380 --> 00:08:40,713 vehicles and that's again , that hasn't , 217 00:08:40,713 --> 00:08:42,769 that's not uncommon with some of the 218 00:08:42,769 --> 00:08:42,680 other turnovers of other other 219 00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:45,620 facilities that that we've had . Okay 220 00:08:45,830 --> 00:08:48,650 it's r thanks john another on bagram . 221 00:08:48,660 --> 00:08:50,660 The each of the statements has been 222 00:08:50,660 --> 00:08:52,716 raised by the Defense Department has 223 00:08:52,716 --> 00:08:54,604 said that all the equipment being 224 00:08:54,604 --> 00:08:56,827 brought out were non defense articles . 225 00:08:56,827 --> 00:08:59,049 After the reports of the vehicles being 226 00:08:59,049 --> 00:09:01,216 left at bagram . Have are we leaving a 227 00:09:01,216 --> 00:09:03,382 bunch of military equipment behind for 228 00:09:03,382 --> 00:09:06,420 the Afghan army and The Defense 229 00:09:06,420 --> 00:09:08,587 Department today also said that 90% of 230 00:09:08,587 --> 00:09:10,753 the drawdown or withdrawal is complete 231 00:09:10,830 --> 00:09:13,320 at that point is basically everything 232 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,640 that's left just at Kabul . Now I 233 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,480 wouldn't uh don't uh let me 234 00:09:20,490 --> 00:09:22,657 check on that one . I think I tried to 235 00:09:22,657 --> 00:09:24,657 go to centcom on your last question 236 00:09:24,657 --> 00:09:26,650 before I try to speculate but um I 237 00:09:26,650 --> 00:09:30,540 think uh in terms of the 238 00:09:30,540 --> 00:09:33,200 equipment left behind no weapons are 239 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:35,720 being left behind . Throughout the draw 240 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,387 down a few 100 small arms and 241 00:09:37,387 --> 00:09:39,850 ammunition were transferred to the A . 242 00:09:39,850 --> 00:09:41,739 N . D . S . F . And again I think 243 00:09:41,739 --> 00:09:43,794 centcom can provide you a little bit 244 00:09:43,794 --> 00:09:47,190 more detail on that . Okay 245 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,850 again I don't have a full breakdown of 246 00:09:49,860 --> 00:09:53,550 of the vehicles . Uh Some vehicles 247 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,300 were left for use by the afghans . Some 248 00:09:57,300 --> 00:09:59,800 were destroyed because they were no 249 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,940 longer usable . Uh And some were 250 00:10:02,940 --> 00:10:05,620 properly transferred out of the country . 251 00:10:05,630 --> 00:10:09,090 Uh Some brought home some transferred 252 00:10:09,090 --> 00:10:11,960 to other places in the region . But I 253 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,127 don't have I don't have a breakdown of 254 00:10:14,127 --> 00:10:16,293 every vehicle . I just don't have that 255 00:10:16,293 --> 00:10:18,460 several details this weekend . There's 256 00:10:18,460 --> 00:10:20,760 or did it come under attack or not ? 257 00:10:20,770 --> 00:10:22,937 Come under attack ? I think we I think 258 00:10:22,937 --> 00:10:25,048 we put something out over the weekend 259 00:10:25,048 --> 00:10:27,330 that there were there was no attack on 260 00:10:27,330 --> 00:10:30,380 Deborah's or no that was disinformation 261 00:10:30,380 --> 00:10:33,010 of some sort but There was no attack . 262 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,490 John is more than 90% of the US troops 263 00:10:35,490 --> 00:10:37,657 are out of Afghanistan . Why don't you 264 00:10:37,657 --> 00:10:39,879 just declare the mission over ? Are you 265 00:10:39,879 --> 00:10:42,046 stalling to get the interpreters out ? 266 00:10:42,046 --> 00:10:44,268 What the Centcom statement said was 90% 267 00:10:44,268 --> 00:10:46,860 of the withdrawal was complete . We 268 00:10:46,860 --> 00:10:49,138 have refrained from the very beginning . 269 00:10:49,138 --> 00:10:51,420 Speaking about specific numbers of 270 00:10:51,430 --> 00:10:54,490 people again for valid operational 271 00:10:54,490 --> 00:10:56,490 security reasons . I'm not going to 272 00:10:56,490 --> 00:10:59,310 break that president today . As I said 273 00:10:59,310 --> 00:11:02,250 on friday . Uh the drawdown continues 274 00:11:02,260 --> 00:11:04,149 and as I also said on friday , we 275 00:11:04,149 --> 00:11:06,260 expected to be complete by the end of 276 00:11:06,260 --> 00:11:09,610 august . Um Clearly When you look at 277 00:11:09,620 --> 00:11:12,760 the percentage that centcom put out 90 278 00:11:13,140 --> 00:11:15,360 complete , it tells you that our 279 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,480 presence is small , both materially and 280 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,050 physically in terms of people , but I'm 281 00:11:21,050 --> 00:11:23,050 simply not going to get beyond what 282 00:11:23,050 --> 00:11:24,994 centcom has provided . Begin again 283 00:11:24,994 --> 00:11:27,161 because we have to assume that as this 284 00:11:27,161 --> 00:11:29,161 withdrawal continues throughout the 285 00:11:29,161 --> 00:11:31,383 summer , that it could be contested and 286 00:11:31,383 --> 00:11:33,606 we don't want to see anybody get hurt . 287 00:11:33,606 --> 00:11:33,450 You also said friday that you're not 288 00:11:33,450 --> 00:11:35,617 speeding up the withdrawal . Does that 289 00:11:35,617 --> 00:11:37,783 mean you're delaying the withdrawal in 290 00:11:37,783 --> 00:11:39,839 order to get the interpreters ? That 291 00:11:39,839 --> 00:11:42,006 means the withdrawal is on pace and we 292 00:11:42,006 --> 00:11:41,940 will we will be out by the end of 293 00:11:41,940 --> 00:11:45,120 august which is a a slightly ahead , 294 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,460 slightly ahead of what the president's 295 00:11:48,460 --> 00:11:50,830 original direction was . But but not 296 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,170 not so far ahead that I that I and I 297 00:11:53,170 --> 00:11:55,281 pushed back on you on friday , not so 298 00:11:55,281 --> 00:11:57,337 far ahead that I would indicate that 299 00:11:57,337 --> 00:11:59,392 it's being radically sped up . Isn't 300 00:11:59,392 --> 00:12:01,614 being slowed down . No , it's not being 301 00:12:01,614 --> 00:12:03,392 slowed down . It is it is it is 302 00:12:03,392 --> 00:12:05,337 occurring on on pace . And again , 303 00:12:05,337 --> 00:12:07,448 there's there's still work to be done 304 00:12:07,448 --> 00:12:09,614 here on this draw down as we get as we 305 00:12:09,614 --> 00:12:11,670 get through the summer . Let me take 306 00:12:11,670 --> 00:12:13,781 one from the phone . I know we've got 307 00:12:13,781 --> 00:12:17,150 lots of hands up uh carla bob . Thanks 308 00:12:17,150 --> 00:12:19,206 john let me go back to bagram really 309 00:12:19,206 --> 00:12:22,160 quickly . Um The reports are saying the 310 00:12:22,170 --> 00:12:24,503 new commander was not notified . I mean , 311 00:12:24,503 --> 00:12:26,559 would you not say that that's a huge 312 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:29,270 oversight either by um D . O . D . Or 313 00:12:29,270 --> 00:12:31,710 the afghans ? Somebody forgot to tell 314 00:12:31,710 --> 00:12:33,840 this commander because he's telling 315 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:35,840 reporters that he didn't know until 316 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,007 after the U . S . Forces had left . So 317 00:12:38,007 --> 00:12:40,173 is that not a big oversight ? And then 318 00:12:40,173 --> 00:12:42,229 I have a couple of follows . I can't 319 00:12:42,229 --> 00:12:44,396 dispute the reporting that you've seen 320 00:12:44,396 --> 00:12:46,562 there . I'm certainly not gonna uh I'm 321 00:12:46,562 --> 00:12:48,562 not in a position to to to publicly 322 00:12:48,562 --> 00:12:50,770 dispute the commander's comments to to 323 00:12:50,770 --> 00:12:54,240 press . I can't speak for how 324 00:12:54,250 --> 00:12:57,860 afghan leadership briefed their people . 325 00:12:57,870 --> 00:13:00,020 What I can tell you is that there was 326 00:13:00,020 --> 00:13:02,860 coordination between General Miller and 327 00:13:02,860 --> 00:13:05,170 his staff and senior Afghan military 328 00:13:05,170 --> 00:13:07,392 and civilian leaders about the turnover 329 00:13:07,392 --> 00:13:09,860 of bagram that I know , uh , and that 330 00:13:09,860 --> 00:13:12,230 there was even to the degree of there 331 00:13:12,230 --> 00:13:14,120 being a walk through what this 332 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:16,287 commander knew and when he knew it , I 333 00:13:16,287 --> 00:13:19,660 simply can't speak to that . Okay . Um , 334 00:13:19,670 --> 00:13:21,837 then also we've heard the reports that 335 00:13:21,837 --> 00:13:24,100 the electricity was shut off and that 336 00:13:24,100 --> 00:13:25,933 allowed looters to enter , which 337 00:13:25,933 --> 00:13:28,044 doesn't sound safe or orderly , which 338 00:13:28,044 --> 00:13:30,100 is what the US has been saying . And 339 00:13:30,100 --> 00:13:32,322 you've said from that podium many times 340 00:13:32,322 --> 00:13:34,100 about having a safe and orderly 341 00:13:34,100 --> 00:13:36,322 withdrawal . So why was the electricity 342 00:13:36,322 --> 00:13:38,433 shut off ? And was the US responsible 343 00:13:38,433 --> 00:13:38,410 for that ? That's a question . It's 344 00:13:38,410 --> 00:13:40,410 better put two people on the ground 345 00:13:40,410 --> 00:13:42,354 there in Afghanistan . I don't , I 346 00:13:42,354 --> 00:13:44,410 don't have that level of fidelity of 347 00:13:44,410 --> 00:13:46,299 information in terms of the exact 348 00:13:46,299 --> 00:13:48,430 Tiktok of of of how the base was uh , 349 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:50,440 was turned over . So I really would 350 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:52,662 refer it to them for more details about 351 00:13:52,662 --> 00:13:56,560 that . Yeah . Thanks , john , 352 00:13:56,560 --> 00:13:58,282 could you update us on how the 353 00:13:58,282 --> 00:14:00,393 Afghanistan mission will be conducted 354 00:14:00,393 --> 00:14:02,282 from over the horizon , including 355 00:14:02,282 --> 00:14:04,800 support for the Afghan , our Air force . 356 00:14:05,070 --> 00:14:07,070 Is there anything more on that ? As 357 00:14:07,070 --> 00:14:10,150 we've said , Abraham was still , we are 358 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,327 capable of conducting over the horizon 359 00:14:12,327 --> 00:14:15,560 counterterrorism right now . Um it's 360 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:18,190 difficult , but it's doable . Uh and we 361 00:14:18,190 --> 00:14:21,550 are continuing to explore other options 362 00:14:22,140 --> 00:14:24,310 in the region to be able to enhance 363 00:14:24,310 --> 00:14:26,477 that capability going forward . We are 364 00:14:26,477 --> 00:14:28,610 having active discussions in concert 365 00:14:28,610 --> 00:14:30,666 with our State Department colleagues 366 00:14:30,666 --> 00:14:32,832 about that very thing . I don't have a 367 00:14:32,832 --> 00:14:34,777 breakdown for you right now , what 368 00:14:34,777 --> 00:14:36,832 that's gonna look like . But again , 369 00:14:36,832 --> 00:14:38,888 it's important . Remember we already 370 00:14:38,888 --> 00:14:38,660 have an over the horizon 371 00:14:38,660 --> 00:14:41,380 counterterrorism capability . Got the a 372 00:14:41,390 --> 00:14:43,446 carrier strike group in the region . 373 00:14:43,446 --> 00:14:46,270 We've got uh facilities throughout the 374 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,390 Middle East , uh that have and will 375 00:14:48,390 --> 00:14:50,920 continue to be a value in this regard . 376 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,520 So we have that capability um , as for 377 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,170 the support for uh the afghans . Uh , 378 00:14:57,180 --> 00:14:59,069 we're still working out what that 379 00:14:59,069 --> 00:15:01,180 contract support is gonna look like . 380 00:15:01,180 --> 00:15:03,402 Once the drawdown is complete , many of 381 00:15:03,402 --> 00:15:05,291 those contractors are still there 382 00:15:05,291 --> 00:15:07,402 providing that kind of support to the 383 00:15:07,402 --> 00:15:09,458 afghans and the afghan air forces as 384 00:15:09,458 --> 00:15:11,569 you and I speak . And we are actively 385 00:15:11,569 --> 00:15:14,460 working ways in which that contract 386 00:15:14,460 --> 00:15:16,238 support can be done remotely or 387 00:15:16,238 --> 00:15:18,404 virtually , or even physically outside 388 00:15:18,404 --> 00:15:20,182 the country . And the Black Sea 389 00:15:20,182 --> 00:15:23,330 exercises , Well , sea breezes going on . 390 00:15:23,330 --> 00:15:25,386 While NATO had some aerial exercises 391 00:15:25,386 --> 00:15:27,930 happening , Russia was doing S 400 392 00:15:27,930 --> 00:15:30,550 tests and they were also practicing 393 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,050 bombing mock enemy ships . Were 394 00:15:34,050 --> 00:15:37,430 these Russian exercises announced in 395 00:15:37,430 --> 00:15:39,541 advance ? Was there a deconfliction ? 396 00:15:39,610 --> 00:15:41,980 Did they interfere at all with the US 397 00:15:41,980 --> 00:15:44,147 exercises happening in the Black Sea ? 398 00:15:44,147 --> 00:15:45,924 There's no interference in with 399 00:15:45,924 --> 00:15:48,091 exercise sea breeze ? I'd refer you to 400 00:15:48,091 --> 00:15:50,313 our colleagues in Moscow to speak about 401 00:15:50,313 --> 00:15:52,480 the degree to which they coordinated . 402 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:54,536 Uh , those exercises were focused on 403 00:15:54,536 --> 00:15:56,702 sea breeze and sea breeze has gone off 404 00:15:56,702 --> 00:15:58,647 quite well , uh , and continues to 405 00:15:58,647 --> 00:16:01,200 continues to be an active exercise . I 406 00:16:01,210 --> 00:16:04,870 know of no , uh , infringement on our 407 00:16:04,870 --> 00:16:07,850 ability to exercise in sea breeze by 408 00:16:07,860 --> 00:16:11,520 Russian activity . Yet . To questions 409 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:13,671 if the 1st 90% of the withdrawal took 410 00:16:13,671 --> 00:16:15,893 two months , why is the last 10% taking 411 00:16:15,893 --> 00:16:17,838 two more months ? And then can you 412 00:16:17,838 --> 00:16:20,004 update us on the border mission in the 413 00:16:20,004 --> 00:16:22,116 extension of National Guard troops on 414 00:16:22,116 --> 00:16:24,116 the first question ? Or in uh , you 415 00:16:24,116 --> 00:16:26,116 know , it's not , it's not a linear 416 00:16:26,116 --> 00:16:29,360 process . And I think you guys were 417 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,190 uh , critical of some of the updates 418 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,740 previously in the , in the summer , 419 00:16:34,740 --> 00:16:36,962 that the percentages didn't change much 420 00:16:36,962 --> 00:16:39,073 from week to week . It's not a linear 421 00:16:39,073 --> 00:16:42,710 process . Uh 90% means 90% . But that 422 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,776 that means there's still 10% to do . 423 00:16:44,776 --> 00:16:48,770 And as you get smaller , um in both 424 00:16:49,140 --> 00:16:52,560 four Size and incapability that 425 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,170 that capability , those resources need 426 00:16:56,170 --> 00:16:58,281 to be marshaled even more carefully . 427 00:16:58,281 --> 00:17:00,580 Um because you as you begin to to 428 00:17:00,580 --> 00:17:02,802 whittle down . So that's where we're at 429 00:17:02,802 --> 00:17:05,220 right now . Uh It's we're on pace on 430 00:17:05,220 --> 00:17:07,331 schedule and I think we'll be done by 431 00:17:07,331 --> 00:17:09,553 the end of august . But you you I think 432 00:17:09,553 --> 00:17:11,720 it would should be logical that as you 433 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,100 get smaller again , you wanna marshal 434 00:17:14,100 --> 00:17:16,267 those resources much more carefully as 435 00:17:16,267 --> 00:17:19,560 you as you press forward on your second 436 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:21,616 question , Southwest border . So the 437 00:17:21,616 --> 00:17:24,880 secretary did approve an extension of D . 438 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:26,713 O . D . Personnel to support the 439 00:17:26,713 --> 00:17:28,880 Southwest border mission into the next 440 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,670 fiscal year for fiscal year 22 . It's 441 00:17:31,670 --> 00:17:34,490 an authorization to support it for up 442 00:17:34,490 --> 00:17:37,690 to 3000 personnel . Yeah . Yes sir . 443 00:17:37,700 --> 00:17:40,100 Thank you . Good to see you , my friend . 444 00:17:40,110 --> 00:17:42,166 Thank you sir . Been a while . Thank 445 00:17:42,166 --> 00:17:46,010 you . Uh The Afghan 446 00:17:46,010 --> 00:17:48,121 civilians are worried about after the 447 00:17:48,121 --> 00:17:50,920 US leaving Afghanistan about their 448 00:17:50,930 --> 00:17:54,870 safety and security . So what they 449 00:17:54,870 --> 00:17:58,340 are saying that they were better off 450 00:17:58,350 --> 00:18:00,590 with the U . S . Forces there and now 451 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:02,767 Taliban will come and they are fearing 452 00:18:02,767 --> 00:18:06,000 their lives . Common afghans in 453 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,580 Afghanistan now . Second , what role do 454 00:18:08,580 --> 00:18:11,090 you think India will play as by the 455 00:18:11,090 --> 00:18:13,040 military role is concerned if if a 456 00:18:13,050 --> 00:18:16,270 pentagon had any conversation with the 457 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,560 indian military officials , what their 458 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,000 role will be there And finally any you 459 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,710 enroll ? Okay . I don't have any , I 460 00:18:23,710 --> 00:18:25,821 don't have any updates on the U . N . 461 00:18:25,821 --> 00:18:27,988 I'd let them speak for themselves . Uh 462 00:18:27,988 --> 00:18:29,932 And I think I'd give you a similar 463 00:18:29,932 --> 00:18:32,154 answer on India . We have certainly had 464 00:18:32,154 --> 00:18:34,321 discussions , as you know , one of our 465 00:18:34,321 --> 00:18:36,543 first stops on international travel was 466 00:18:36,543 --> 00:18:38,654 to New Delhi . I would let the Indian 467 00:18:38,654 --> 00:18:40,821 government speak to whatever role they 468 00:18:40,821 --> 00:18:42,988 want to uh relationship they want with 469 00:18:42,988 --> 00:18:45,154 Afghanistan going forward . That would 470 00:18:45,154 --> 00:18:44,760 be inappropriate for us to speak to . 471 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,970 But but certainly they have uh as 472 00:18:47,980 --> 00:18:50,480 uh as a nation there in that region , 473 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,647 they have concerns . They have uh they 474 00:18:52,647 --> 00:18:54,702 have equities um and we respect that 475 00:18:54,702 --> 00:18:56,924 they would have to speak for that . And 476 00:18:56,924 --> 00:18:58,980 not on your first point about safety 477 00:18:58,980 --> 00:19:00,980 and security of the Afghan people . 478 00:19:00,980 --> 00:19:02,924 Obviously we were mindful of these 479 00:19:02,924 --> 00:19:05,750 concerns , but as the President has 480 00:19:05,750 --> 00:19:07,917 made clear our troops accomplished the 481 00:19:07,917 --> 00:19:10,139 mission for which they were deployed to 482 00:19:10,139 --> 00:19:12,680 Afghanistan . It is not uh we have not 483 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:14,902 suffered an attack on the homeland from 484 00:19:14,902 --> 00:19:17,069 Afghanistan . And the President's made 485 00:19:17,069 --> 00:19:19,069 clear that one of the reasons we're 486 00:19:19,069 --> 00:19:18,980 going to keep this over the horizon , 487 00:19:18,980 --> 00:19:20,813 counterterrorism capabilities to 488 00:19:20,813 --> 00:19:22,924 prevent it from becoming a safe haven 489 00:19:22,924 --> 00:19:25,147 for attacks on our homeland again . And 490 00:19:25,147 --> 00:19:27,202 that's the focus right now . We have 491 00:19:27,202 --> 00:19:29,424 spent a lot of time , a lot of effort , 492 00:19:29,424 --> 00:19:31,424 a lot of resources in improving the 493 00:19:31,424 --> 00:19:33,480 competency and the capability of the 494 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:33,190 Afghan national security forces . And 495 00:19:33,190 --> 00:19:35,301 now it's their turn , it's their time 496 00:19:35,301 --> 00:19:37,670 to to defend their people , defend 497 00:19:37,670 --> 00:19:39,392 their territory , defend their 498 00:19:39,392 --> 00:19:41,503 sovereignty . Uh and it's really it's 499 00:19:41,503 --> 00:19:44,110 going to be up to them now uh to to do 500 00:19:44,110 --> 00:19:47,210 the work of the security forces for for 501 00:19:47,210 --> 00:19:49,430 that particular country , Many Afghans 502 00:19:49,430 --> 00:19:52,870 who fled Afghanistan 20 years ago and 503 00:19:52,870 --> 00:19:55,510 they have a painful memories here and 504 00:19:55,510 --> 00:19:57,450 they have families also back home 505 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,790 because of the Taliban's and Al Qaeda 506 00:20:01,790 --> 00:20:04,270 and Osama bin laden among others . And 507 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:06,930 they are now fearing and they are still 508 00:20:06,930 --> 00:20:09,390 now asking the US , especially the 509 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,840 pentagon , what message you think 510 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,400 secretary will have for them ? I think 511 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:16,067 the message that we have as a 512 00:20:16,067 --> 00:20:18,300 government to them is that we we still 513 00:20:18,300 --> 00:20:20,970 are going to be a partner to the Afghan 514 00:20:20,970 --> 00:20:23,192 people into the Afghan government going 515 00:20:23,192 --> 00:20:25,081 forward . That partnership , that 516 00:20:25,081 --> 00:20:27,303 relationship is going to look different 517 00:20:27,303 --> 00:20:29,637 Then it has over the last 20 years . Uh , 518 00:20:29,637 --> 00:20:31,414 and that means it's going to be 519 00:20:31,414 --> 00:20:31,150 financial support . You've heard the 520 00:20:31,150 --> 00:20:33,372 president make some announcements about 521 00:20:33,372 --> 00:20:35,317 that . It will be over the horizon 522 00:20:35,317 --> 00:20:37,261 support in terms of logistical and 523 00:20:37,261 --> 00:20:39,206 technical and aviation maintenance 524 00:20:39,206 --> 00:20:41,261 support . Uh , but our commitment to 525 00:20:41,261 --> 00:20:43,930 the future of a of a stable and secure 526 00:20:43,930 --> 00:20:46,152 Afghanistan has not changed its going , 527 00:20:46,152 --> 00:20:48,152 it's just going to look different . 528 00:20:48,152 --> 00:20:50,041 We're just not going to be on the 529 00:20:50,041 --> 00:20:52,208 ground the way we are now . Yeah . Let 530 00:20:52,208 --> 00:20:56,050 me go to the phones . Uh , Stephen 531 00:20:56,050 --> 00:20:59,920 Lucey military dot com . Hi , can you 532 00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:02,880 talk a little bit about what the 533 00:21:02,890 --> 00:21:05,000 pentagon is planning to do regarding 534 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,130 the Covid vaccine ? Once the F . D . A 535 00:21:08,140 --> 00:21:09,990 fully approves it are their 536 00:21:09,990 --> 00:21:12,590 preparations in the works for making it 537 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:14,850 mandatory . Once FDA approval does come 538 00:21:14,850 --> 00:21:17,128 through , I want to get ahead of the F . 539 00:21:17,128 --> 00:21:19,128 D . A . Right now . It's being used 540 00:21:19,128 --> 00:21:21,128 under emergency use authorization , 541 00:21:21,128 --> 00:21:23,183 which makes it a voluntary vaccine . 542 00:21:23,183 --> 00:21:25,630 Should the FDA approve it , then , I am 543 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:27,751 certain that pentagon leadership will 544 00:21:27,751 --> 00:21:29,751 take a look at what our options are 545 00:21:29,751 --> 00:21:31,973 going forward , including the potential 546 00:21:31,973 --> 00:21:34,140 option of making mandatory but I'm not 547 00:21:34,140 --> 00:21:36,251 going to get too far ahead of process 548 00:21:36,251 --> 00:21:38,362 right now . It is an FADA , it is not 549 00:21:38,362 --> 00:21:40,810 FADA approved and therefore it is still 550 00:21:40,810 --> 00:21:42,921 a voluntary vaccine . I would like to 551 00:21:42,921 --> 00:21:46,460 add that as we speak . Almost 69 552 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,240 of D . O . D . Personnel have received 553 00:21:49,250 --> 00:21:52,910 at least one dose . That's not bad . So 554 00:21:52,910 --> 00:21:55,200 we we've got work to do . Clearly . 555 00:21:55,210 --> 00:21:57,043 We'd like to see that percentage 556 00:21:57,043 --> 00:21:59,820 continue to climb . But it is it's at a 557 00:21:59,820 --> 00:22:03,760 healthy 68.8% I think as of uh 558 00:22:03,770 --> 00:22:07,360 today . So we want to keep encouraging 559 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,496 our people and their families to get 560 00:22:09,496 --> 00:22:11,496 the vaccines they're safe . They're 561 00:22:11,496 --> 00:22:13,440 effective and it's really the best 562 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,218 incentive to protect you , your 563 00:22:15,218 --> 00:22:17,329 families uh and your teammates . What 564 00:22:17,329 --> 00:22:19,273 are their communications going out 565 00:22:19,273 --> 00:22:21,384 telling divisions within the military 566 00:22:21,384 --> 00:22:23,162 to prepare for such a mandatory 567 00:22:23,162 --> 00:22:25,107 decision ? Should the approval ? I 568 00:22:25,107 --> 00:22:27,162 think there's been there's been some 569 00:22:27,162 --> 00:22:29,630 preliminary discussions at senior 570 00:22:29,630 --> 00:22:32,850 levels within the department to uh to 571 00:22:32,850 --> 00:22:35,780 think about what the next logical steps 572 00:22:35,780 --> 00:22:39,170 would be . Uh If and when FDA approval 573 00:22:39,180 --> 00:22:41,458 comes in , we're planning organization . 574 00:22:41,458 --> 00:22:43,402 I don't think that should surprise 575 00:22:43,402 --> 00:22:45,540 anybody that we're trying to think 576 00:22:45,540 --> 00:22:47,596 about what the implications would be 577 00:22:47,596 --> 00:22:49,596 and how we would how would react to 578 00:22:49,596 --> 00:22:51,707 that . But I don't have any decisions 579 00:22:51,707 --> 00:22:53,373 to announce today or specific 580 00:22:53,373 --> 00:22:55,540 procedures and protocols to speak to . 581 00:22:55,540 --> 00:22:57,484 It is still uh under emergency use 582 00:22:57,484 --> 00:22:59,262 authorization and it is still a 583 00:22:59,262 --> 00:23:01,373 voluntary vaccine . Again , a vaccine 584 00:23:01,373 --> 00:23:03,770 we we vaccines of which we believe are 585 00:23:03,770 --> 00:23:05,720 safe and effective . Uh and we 586 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,942 encourage everybody to uh , to get them 587 00:23:07,942 --> 00:23:10,180 if they haven't already . Uh let me go 588 00:23:10,180 --> 00:23:12,050 to Tony Capasso from Bloomberg 589 00:23:14,190 --> 00:23:16,246 john two questions . So one afghan , 590 00:23:16,246 --> 00:23:18,640 one unrelated on the cybersecurity 591 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:20,807 announcement that was made today on on 592 00:23:20,807 --> 00:23:22,918 Jedi , What involvement did secretary 593 00:23:22,918 --> 00:23:24,918 often have in the final decision to 594 00:23:24,918 --> 00:23:27,930 recalibrate the whole contract ? Well , 595 00:23:27,930 --> 00:23:30,320 I mean , the Secretary as as secretary 596 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,620 of Defense was obviously a final 597 00:23:33,620 --> 00:23:37,270 approval of this decision . Okay , so 598 00:23:37,270 --> 00:23:39,548 he made final approval of the decision . 599 00:23:39,548 --> 00:23:41,548 All right . A second subject . Your 600 00:23:41,548 --> 00:23:43,492 Chief information Security Officer 601 00:23:43,492 --> 00:23:45,492 Katie Arrington , her attorney last 602 00:23:45,492 --> 00:23:47,326 week acknowledged that she is on 603 00:23:47,326 --> 00:23:49,326 administrative leave for some under 604 00:23:49,326 --> 00:23:51,270 potential undisclosed unauthorized 605 00:23:51,270 --> 00:23:53,437 disclosure of classified information . 606 00:23:53,437 --> 00:23:55,492 Yet to this date ? She does not know 607 00:23:55,492 --> 00:23:57,659 the charges against her . Can you give 608 00:23:57,659 --> 00:23:59,881 some , can you comment on that at all ? 609 00:23:59,881 --> 00:24:01,992 Well , duty layout what she's exactly 610 00:24:01,992 --> 00:24:03,937 accused of to at least her and her 611 00:24:03,937 --> 00:24:06,850 attorney Tony all I all I can tell you 612 00:24:06,850 --> 00:24:10,320 is uh that uh that that this individual 613 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,430 is on leave and I'm really not at 614 00:24:12,430 --> 00:24:14,541 liberty to go beyond that right now . 615 00:24:15,230 --> 00:24:17,650 When she when a final decision is made , 616 00:24:17,660 --> 00:24:20,540 can you uh consider laying out what 617 00:24:20,540 --> 00:24:22,707 happened because of her high profile ? 618 00:24:22,707 --> 00:24:24,651 She was the face of the department 619 00:24:24,651 --> 00:24:26,818 cybersecurity initiatives . So I think 620 00:24:26,818 --> 00:24:28,596 it's only fair you lay out what 621 00:24:28,596 --> 00:24:30,651 happened to her at the end of the at 622 00:24:30,651 --> 00:24:32,873 the end of the review . I can't promise 623 00:24:32,873 --> 00:24:35,040 how much detail we're going to be able 624 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,096 to provide . Tony Again , I'm simply 625 00:24:37,096 --> 00:24:39,207 not able to to comment further than I 626 00:24:39,207 --> 00:24:42,650 already have on this jenny . Thank you 627 00:24:42,660 --> 00:24:46,380 john , I think you may 628 00:24:46,390 --> 00:24:50,240 have seen the reporter last weekend 629 00:24:50,250 --> 00:24:54,250 that South korean military successfully 630 00:24:54,260 --> 00:24:58,080 uh launching on underwater ranch . 631 00:24:58,090 --> 00:25:01,850 Uh SlBM , somebody ranted the 632 00:25:01,860 --> 00:25:04,400 police homicide . What would you like 633 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:08,240 to comment ? I'm not going to comment 634 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,190 on that . That's uh , our South 635 00:25:12,190 --> 00:25:14,023 korean allies can speak to their 636 00:25:14,023 --> 00:25:15,801 capabilities and I think that's 637 00:25:15,801 --> 00:25:18,550 appropriate for them . Uh Again , 638 00:25:18,550 --> 00:25:20,890 you've heard me say so many times , we 639 00:25:20,890 --> 00:25:22,946 take our security commitments to the 640 00:25:22,946 --> 00:25:25,168 alliance very , very seriously . Um and 641 00:25:25,168 --> 00:25:27,112 we're always looking at ways to uh 642 00:25:27,112 --> 00:25:28,446 improve and sharpen our 643 00:25:28,446 --> 00:25:30,020 interoperability uh and the 644 00:25:30,020 --> 00:25:32,187 capabilities that the alliance can can 645 00:25:32,187 --> 00:25:34,353 put into the , into the field and into 646 00:25:34,353 --> 00:25:38,010 the fleet uh to defend the security of 647 00:25:38,010 --> 00:25:40,010 the korean peninsula . I think I'll 648 00:25:40,010 --> 00:25:42,177 leave it at that . Why you not comment 649 00:25:42,177 --> 00:25:44,630 to this ? Because you know that's very 650 00:25:44,630 --> 00:25:47,160 important because in North Korea have 651 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,700 already , but again against the north 652 00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:53,644 Korea again , I think this is more 653 00:25:53,644 --> 00:25:55,867 appropriate for our South korean allies 654 00:25:55,867 --> 00:25:58,390 to speak to their individual military 655 00:25:58,390 --> 00:26:00,550 capabilities , not for us to another 656 00:26:00,550 --> 00:26:03,880 patients that we have . Any thing about 657 00:26:03,890 --> 00:26:07,660 us and Australia , South Korea and 658 00:26:07,670 --> 00:26:10,800 Japan joint maritime 659 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,670 exercises they were starting to 660 00:26:14,670 --> 00:26:17,430 like to attend . I have anything , I 661 00:26:17,510 --> 00:26:20,270 don't think I have anything on that . 662 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,751 Hey , missing a lot of things . Thank 663 00:26:25,751 --> 00:26:28,170 you . It's always good to hear that . 664 00:26:28,740 --> 00:26:31,580 Let me just check and see . I don't 665 00:26:31,580 --> 00:26:33,691 have anything on that . So we'll take 666 00:26:33,691 --> 00:26:35,858 the question and we'll get back to you 667 00:26:35,858 --> 00:26:38,210 in the pacific areas . They have a big 668 00:26:38,650 --> 00:26:41,260 in the pacific area chris yes , yes , 669 00:26:41,420 --> 00:26:43,587 we'll check on that . Let's check on . 670 00:26:43,587 --> 00:26:46,190 I don't have anything for you . That's 671 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,070 your job . No you're right . And I 672 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,340 I every time I call on you I'm reminded 673 00:26:53,340 --> 00:26:57,070 of how I'm failing at my job and now 674 00:26:57,070 --> 00:26:59,610 it's public out there . So I appreciate 675 00:26:59,620 --> 00:27:02,650 I appreciate the reminder address from 676 00:27:02,650 --> 00:27:05,410 Reuters . Hey john um 677 00:27:05,420 --> 00:27:08,400 you mentioned that the U . S . Didn't 678 00:27:08,410 --> 00:27:10,640 specifically given our , for example 679 00:27:10,650 --> 00:27:12,706 when you know you would be departing 680 00:27:12,706 --> 00:27:15,620 bagram . But can you say did you at 681 00:27:15,620 --> 00:27:17,842 least say we're leaving on day X . Or a 682 00:27:17,842 --> 00:27:19,787 Y . Or was it just broader thing ? 683 00:27:19,787 --> 00:27:21,842 We're going to walk through 48 hours 684 00:27:21,842 --> 00:27:23,898 before and then we're gonna leave at 685 00:27:23,898 --> 00:27:26,064 some point and follow up to that is is 686 00:27:26,064 --> 00:27:29,160 what the critics will argue that it 687 00:27:29,170 --> 00:27:31,114 sort of speaks to the fact and the 688 00:27:31,114 --> 00:27:33,170 trust between the U . S . And Afghan 689 00:27:33,170 --> 00:27:35,170 military is that you can't even let 690 00:27:35,170 --> 00:27:37,170 them know when you're departing the 691 00:27:37,170 --> 00:27:39,392 largest U . S . Based . Um And how does 692 00:27:39,392 --> 00:27:41,337 that and then it bodes very poorly 693 00:27:41,337 --> 00:27:43,226 going forward . How would use her 694 00:27:43,226 --> 00:27:45,281 response to those criticisms again , 695 00:27:45,281 --> 00:27:47,392 address ? I tell you that there there 696 00:27:47,392 --> 00:27:49,700 was notification at the higher higher 697 00:27:49,700 --> 00:27:52,970 levels of Afghan military and civilian 698 00:27:52,970 --> 00:27:55,530 government about are the turnover of of 699 00:27:55,530 --> 00:27:59,360 bagram . I mean we're 700 00:28:00,740 --> 00:28:03,970 the the lexicon we keep that . I keep 701 00:28:03,970 --> 00:28:06,081 hearing about bagram is you know , we 702 00:28:06,081 --> 00:28:08,248 turned out the light and left . It was 703 00:28:08,248 --> 00:28:10,560 a turnover just like the previous six 704 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,860 bases were turned over . Uh And so 705 00:28:12,860 --> 00:28:14,916 there were turnover discussions with 706 00:28:14,916 --> 00:28:16,860 Afghan leaders . I can't speak for 707 00:28:16,860 --> 00:28:18,916 every conversation that happened . I 708 00:28:18,916 --> 00:28:21,027 certainly can't give you an exact day 709 00:28:21,027 --> 00:28:23,400 on the calendar That that you know that 710 00:28:23,410 --> 00:28:26,220 that was provided . But as I said uh 711 00:28:26,230 --> 00:28:29,580 some 48 hours before uh there was there 712 00:28:29,580 --> 00:28:31,747 was there were ample discussions about 713 00:28:31,747 --> 00:28:33,980 the turnover of the base to include a 714 00:28:33,980 --> 00:28:36,740 walk through of facilities . So it 715 00:28:36,740 --> 00:28:39,940 wasn't done , you know , in some sort 716 00:28:39,940 --> 00:28:43,140 of shroud of secrecy . Um and as for 717 00:28:43,140 --> 00:28:46,850 the uh not being able to 718 00:28:47,540 --> 00:28:50,290 to specifically provide the hour or 719 00:28:50,300 --> 00:28:52,630 hours of departure . Again , I think 720 00:28:52,630 --> 00:28:55,120 you would all understand why we would 721 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,300 do it that way . It's not it's not a 722 00:28:57,300 --> 00:28:59,300 statement about whether we trust or 723 00:28:59,300 --> 00:29:02,850 don't trust our Afghan partners . It's 724 00:29:02,850 --> 00:29:05,072 a statement of the fact that we have to 725 00:29:05,072 --> 00:29:07,800 consider that this drawdown could be 726 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,880 contested by the taliban and we have to 727 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:12,991 take that in consideration . It would 728 00:29:12,991 --> 00:29:15,260 have been irresponsible and I would 729 00:29:15,260 --> 00:29:17,680 expect you to challenge us if we had 730 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:19,958 been so specific as to give , you know , 731 00:29:19,958 --> 00:29:22,450 the exact hour uh as our as our troops 732 00:29:22,450 --> 00:29:25,260 were , we're turning over that basin 733 00:29:25,270 --> 00:29:27,437 and and leaving that , that would that 734 00:29:27,437 --> 00:29:29,603 would not have been a prudent thing to 735 00:29:29,603 --> 00:29:32,410 do . But again , we have to assume and 736 00:29:32,420 --> 00:29:34,476 we're going to continue to assume um 737 00:29:34,476 --> 00:29:36,587 that at any point the drawdown can be 738 00:29:36,587 --> 00:29:38,364 contested and it would again be 739 00:29:38,364 --> 00:29:40,476 irresponsible if we didn't do it that 740 00:29:40,476 --> 00:29:43,810 way . Yeah . In Iraq john the s of the 741 00:29:43,820 --> 00:29:45,860 base again was under attack . Yes . 742 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,800 Yesterday . Also there were also some 743 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:51,990 engagements to armed drone over Green 744 00:29:51,990 --> 00:29:54,860 Zone . Do you have anything about that ? 745 00:29:55,340 --> 00:29:57,396 We've , I think we've already talked 746 00:29:57,396 --> 00:29:59,290 about this . Uh , there were two 747 00:29:59,290 --> 00:30:03,060 separate rocket attacks in Iraq . 748 00:30:03,540 --> 00:30:05,960 Uh As you think , oh I are released a 749 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,860 statement that approximately 2 45 local 750 00:30:08,860 --> 00:30:10,971 time Al Asad air base was attacked by 751 00:30:10,971 --> 00:30:13,082 three rockets . The rockets landed on 752 00:30:13,082 --> 00:30:15,249 the base perimeter , no injuries . The 753 00:30:15,249 --> 00:30:17,193 damage is still being assessed . I 754 00:30:17,193 --> 00:30:19,380 think , oh , I are inherent resolve 755 00:30:19,380 --> 00:30:21,547 will be able to provide more updates . 756 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:26,090 And as the State Department released 757 00:30:26,100 --> 00:30:27,933 earlier this morning , defensive 758 00:30:27,933 --> 00:30:29,767 systems that the U . S . Embassy 759 00:30:29,767 --> 00:30:31,544 compound in Baghdad engaged and 760 00:30:31,544 --> 00:30:33,544 eliminated an airborne threat . The 761 00:30:33,544 --> 00:30:35,433 embassy is working with our Iraqi 762 00:30:35,433 --> 00:30:37,267 partners to investigate and will 763 00:30:37,267 --> 00:30:39,100 continue to take all appropriate 764 00:30:39,100 --> 00:30:41,211 measures to protect our staff and our 765 00:30:41,211 --> 00:30:43,322 facilities whose capabilities I don't 766 00:30:43,322 --> 00:30:45,322 have attribution at this point . Uh 767 00:30:45,322 --> 00:30:47,544 We're obviously our State Department uh 768 00:30:47,544 --> 00:30:49,767 working with our Iraqi partners on that 769 00:30:49,767 --> 00:30:52,860 on the Green zone uh incident . And uh 770 00:30:52,870 --> 00:30:54,830 as I said , our Iraqi partners are 771 00:30:54,830 --> 00:30:56,774 looking at Al Asad as well . And I 772 00:30:56,774 --> 00:30:58,497 think inherent resolve as more 773 00:30:58,497 --> 00:31:00,441 information becomes available will 774 00:31:00,441 --> 00:31:02,497 certainly be able to provide that to 775 00:31:02,497 --> 00:31:02,140 you . But in terms of specific 776 00:31:02,140 --> 00:31:04,307 attribution , I can't give that to you 777 00:31:04,307 --> 00:31:06,418 right now . Thank you . Yeah . Yeah . 778 00:31:06,418 --> 00:31:08,584 Okay . Thank you . I have two separate 779 00:31:08,584 --> 00:31:10,696 questions first . I want to follow up 780 00:31:10,696 --> 00:31:12,584 in Afghanistan when the president 781 00:31:12,584 --> 00:31:14,640 announced his plan to be through the 782 00:31:14,670 --> 00:31:18,040 roof from Afghanistan , he argued the 783 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:20,590 United States should focus more on the 784 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,910 current challenges such as china . So , 785 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,100 I'm wondering how they threw out from 786 00:31:26,110 --> 00:31:28,870 Afghanistan will benefit the biden 787 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,690 administration's policy toward china . 788 00:31:31,700 --> 00:31:33,940 From the military perspective , what 789 00:31:33,940 --> 00:31:37,240 are the things that put out will allow 790 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,910 the United States to china ? It's 791 00:31:40,910 --> 00:31:43,810 about a focus , it's about focusing 792 00:31:43,810 --> 00:31:47,760 on uh what we believe 793 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,760 continue to be the biggest security 794 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,270 challenges that we're facing . The 795 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:58,170 we just aren't seeing uh huh 796 00:31:58,540 --> 00:32:00,762 significant terrorist threats emanating 797 00:32:00,762 --> 00:32:02,984 out of Afghanistan the way they used to 798 00:32:02,984 --> 00:32:05,207 obviously we remain committed to that , 799 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,160 letting that happen again . We have and 800 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,410 will explore additional capabilities to 801 00:32:10,410 --> 00:32:12,580 ensure that . Uh but it's really about 802 00:32:12,580 --> 00:32:14,640 focusing on what we believe as a 803 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,700 country are are bigger national 804 00:32:16,700 --> 00:32:18,760 security challenges . And frankly , 805 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,982 that includes the pacing challenge that 806 00:32:20,982 --> 00:32:23,190 china poses as well as challenges that 807 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:25,610 that we see coming out of Russia . So 808 00:32:25,610 --> 00:32:28,830 it's really a focusing of our energy 809 00:32:28,830 --> 00:32:31,640 and our resources on on the challenges 810 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,696 that we believe are most relevant to 811 00:32:33,696 --> 00:32:35,807 the american people . From a national 812 00:32:35,807 --> 00:32:38,540 security perspective , questions . Uh , 813 00:32:38,550 --> 00:32:41,130 yesterday the Japanese deputy Prime 814 00:32:41,130 --> 00:32:43,840 Minister publicly said Japan and the 815 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:46,620 United States needed to defend Taiwan 816 00:32:46,630 --> 00:32:50,310 if Taiwan is invaded by china . So 817 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:52,730 could you give us a sense of where 818 00:32:52,740 --> 00:32:55,910 Japan and United States are now 819 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,400 regarding the policy coordination , who 820 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,450 the Taiwan strait contingency ? I'll 821 00:33:01,450 --> 00:33:03,117 let the I'll let the Japanese 822 00:33:03,117 --> 00:33:05,172 government speak to their comments . 823 00:33:05,172 --> 00:33:07,339 What I would tell you is , nothing has 824 00:33:07,339 --> 00:33:09,450 changed about our policy with respect 825 00:33:09,450 --> 00:33:12,440 to to Taiwan . We continue to observe 826 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,170 the one china policy and recognize that 827 00:33:15,180 --> 00:33:16,847 uh and according to the three 828 00:33:16,847 --> 00:33:19,069 communiques , the six assurances and of 829 00:33:19,069 --> 00:33:21,236 course , the Taiwan relations Act , we 830 00:33:21,236 --> 00:33:23,458 also remain committed to helping Taiwan 831 00:33:23,458 --> 00:33:26,090 defend itself again with bipartisan 832 00:33:26,090 --> 00:33:28,890 support over many decades from Congress 833 00:33:28,890 --> 00:33:31,168 on that . Nothing's changed about that . 834 00:33:31,168 --> 00:33:33,223 And the last thing I'd say is nobody 835 00:33:33,223 --> 00:33:36,860 wants to see uh the situation uh 836 00:33:37,540 --> 00:33:40,220 dissolve into into conflict and there's 837 00:33:40,220 --> 00:33:43,610 no reason for it to uh so we're focused 838 00:33:43,610 --> 00:33:46,160 on making sure that Taiwan can continue 839 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,950 to defend itself and obviously separate 840 00:33:49,950 --> 00:33:52,450 and distinct from Taiwan altogether . 841 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:55,460 Uh The Secretary's made clear 842 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:59,200 that in the indo pacific region , 843 00:33:59,210 --> 00:34:02,040 uh we've got to continue to pursue what 844 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:04,207 he calls integrated deterrence , which 845 00:34:04,207 --> 00:34:06,318 is about Netting our capabilities and 846 00:34:06,318 --> 00:34:09,500 our our resources together across the 847 00:34:09,500 --> 00:34:11,722 joint force , but also working with our 848 00:34:11,722 --> 00:34:13,444 allies and partners . And that 849 00:34:13,444 --> 00:34:15,611 certainly includes Japan , South Korea 850 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:18,050 Australia , many other partners in the 851 00:34:18,050 --> 00:34:20,660 region . So in terms of policy 852 00:34:20,660 --> 00:34:22,660 coordination , are you still at the 853 00:34:22,660 --> 00:34:24,930 early stage or are you really prepared 854 00:34:24,930 --> 00:34:27,152 for the continuing what , at what stage 855 00:34:27,152 --> 00:34:30,370 out the stage ? In terms of the policy 856 00:34:30,370 --> 00:34:33,050 coordination with allies such as Japan ? 857 00:34:33,540 --> 00:34:36,600 Are you at the early stage , Early 858 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,620 stage , Early stage , I'm sorry . Yeah , 859 00:34:39,630 --> 00:34:41,408 look , I don't want to get into 860 00:34:41,408 --> 00:34:43,352 hypotheticals here with respect to 861 00:34:43,352 --> 00:34:46,840 Taiwan . Uh we have uh alliance 862 00:34:46,850 --> 00:34:48,850 commitments with Japan that we take 863 00:34:48,850 --> 00:34:50,961 very , very seriously . Uh One of the 864 00:34:50,961 --> 00:34:54,500 reasons why it was the first stop on on 865 00:34:54,500 --> 00:34:56,500 the Secretary's first international 866 00:34:56,500 --> 00:34:58,840 trip to Tokyo . Uh I'm not going to 867 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,430 speculate about potential conflict in 868 00:35:01,430 --> 00:35:03,763 any one part of the indo pacific region . 869 00:35:03,763 --> 00:35:06,400 We work closely with our Japanese 870 00:35:06,410 --> 00:35:09,910 allies uh for lots of good reasons in 871 00:35:09,910 --> 00:35:11,854 the region . And again , nothing's 872 00:35:11,854 --> 00:35:13,966 changed about our policy with respect 873 00:35:13,966 --> 00:35:16,188 to Taiwan . I appreciate where you want 874 00:35:16,188 --> 00:35:19,270 the question to go , but where we don't , 875 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,950 we what we don't want to see is any 876 00:35:21,950 --> 00:35:25,040 need for this to dissolve into conflict . 877 00:35:25,050 --> 00:35:27,950 Uh We want to we want to uh again 878 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,590 adhere to the one china policy uh and 879 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,060 uh we don't want any unilateral changes 880 00:35:34,140 --> 00:35:36,473 in the situation with respect to Taiwan . 881 00:35:36,540 --> 00:35:38,760 Again , our commitment is to making 882 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:41,090 sure that Taiwan can continue to defend 883 00:35:41,090 --> 00:35:44,030 itself Kourtney . I just want to make 884 00:35:44,030 --> 00:35:46,530 sure I understand the bagram thing . So 885 00:35:46,540 --> 00:35:48,880 you're saying that the reason that the 886 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:51,610 U . S . Didn't inform the afghans and 887 00:35:51,620 --> 00:35:53,940 the afghan government of the exact time 888 00:35:53,940 --> 00:35:55,940 that the U . S . Was going to leave 889 00:35:55,940 --> 00:35:58,107 bagram is because of the concern about 890 00:35:58,107 --> 00:36:00,870 the taliban and the potential for 891 00:36:01,020 --> 00:36:04,170 americans to be too , I guess come 892 00:36:04,170 --> 00:36:06,170 under attack as they were leaving . 893 00:36:06,230 --> 00:36:10,160 What I would say is the exact 894 00:36:10,630 --> 00:36:14,180 hour of departure was not divulged for 895 00:36:14,180 --> 00:36:16,420 operational security purposes . Because 896 00:36:16,420 --> 00:36:18,680 we want it again the first when we talk 897 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:20,847 about this drawdown , we talk about it 898 00:36:20,847 --> 00:36:22,847 being safe and orderly , safe , the 899 00:36:22,847 --> 00:36:24,847 first word . Um And for operational 900 00:36:24,847 --> 00:36:26,736 security reasons . And that's not 901 00:36:26,736 --> 00:36:28,791 different court than other turnovers 902 00:36:28,791 --> 00:36:31,013 we've done in the past in Afghanistan , 903 00:36:31,013 --> 00:36:32,791 didn't divulge it to the afghan 904 00:36:32,791 --> 00:36:34,958 military or the afghan government when 905 00:36:34,958 --> 00:36:37,069 the US was leaving the base . Is that 906 00:36:37,069 --> 00:36:39,236 correct ? That's correct . The concern 907 00:36:39,236 --> 00:36:39,140 is that the afghans would have 908 00:36:39,140 --> 00:36:42,180 potentially who I mean this the afghans 909 00:36:42,180 --> 00:36:44,402 have been . I think I think partner , I 910 00:36:44,402 --> 00:36:46,458 think in general we felt it was just 911 00:36:46,458 --> 00:36:48,640 better to keep that information as 912 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:52,300 close hold as possible . I mean you see 913 00:36:52,300 --> 00:36:54,920 the signal or the that that sense to 914 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,142 the afghans that the concern is that by 915 00:36:57,142 --> 00:36:59,087 notifying them when the U . S . Is 916 00:36:59,087 --> 00:37:01,430 turning a base over to them that it's 917 00:37:01,430 --> 00:37:03,486 going to get to the taliban . Like I 918 00:37:03,486 --> 00:37:05,486 mean you can understand where the I 919 00:37:05,486 --> 00:37:07,263 can't speak for how the afghans 920 00:37:07,263 --> 00:37:09,430 interpreted that decision , but it was 921 00:37:09,430 --> 00:37:11,541 a decision made in the best interests 922 00:37:11,541 --> 00:37:13,597 of of the safety and security of our 923 00:37:13,597 --> 00:37:15,874 people . Thanks do a quick follow that . 924 00:37:15,874 --> 00:37:17,930 If it's safe and orderly , why don't 925 00:37:17,930 --> 00:37:20,260 you hand the keys to someone ? I beg 926 00:37:20,260 --> 00:37:22,093 your pardon ? If it's a safe and 927 00:37:22,093 --> 00:37:24,149 orderly transition of the volume Air 928 00:37:24,149 --> 00:37:26,371 force base , wouldn't you hand the keys 929 00:37:26,371 --> 00:37:29,520 to somebody ? I'm not really sure . I 930 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,576 understand your question . Abraham , 931 00:37:31,576 --> 00:37:33,687 I'm not crazy about the tone in which 932 00:37:33,687 --> 00:37:35,631 you've asked it , but I also don't 933 00:37:35,631 --> 00:37:37,798 understand what you're trying to say . 934 00:37:37,798 --> 00:37:39,964 The keys to what the base , the bagram 935 00:37:39,964 --> 00:37:42,187 airbase . We did turn over the base two 936 00:37:42,187 --> 00:37:44,409 afghan leaders . Abraham , I don't I've 937 00:37:44,409 --> 00:37:44,230 said it now three times in this 938 00:37:44,230 --> 00:37:46,452 briefing and there was a walk through a 939 00:37:46,452 --> 00:37:48,563 facility . So I'm not really sure . I 940 00:37:48,563 --> 00:37:50,730 understand what you mean by keys being 941 00:37:50,730 --> 00:37:54,220 turned over . Yeah . Good . Two 942 00:37:54,220 --> 00:37:56,553 national frontier to Turkish television . 943 00:37:56,553 --> 00:37:58,760 You just said that it is time for 944 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:00,704 afghan national Security forces to 945 00:38:00,704 --> 00:38:02,649 defend their people , defend their 946 00:38:02,649 --> 00:38:04,816 territory and defend their sovereignty 947 00:38:04,816 --> 00:38:06,982 and it is their time to do the work of 948 00:38:06,982 --> 00:38:09,550 the security forces . So my question is , 949 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,030 if they failed to defend their country , 950 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,080 what is the plan b for the United 951 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,200 States ? Can you be more specific about 952 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:19,144 the partnership between the United 953 00:38:19,144 --> 00:38:21,367 States and Afghan government ? And will 954 00:38:21,367 --> 00:38:24,670 it be more military partnership ? And 955 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,050 finally , will the US continue to keep 956 00:38:27,060 --> 00:38:30,320 one of its food in Afghanistan ? One of 957 00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:32,880 its wet food in Afghanistan ? 958 00:38:32,950 --> 00:38:36,390 Given given that 959 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:40,380 uh small amount of troops will continue 960 00:38:40,390 --> 00:38:42,750 to stay in Afghanistan Parliament . So 961 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:44,816 the president has been clear , we're 962 00:38:44,816 --> 00:38:47,590 going to draw down our troops out of 963 00:38:47,590 --> 00:38:50,640 Afghanistan . Uh that it's that he has , 964 00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:52,930 he's made clear it's it's time to end 965 00:38:52,930 --> 00:38:55,730 this war and it's time for the Afghan 966 00:38:55,730 --> 00:38:57,786 government , the Afghan people , the 967 00:38:57,786 --> 00:39:00,110 Afghan forces uh to defend their 968 00:39:00,110 --> 00:39:02,221 sovereignty and uh and their people . 969 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,710 And that's the direction that we're 970 00:39:05,710 --> 00:39:08,550 moving in . Um But he also made clear 971 00:39:08,550 --> 00:39:10,383 that we're still going to have a 972 00:39:10,383 --> 00:39:12,717 bilateral relationship with Afghanistan . 973 00:39:12,717 --> 00:39:14,661 And from a D . O . D perspective , 974 00:39:14,661 --> 00:39:13,600 we're still going to have a 975 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,656 relationship with Afghan forces . It 976 00:39:15,656 --> 00:39:17,878 will be over the horizon . It will take 977 00:39:17,878 --> 00:39:19,933 place in a different way . We're not 978 00:39:19,933 --> 00:39:22,156 going to have uh boots on the ground if 979 00:39:22,156 --> 00:39:24,378 you will advising and assisting them in 980 00:39:24,378 --> 00:39:26,433 in in real operations , but but that 981 00:39:26,433 --> 00:39:28,544 relationship will still exist . We're 982 00:39:28,544 --> 00:39:30,711 not turning our back on the country of 983 00:39:30,711 --> 00:39:32,933 Afghanistan and the Afghan people , but 984 00:39:32,933 --> 00:39:35,044 it's time now for us to complete this 985 00:39:35,044 --> 00:39:37,510 mission and for the Afghan forces uh to 986 00:39:37,510 --> 00:39:39,732 defend their own people and the and the 987 00:39:39,732 --> 00:39:42,250 and again their sovereignty . Okay , 988 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,198 can I ask a follow up question to that ? 989 00:39:45,198 --> 00:39:47,220 Because General Austin scott Miller 990 00:39:47,230 --> 00:39:49,150 just said that last week . I mean 991 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:51,656 there's a path of civil war which is 992 00:39:51,656 --> 00:39:53,822 visible . This should be a concern for 993 00:39:53,822 --> 00:39:55,980 the world . And if Taliban takes over 994 00:39:55,980 --> 00:39:57,869 the government , this should be a 995 00:39:57,869 --> 00:39:59,758 concern especially for the United 996 00:39:59,758 --> 00:40:01,591 States because the United States 997 00:40:01,591 --> 00:40:03,702 homeland is under , it means that the 998 00:40:03,702 --> 00:40:05,910 homeland will be under threat . So 999 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:08,360 that's why I asked that question . Will 1000 00:40:08,390 --> 00:40:11,140 the United States keep one of its feet 1001 00:40:11,150 --> 00:40:13,630 on the ground ? The only the only 1002 00:40:14,310 --> 00:40:16,220 presence that will remain in 1003 00:40:16,220 --> 00:40:18,053 Afghanistan once our drawdown is 1004 00:40:18,053 --> 00:40:20,164 complete is that which is required to 1005 00:40:20,164 --> 00:40:22,331 protect our diplomatic mission there . 1006 00:40:22,331 --> 00:40:24,442 Because we want to be able to keep an 1007 00:40:24,442 --> 00:40:26,498 embassy . We want to be able to keep 1008 00:40:26,498 --> 00:40:26,200 the programs and policies that our 1009 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:28,800 diplomats are pursuing in Afghanistan 1010 00:40:28,810 --> 00:40:31,700 vibrant . So the only force presence 1011 00:40:31,700 --> 00:40:34,520 will be there , the only force presence 1012 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:37,140 there will be designed to help support 1013 00:40:37,150 --> 00:40:39,470 the diplomatic presence . And as for , 1014 00:40:39,470 --> 00:40:42,320 you know , if the taliban takeover , 1015 00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:44,770 that's a big , if that's a hypothetical , 1016 00:40:44,780 --> 00:40:46,724 and I don't think it's helpful for 1017 00:40:46,724 --> 00:40:48,447 anybody right now to engage in 1018 00:40:48,447 --> 00:40:50,580 hypothesizing about what , you know , 1019 00:40:50,580 --> 00:40:54,090 what might happen uh you know , in 1020 00:40:54,100 --> 00:40:56,900 months and years from now , our focus 1021 00:40:56,950 --> 00:40:58,950 is on completing this drawdown in a 1022 00:40:58,950 --> 00:41:01,480 safe and orderly way in transitioning 1023 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:03,591 to a new relationship with the Afghan 1024 00:41:03,591 --> 00:41:05,758 forces so that they can continue to do 1025 00:41:05,758 --> 00:41:07,869 the work of defending their people in 1026 00:41:07,869 --> 00:41:09,813 their sovereignty and that's where 1027 00:41:09,813 --> 00:41:12,091 that's what we're focused on right now . 1028 00:41:12,091 --> 00:41:13,980 Thank you . Let me go back to the 1029 00:41:13,980 --> 00:41:15,980 phones . I have not been good about 1030 00:41:15,980 --> 00:41:18,640 that . Uh Adam Maury Military Times , 1031 00:41:23,010 --> 00:41:26,630 I didn't have questions . That's right . 1032 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:28,862 There's a no next to your name , but it 1033 00:41:28,862 --> 00:41:30,862 was highlighted . So when there's a 1034 00:41:30,862 --> 00:41:34,590 highlighted all right , we'll go to 1035 00:41:34,590 --> 00:41:37,450 Jeff Showgirl task and purpose . Thank 1036 00:41:37,450 --> 00:41:39,617 you very much . I was hoping you could 1037 00:41:39,617 --> 00:41:41,728 elaborate on your previous answers on 1038 00:41:41,728 --> 00:41:44,580 bagram . How much was the concern of a 1039 00:41:44,580 --> 00:41:46,900 green on blue attack ? How much did 1040 00:41:46,900 --> 00:41:49,680 that factor into the decision not to 1041 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:52,130 tell the afghan government exactly when 1042 00:41:52,140 --> 00:41:54,490 bagram would be turned over ? Thanks , 1043 00:41:54,490 --> 00:41:56,379 Jeff . I think I'm gonna leave my 1044 00:41:56,379 --> 00:41:58,379 answer the way I left it with court 1045 00:41:58,379 --> 00:42:01,190 that the decision was made solidly in 1046 00:42:01,190 --> 00:42:04,120 keeping with our concern for the safety 1047 00:42:04,120 --> 00:42:06,231 and security of our people as as they 1048 00:42:06,231 --> 00:42:08,176 left bagram . And I think I'm just 1049 00:42:08,176 --> 00:42:10,287 gonna leave it at that back . And jen 1050 00:42:10,287 --> 00:42:12,509 Psaki said at today's White House press 1051 00:42:12,509 --> 00:42:14,453 briefing , she deferred a question 1052 00:42:14,453 --> 00:42:16,564 about why the U . S . Military turned 1053 00:42:16,564 --> 00:42:18,620 off the electricity and the water at 1054 00:42:18,620 --> 00:42:18,290 bagram to the Defense Department . Is 1055 00:42:18,290 --> 00:42:20,179 that something you can provide an 1056 00:42:20,179 --> 00:42:22,234 answer to that ? I got that question 1057 00:42:22,234 --> 00:42:24,290 earlier . I don't have that level of 1058 00:42:24,290 --> 00:42:26,457 detail . I've seen the press reporting 1059 00:42:26,457 --> 00:42:28,734 about the electricity being turned off . 1060 00:42:28,734 --> 00:42:30,790 I'm not seeing press reporting about 1061 00:42:30,790 --> 00:42:32,901 the water but I'll tell you what I'll 1062 00:42:32,901 --> 00:42:35,012 do because I don't have that level of 1063 00:42:35,012 --> 00:42:34,730 detail . Will take the question and see 1064 00:42:34,730 --> 00:42:36,910 if we have more detail on that . Yeah 1065 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,700 thank you . Uh Two items and the 1066 00:42:39,700 --> 00:42:42,700 readout with the meetings of Prince 1067 00:42:42,700 --> 00:42:46,540 Harry Reid with the leadership at the 1068 00:42:46,540 --> 00:42:50,080 pentagon . Uh One is the uh I'm seeking 1069 00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:52,510 more details if possible . Uh The 1070 00:42:52,510 --> 00:42:54,732 coordination between the U . S . Uh the 1071 00:42:54,732 --> 00:42:57,130 U . S . And Saudi commitment to counter 1072 00:42:57,130 --> 00:42:59,800 Iran destabilization activities . The 1073 00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:01,970 other one more details is available . 1074 00:43:01,970 --> 00:43:04,530 Also it seems that every time that 1075 00:43:04,530 --> 00:43:06,752 there is a meeting and I read out there 1076 00:43:06,752 --> 00:43:08,863 is an issue about the U . A . V . S . 1077 00:43:08,863 --> 00:43:11,030 And it's been like coming increasing . 1078 00:43:11,030 --> 00:43:13,380 That's my uh impression . Are you 1079 00:43:13,380 --> 00:43:16,590 feeling that there is an increase of 1080 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,260 danger because of those U . I . V . S . 1081 00:43:19,270 --> 00:43:21,570 I don't you have to look at look at 1082 00:43:21,580 --> 00:43:25,080 your own press reporting to see that U . 1083 00:43:25,080 --> 00:43:27,191 A . V . S . Are becoming increasingly 1084 00:43:27,191 --> 00:43:30,470 weapons of choice here . Um And uh and 1085 00:43:30,470 --> 00:43:33,100 a threat to not only us and our people 1086 00:43:33,100 --> 00:43:36,580 but uh to our friends and partners in 1087 00:43:36,580 --> 00:43:38,580 the region . Uh There's no question 1088 00:43:38,580 --> 00:43:42,110 about that . And you know I point you 1089 00:43:42,110 --> 00:43:45,220 back a couple of weekends ago when when 1090 00:43:45,220 --> 00:43:47,420 President biden ordered some 1091 00:43:47,430 --> 00:43:50,800 retaliatory strikes uh one in Iraq and 1092 00:43:50,810 --> 00:43:53,520 to facilities in Syria , they were 1093 00:43:54,100 --> 00:43:56,620 structures they were facilities that 1094 00:43:56,620 --> 00:43:58,787 were directly tied to this U . A . V . 1095 00:43:58,787 --> 00:44:01,220 Threat . Both in terms of how those U . 1096 00:44:01,220 --> 00:44:03,050 A . V . S . Were commanded and 1097 00:44:03,050 --> 00:44:05,050 controlled as well as how they were 1098 00:44:05,050 --> 00:44:07,161 maintained and the logistical support 1099 00:44:07,161 --> 00:44:09,217 for them . So yeah it is becoming an 1100 00:44:09,217 --> 00:44:11,439 increasing threat and we're all mindful 1101 00:44:11,439 --> 00:44:15,250 of that . What a question . Mhm . Okay 1102 00:44:15,260 --> 00:44:17,427 I really got to get to the phones high 1103 00:44:17,427 --> 00:44:19,520 on just a second . Go ahead . 1104 00:44:21,690 --> 00:44:24,220 I may have missed this but it didn't 1105 00:44:24,220 --> 00:44:26,220 seem like there was an announcement 1106 00:44:26,220 --> 00:44:28,164 before the Vice Minister's arrival 1107 00:44:28,164 --> 00:44:30,387 today um that he was coming and usually 1108 00:44:30,387 --> 00:44:32,710 we get a heads up so I can cover it 1109 00:44:32,710 --> 00:44:34,710 with that on purpose . Or is that I 1110 00:44:34,710 --> 00:44:36,932 think we could put an advisory out that 1111 00:44:36,932 --> 00:44:39,043 he was coming ? Pretty sure we did do 1112 00:44:39,043 --> 00:44:42,390 we ? Right . I don't have a good answer 1113 00:44:42,390 --> 00:44:46,040 if we didn't . Okay sorry a simple 1114 00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:48,830 question . Why isn't the pentagon and 1115 00:44:48,830 --> 00:44:51,052 cyber command taking down these Russian 1116 00:44:51,052 --> 00:44:53,310 cybercriminals so that they can't hold 1117 00:44:53,310 --> 00:44:55,970 the west hostage . Look Lucas we're all 1118 00:44:55,970 --> 00:44:59,970 mindful of the of the the threat 1119 00:44:59,980 --> 00:45:02,220 of cyber threats coming emanating out 1120 00:45:02,220 --> 00:45:04,740 of Russia . And the president has 1121 00:45:04,740 --> 00:45:07,280 already announced some measures with 1122 00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,440 respect to that . We believe uh we said 1123 00:45:10,440 --> 00:45:14,230 it before that uh U . S . Response to 1124 00:45:14,230 --> 00:45:16,397 those threats has got to be a whole of 1125 00:45:16,397 --> 00:45:18,563 government . It's got to be across the 1126 00:45:18,563 --> 00:45:18,390 inter agency and not just residing in 1127 00:45:18,390 --> 00:45:20,760 one in one building in 11 agency . 1128 00:45:20,770 --> 00:45:23,280 Because our evil was released already 1129 00:45:23,290 --> 00:45:25,457 the largest meat supplier in the world 1130 00:45:25,457 --> 00:45:28,480 of $11 million . Only 1 $70 million for 1131 00:45:28,490 --> 00:45:31,100 taking on some the Swedish groceries 1132 00:45:31,100 --> 00:45:33,433 and some other stuff doesn't time cyber . 1133 00:45:33,433 --> 00:45:35,489 Com takes these guys offline today . 1134 00:45:35,489 --> 00:45:37,544 I'm not going to talk about specific 1135 00:45:37,544 --> 00:45:39,600 cyber capabilities that are resident 1136 00:45:39,600 --> 00:45:41,767 here at the department and I think you 1137 00:45:41,767 --> 00:45:43,933 can understand that we are all mindful 1138 00:45:43,933 --> 00:45:46,650 of these growing threats to national 1139 00:45:46,650 --> 00:45:49,170 security as well as to civilian 1140 00:45:49,170 --> 00:45:51,350 infrastructure . And that's why the 1141 00:45:51,350 --> 00:45:53,239 idea is part of a larger whole of 1142 00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:55,350 government effort to try to deal with 1143 00:45:55,350 --> 00:45:57,183 this issue and equipped football 1144 00:45:57,183 --> 00:45:59,128 question . Uhh how did we get from 1145 00:45:59,128 --> 00:46:01,239 cyber to football ? That's what we do 1146 00:46:01,239 --> 00:46:03,406 here in the pentagon ? Has the Defense 1147 00:46:03,406 --> 00:46:07,230 secretary allowed uh recent graduate 1148 00:46:07,230 --> 00:46:09,397 Naval Academy Cameron Kenley to attend 1149 00:46:09,397 --> 00:46:11,230 training camp with the Tampa Bay 1150 00:46:11,230 --> 00:46:13,230 buccaneers ? Yeah , I've seen I saw 1151 00:46:13,230 --> 00:46:14,952 your tweet on this . I have no 1152 00:46:14,952 --> 00:46:17,119 announcements or decisions to speak to 1153 00:46:17,119 --> 00:46:19,174 you right now about that . Yeah . In 1154 00:46:19,174 --> 00:46:21,230 the back there , has the US made any 1155 00:46:21,230 --> 00:46:23,550 progress on potentially securing basing 1156 00:46:23,550 --> 00:46:25,272 access in either Tajikistan or 1157 00:46:25,272 --> 00:46:27,450 Uzbekistan ? And will that factor into 1158 00:46:27,460 --> 00:46:29,460 the discussions are meeting between 1159 00:46:29,460 --> 00:46:31,920 sect of boston and his Turkish 1160 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:34,310 counterpart tomorrow ? He looks forward 1161 00:46:34,310 --> 00:46:36,477 to speaking to his Turkish counterpart 1162 00:46:36,477 --> 00:46:38,532 tomorrow , I won't get ahead of that 1163 00:46:38,532 --> 00:46:40,588 the agenda for that discussion . But 1164 00:46:40,588 --> 00:46:42,699 clearly , I think it's safe to assume 1165 00:46:42,699 --> 00:46:44,890 that Afghanistan will be top on the 1166 00:46:44,890 --> 00:46:47,220 list . As you saw , we had 1167 00:46:47,220 --> 00:46:49,053 conversations last week with the 1168 00:46:49,053 --> 00:46:51,109 Foreign ministers of both Uzbekistan 1169 00:46:51,109 --> 00:46:54,030 and Tajikistan , who also met with the 1170 00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:56,480 State Department as well . I won't 1171 00:46:56,490 --> 00:46:59,140 detail the specifics of those 1172 00:46:59,140 --> 00:47:01,330 conversations , but clearly we are and 1173 00:47:01,330 --> 00:47:04,660 continue to have conversations with 1174 00:47:04,670 --> 00:47:07,380 leaders in neighboring nations about 1175 00:47:07,380 --> 00:47:09,580 the kinds of possibilities for support 1176 00:47:09,580 --> 00:47:12,260 that they can offer with respect to a 1177 00:47:12,260 --> 00:47:14,580 range of over the horizon capabilities . 1178 00:47:14,580 --> 00:47:17,560 We want to be able to to bring to bear 1179 00:47:17,570 --> 00:47:19,681 in our support to the Afghan forces . 1180 00:47:19,681 --> 00:47:21,681 And when there's something specific 1181 00:47:21,681 --> 00:47:23,848 that we can announce and speak to , we 1182 00:47:23,848 --> 00:47:25,959 certainly will . Can you confirm that 1183 00:47:25,959 --> 00:47:25,890 secretary also will be meeting in 1184 00:47:25,890 --> 00:47:27,890 person with his Turkish counterpart 1185 00:47:27,890 --> 00:47:30,223 tomorrow ? Or is that a virtual meeting ? 1186 00:47:30,223 --> 00:47:32,168 I believe it's going to be a phone 1187 00:47:32,168 --> 00:47:35,600 conversation . Yeah . Yes , I am . 1188 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:37,802 The reports from the ground in 1189 00:47:37,802 --> 00:47:39,636 Afghanistan suggests the Taliban 1190 00:47:39,636 --> 00:47:43,440 continue to make progress and uh take 1191 00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:45,500 over more districts . And the Afghan 1192 00:47:45,500 --> 00:47:48,080 military said they were preparing a 1193 00:47:48,090 --> 00:47:51,980 counter strike or a movement to 1194 00:47:51,990 --> 00:47:54,360 counter that . My question is sort of 1195 00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:56,600 in between bagram and the longer term 1196 00:47:56,610 --> 00:47:59,080 is what is the Defense Department doing 1197 00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:01,136 in the next few weeks , the next few 1198 00:48:01,136 --> 00:48:04,230 months specifically to help the Afghan 1199 00:48:04,230 --> 00:48:07,380 military conduct their fight against 1200 00:48:07,380 --> 00:48:09,658 the Taliban . What I would tell you is , 1201 00:48:09,658 --> 00:48:11,602 as I mentioned on friday , General 1202 00:48:11,602 --> 00:48:13,491 Miller still has all the existing 1203 00:48:13,491 --> 00:48:16,250 authorities he had before in terms of 1204 00:48:16,770 --> 00:48:18,603 coming to the assistance and the 1205 00:48:18,603 --> 00:48:21,160 defense of Afghan national Security 1206 00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:24,190 Defence Forces . When he transfers that 1207 00:48:24,190 --> 00:48:27,400 command authority over uh in some days 1208 00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:30,380 time to General Mackenzie . General 1209 00:48:30,380 --> 00:48:33,220 Mackenzie will possess all those same 1210 00:48:33,220 --> 00:48:35,480 authorities as we go ahead and complete 1211 00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:38,320 the drawdown over the summer . So we 1212 00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:42,070 still have the authority uh 1213 00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:44,750 to assist the afghans in the field if 1214 00:48:44,750 --> 00:48:46,583 they need it . Can you give some 1215 00:48:46,583 --> 00:48:48,750 specific examples of how that might be 1216 00:48:48,750 --> 00:48:50,917 conducted ? And I think the way you've 1217 00:48:50,917 --> 00:48:53,083 seen it , the way you've seen it being 1218 00:48:53,083 --> 00:48:55,306 conducted in the past , through through 1219 00:48:55,306 --> 00:48:58,100 airstrikes . Follow up on the original 1220 00:48:58,100 --> 00:49:01,990 mission to fight al Qaeda and ISIS 1221 00:49:02,370 --> 00:49:05,530 as an extension . How do you see their 1222 00:49:05,530 --> 00:49:08,140 threat ? Are are either of these groups 1223 00:49:08,150 --> 00:49:11,490 adding strength or becoming more active 1224 00:49:11,500 --> 00:49:14,660 as the US pulls out ? How do you assess 1225 00:49:14,660 --> 00:49:16,771 their threat right now ? Not going to 1226 00:49:16,771 --> 00:49:18,771 get into intelligence assessments ? 1227 00:49:18,771 --> 00:49:21,130 Clearly , there are Al Qaeda elements 1228 00:49:21,130 --> 00:49:23,470 still in Afghanistan as our ISIS 1229 00:49:23,480 --> 00:49:26,590 elements . Um and we are watching this 1230 00:49:26,590 --> 00:49:30,050 very , very closely . I again won't 1231 00:49:30,060 --> 00:49:32,560 talk about the specific intelligence 1232 00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:34,782 assessment , but we're going to monitor 1233 00:49:34,782 --> 00:49:36,890 this going forward . And as the 1234 00:49:36,890 --> 00:49:40,260 secretary has made clear , uh we have 1235 00:49:40,260 --> 00:49:43,240 now and we'll be able to retain 1236 00:49:43,250 --> 00:49:45,750 uh over the horizon counterterrorism 1237 00:49:45,750 --> 00:49:49,580 capability such that if we see threats 1238 00:49:49,590 --> 00:49:51,480 emanating from Afghanistan that 1239 00:49:51,490 --> 00:49:53,601 directly against the homeland will be 1240 00:49:53,601 --> 00:49:55,930 able to take action . Yeah . In the 1241 00:49:55,930 --> 00:49:58,650 back there , thank you . Um Combined 1242 00:49:58,660 --> 00:50:00,690 labour exercise , joint military 1243 00:50:00,690 --> 00:50:03,730 exercises now has started this week in 1244 00:50:03,730 --> 00:50:06,760 the pacific region . Uh So the pacific 1245 00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:09,170 vanguard and then there will be um 1246 00:50:09,180 --> 00:50:11,770 talisman favor uh soon . So this could 1247 00:50:11,780 --> 00:50:15,010 be a follow up question . But can I say 1248 00:50:15,010 --> 00:50:17,320 that this is the effect of targeting 1249 00:50:17,330 --> 00:50:19,840 china uh in the event of a conflict 1250 00:50:19,850 --> 00:50:22,470 with china or Taiwan . So can you 1251 00:50:22,470 --> 00:50:24,692 elaborate more routine the exercise our 1252 00:50:24,692 --> 00:50:26,859 capabilities across joint and combined 1253 00:50:26,859 --> 00:50:30,380 units all the time to improve our 1254 00:50:30,390 --> 00:50:32,280 capability as well as improve 1255 00:50:32,290 --> 00:50:34,346 interoperability with our allies and 1256 00:50:34,346 --> 00:50:37,870 partners . Uh No one should take away 1257 00:50:37,870 --> 00:50:39,759 from these exercises that they're 1258 00:50:39,759 --> 00:50:42,290 pointed in any one specific uh 1259 00:50:42,300 --> 00:50:44,980 potential adversary or even anyone 1260 00:50:44,980 --> 00:50:48,530 specific threat . It's not at all 1261 00:50:48,530 --> 00:50:50,697 uncommon for us to conduct these joint 1262 00:50:50,697 --> 00:50:53,770 and multinational exercises . We now we 1263 00:50:53,770 --> 00:50:55,790 see that some european allies like 1264 00:50:55,800 --> 00:50:58,970 France and UK also join in in the joint 1265 00:50:58,970 --> 00:51:01,370 military naval exercise and in the 1266 00:51:01,370 --> 00:51:03,560 pacific So , do you think or do you 1267 00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:06,960 have any plan to expand the countries 1268 00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:10,730 who join the military exercise in the 1269 00:51:10,730 --> 00:51:13,430 pacific region ? I point you to indo 1270 00:51:13,430 --> 00:51:15,486 pecan for more specifics about their 1271 00:51:15,486 --> 00:51:17,700 exercise regimen . I don't have that 1272 00:51:17,700 --> 00:51:20,190 level of detail . We certainly welcome 1273 00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:22,950 multinational partners to join in these 1274 00:51:22,950 --> 00:51:25,160 exercises . It's obviously a sovereign 1275 00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:27,327 decision that each country has to make 1276 00:51:27,327 --> 00:51:30,280 for itself , whether it wants to 1277 00:51:30,280 --> 00:51:32,280 participate and again , we wouldn't 1278 00:51:32,280 --> 00:51:34,280 speak for them . But I point you to 1279 00:51:34,280 --> 00:51:36,391 indo pak on for more detail about the 1280 00:51:36,391 --> 00:51:38,224 multinational component of these 1281 00:51:38,224 --> 00:51:41,690 exercises , paul , Shechtman , Yeah . 1282 00:51:41,690 --> 00:51:43,579 Hi John , thanks for doing this . 1283 00:51:43,579 --> 00:51:45,746 There's been a lot of skepticism about 1284 00:51:45,746 --> 00:51:47,579 the extent to which the us could 1285 00:51:47,579 --> 00:51:49,746 redeployed to Afghanistan as it did to 1286 00:51:49,746 --> 00:51:51,912 Iraq in 2014 , particularly whether it 1287 00:51:51,912 --> 00:51:53,746 would have the support of nearby 1288 00:51:53,746 --> 00:51:55,968 countries . Does the department believe 1289 00:51:55,968 --> 00:51:58,079 that it could re enter Afghanistan if 1290 00:51:58,079 --> 00:52:00,079 it felt that it needed to uh paul ? 1291 00:52:00,079 --> 00:52:02,301 That's a hypothetical that I'm just not 1292 00:52:02,301 --> 00:52:04,470 prepared to engage today on our 1293 00:52:04,550 --> 00:52:06,810 permission , our focus right now is on 1294 00:52:06,810 --> 00:52:08,977 completing this drawdown in a safe and 1295 00:52:08,977 --> 00:52:11,032 orderly way , transitioning to a new 1296 00:52:11,032 --> 00:52:13,830 relationship uh with with Afghan forces . 1297 00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:17,790 And again , uh the president has been 1298 00:52:17,800 --> 00:52:20,420 very clear that we are going to to be 1299 00:52:20,420 --> 00:52:23,630 able to maintain and retain uh a 1300 00:52:23,630 --> 00:52:25,186 counterterrorism capability 1301 00:52:25,186 --> 00:52:27,408 commensurate with whatever threat might 1302 00:52:27,408 --> 00:52:29,574 emanate out of Afghanistan towards the 1303 00:52:29,574 --> 00:52:32,130 homeland . Uh and that we have now and 1304 00:52:32,130 --> 00:52:34,590 that will continue to pursue robust 1305 00:52:34,600 --> 00:52:38,330 over the horizon abilities uh to to 1306 00:52:38,330 --> 00:52:42,180 meet that commitment . Um I 1307 00:52:42,190 --> 00:52:45,320 guess I got time for one more , Sam 1308 00:52:45,320 --> 00:52:49,280 Lagrone john . Um just 1309 00:52:49,290 --> 00:52:51,030 to go back to the idea of this 1310 00:52:51,030 --> 00:52:53,510 information uh within the last couple 1311 00:52:53,510 --> 00:52:55,870 three weeks in the Black Sea uh in the 1312 00:52:55,870 --> 00:52:58,037 lead up to sea breeze . And during the 1313 00:52:58,037 --> 00:53:01,340 exercise we've seen um uh 1314 00:53:01,350 --> 00:53:05,050 falsified A . I . S . Data for two NATO 1315 00:53:05,050 --> 00:53:07,440 warships and the USs ross all 1316 00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:10,170 positioning them in relatively what 1317 00:53:10,180 --> 00:53:12,069 could be considered controversial 1318 00:53:12,069 --> 00:53:15,780 positions off of Crimea . Are you all 1319 00:53:15,790 --> 00:53:17,790 in the department concern that this 1320 00:53:17,790 --> 00:53:20,240 level of this information is putting 1321 00:53:20,250 --> 00:53:22,410 sailors at risk in the Black Sea is 1322 00:53:22,420 --> 00:53:24,476 conducting these operations . And is 1323 00:53:24,476 --> 00:53:26,531 there any plans to kind of police is 1324 00:53:26,531 --> 00:53:28,860 facing the future ? Thank you . Uh SAm 1325 00:53:28,860 --> 00:53:32,350 I'm not gonna speak to the details of 1326 00:53:32,360 --> 00:53:34,249 uh of the reports . You're you're 1327 00:53:34,249 --> 00:53:36,360 talking about . What I would tell you 1328 00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:38,304 is that this exercise is happening 1329 00:53:38,304 --> 00:53:40,360 occurring in international waters in 1330 00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:42,527 accordance with international law . Uh 1331 00:53:42,527 --> 00:53:45,260 It's a defensive exercise . Um and it's 1332 00:53:45,260 --> 00:53:47,149 one of the most robust sea breeze 1333 00:53:47,149 --> 00:53:49,371 exercises we've conducted to date . And 1334 00:53:49,371 --> 00:53:51,316 we're proud of that . Uh and we're 1335 00:53:51,316 --> 00:53:53,427 proud of the interoperability and the 1336 00:53:53,427 --> 00:53:55,482 capability that is showing that that 1337 00:53:55,482 --> 00:53:57,482 that we can have with international 1338 00:53:57,482 --> 00:53:59,704 partners in that internal international 1339 00:53:59,704 --> 00:54:01,640 uh seaway . Uh And again , we'll 1340 00:54:01,640 --> 00:54:03,920 continue to read out the the exercise 1341 00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:06,253 and uh make it as transparent as we can . 1342 00:54:06,740 --> 00:54:08,962 Sure , john , but it's not about , it's 1343 00:54:08,962 --> 00:54:11,018 not about the exercise itself , It's 1344 00:54:11,018 --> 00:54:13,240 the fact that there's someone out there 1345 00:54:13,240 --> 00:54:15,462 that are falsifying positions of us and 1346 00:54:15,462 --> 00:54:17,351 allied warships in ways that look 1347 00:54:17,351 --> 00:54:19,518 provocative . I mean , it's beyond the 1348 00:54:19,518 --> 00:54:21,518 exercise itself . I mean , and it's 1349 00:54:21,518 --> 00:54:23,407 looking at a piece of information 1350 00:54:23,407 --> 00:54:25,518 that's out there that a lot of people 1351 00:54:25,518 --> 00:54:27,573 used to rely on to understand what's 1352 00:54:27,573 --> 00:54:29,629 going on in the maritime , just from 1353 00:54:29,629 --> 00:54:32,850 the merchant . Um , so I'm just curious , 1354 00:54:32,860 --> 00:54:34,860 uh , if the department is concerned 1355 00:54:34,860 --> 00:54:36,916 about this level of disinformation , 1356 00:54:36,916 --> 00:54:38,971 not only just from a maritime , just 1357 00:54:38,971 --> 00:54:41,082 from a maritime security standpoint . 1358 00:54:41,082 --> 00:54:43,920 Thank you . Our security at CES , uh , 1359 00:54:43,930 --> 00:54:46,930 is vital to us . Um , uh , uh , and 1360 00:54:46,930 --> 00:54:50,250 clearly we're concerned about , 1361 00:54:50,260 --> 00:54:52,480 uh , any information out there that 1362 00:54:52,480 --> 00:54:55,400 could put our people , our ships are 1363 00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:57,567 sailors at greater risk . I'm just not 1364 00:54:57,567 --> 00:55:01,530 gonna get into the specifics , uh , 1365 00:55:01,540 --> 00:55:03,429 in terms of this particular issue 1366 00:55:03,429 --> 00:55:05,318 you're you're talking about , but 1367 00:55:05,318 --> 00:55:07,484 clearly , we're always concerned about 1368 00:55:07,484 --> 00:55:09,429 safety and security first . Okay . 1369 00:55:09,429 --> 00:55:09,560 Thanks .