1 00:00:00,540 --> 00:00:03,930 what ? Yeah , I know you guys would be 2 00:00:03,930 --> 00:00:07,220 counting . Okay , so a couple of things 3 00:00:07,220 --> 00:00:09,498 at the top , let me get organized here . 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,950 Ah Alright . Um 5 00:00:18,140 --> 00:00:19,973 so I can announce today that the 6 00:00:19,973 --> 00:00:22,196 president has authorized the Department 7 00:00:22,196 --> 00:00:24,500 of Defense to return a small persistent 8 00:00:24,510 --> 00:00:27,220 U . S . Military presence to Somalia . 9 00:00:27,230 --> 00:00:29,820 This decision was based on a request 10 00:00:29,820 --> 00:00:32,750 from Secretary Austin uh and included 11 00:00:32,750 --> 00:00:34,806 advice from senior commanders and of 12 00:00:34,806 --> 00:00:36,972 course concerned for the safety of our 13 00:00:36,972 --> 00:00:38,972 troops who have incurred additional 14 00:00:38,972 --> 00:00:41,194 risk by deploying in and out of Somalia 15 00:00:41,194 --> 00:00:43,250 On an episodic basis for the past 16 16 00:00:43,250 --> 00:00:44,917 months . We're evaluating the 17 00:00:44,917 --> 00:00:47,028 appropriate timing and the next steps 18 00:00:47,028 --> 00:00:49,139 for implementation of this order . So 19 00:00:49,139 --> 00:00:51,083 we're just gonna have to give us a 20 00:00:51,083 --> 00:00:53,139 little time and uh we're working our 21 00:00:53,139 --> 00:00:52,960 way through exactly what this is all 22 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:54,904 gonna look like . I don't have any 23 00:00:54,904 --> 00:00:57,071 additional details for you right now . 24 00:00:57,071 --> 00:00:59,182 I want to remind that those forces as 25 00:00:59,182 --> 00:01:01,238 they have been , will continue to be 26 00:01:01,238 --> 00:01:03,016 used in training , advising and 27 00:01:03,016 --> 00:01:05,127 equipping partner forces to give them 28 00:01:05,127 --> 00:01:07,238 the tools that they need to disrupt , 29 00:01:07,238 --> 00:01:09,293 degrade and monitor al Shabaab . Our 30 00:01:09,293 --> 00:01:12,160 forces are not now , nor will they be 31 00:01:12,170 --> 00:01:14,392 directly engaged in combat operations . 32 00:01:15,140 --> 00:01:17,320 The purpose here is to enable a more 33 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:20,100 effective fight against al Shabaab by 34 00:01:20,100 --> 00:01:22,890 local forces which and Al Shabaab has 35 00:01:22,890 --> 00:01:25,057 increased and their strength and poses 36 00:01:25,057 --> 00:01:28,030 a heightened threat . Um So again , 37 00:01:28,030 --> 00:01:30,500 this is a repositioning of forces that 38 00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:32,430 are already in theater Who have 39 00:01:32,430 --> 00:01:34,541 traveled in and out of Somalia now on 40 00:01:34,541 --> 00:01:37,460 an episodic basis since January of 2021 . 41 00:01:38,140 --> 00:01:40,440 Our view was the Secretary's view was 42 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,800 that that episodic engagement model was 43 00:01:43,810 --> 00:01:45,430 inefficient and increasingly 44 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,340 unsustainable forces also lost time on 45 00:01:48,340 --> 00:01:50,610 target and critical situational 46 00:01:50,610 --> 00:01:52,777 awareness needed to detect and disrupt 47 00:01:52,777 --> 00:01:54,888 an enemy attack by time on target . I 48 00:01:54,888 --> 00:01:56,610 mean time on station , I'm not 49 00:01:56,610 --> 00:01:58,610 suggesting that there was something 50 00:01:58,610 --> 00:02:00,832 about direct combat relations or combat 51 00:02:00,832 --> 00:02:03,080 operations there . Um shifting to a 52 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,302 persistent presence will not change the 53 00:02:05,302 --> 00:02:07,930 mission um and it will not imply 54 00:02:07,930 --> 00:02:10,210 substantial changes in resources . 55 00:02:10,230 --> 00:02:12,230 We're working now to evaluate local 56 00:02:12,230 --> 00:02:14,397 conditions , including those following 57 00:02:14,397 --> 00:02:16,230 the Somali presidential election 58 00:02:16,230 --> 00:02:18,452 yesterday . And we're engaging partners 59 00:02:18,452 --> 00:02:20,397 in the region including the Somali 60 00:02:20,397 --> 00:02:20,220 government to determine the best way 61 00:02:20,220 --> 00:02:22,442 forward . That is as far as we're gonna 62 00:02:22,442 --> 00:02:24,750 be able to go on that one today . Um 63 00:02:24,750 --> 00:02:28,220 Also on Tuesday after a two year hiatus 64 00:02:28,220 --> 00:02:30,164 due to the covid 19 pandemic , the 65 00:02:30,164 --> 00:02:32,331 Association of the US Army and the U . 66 00:02:32,331 --> 00:02:34,442 S . Army pacific command will convene 67 00:02:34,442 --> 00:02:36,664 their three day Land pack Symposium and 68 00:02:36,664 --> 00:02:39,040 exposition in downtown Waikiki Land 69 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,818 pack is the premier land forces 70 00:02:40,818 --> 00:02:42,873 symposium and exposition in the indo 71 00:02:42,873 --> 00:02:44,707 pacific region bringing together 72 00:02:44,707 --> 00:02:47,260 government academia , industry And many 73 00:02:47,260 --> 00:02:49,560 of our allies and partners over 25 74 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:51,671 countries are expected to participate 75 00:02:51,671 --> 00:02:53,838 in person this year . It will run from 76 00:02:53,838 --> 00:02:55,893 the 17th to the 19th and many of the 77 00:02:55,893 --> 00:02:57,949 panels and press conferences will be 78 00:02:57,949 --> 00:02:59,949 livestreamed on divots and I'm told 79 00:02:59,949 --> 00:03:02,004 that you guys should already have in 80 00:03:02,004 --> 00:03:04,227 your email inboxes , the feature linked 81 00:03:04,227 --> 00:03:06,504 page for divots so you can access that . 82 00:03:06,504 --> 00:03:09,250 Okay , well the questions . Ben from ap 83 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,062 I know you said you didn't want to have 84 00:03:14,062 --> 00:03:16,007 the details any further details on 85 00:03:16,007 --> 00:03:18,173 Somalia . But do you , can you tell us 86 00:03:18,173 --> 00:03:20,396 what components will be made up of that 87 00:03:20,396 --> 00:03:22,396 and what branches ? Yeah , it's not 88 00:03:22,396 --> 00:03:22,200 that I didn't want to have the details , 89 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,033 I'm not gonna be able to provide 90 00:03:24,033 --> 00:03:26,033 additional details into in terms of 91 00:03:26,033 --> 00:03:28,256 what that's gonna look like . I'd refer 92 00:03:28,256 --> 00:03:30,367 you to africom to speak to that but I 93 00:03:30,367 --> 00:03:29,620 doubt seriously that they're going to 94 00:03:29,620 --> 00:03:31,953 get into actual unit designations . Ben , 95 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,850 Okay . Yes , jen , John can 96 00:03:37,850 --> 00:03:40,380 you discuss what the security 97 00:03:40,380 --> 00:03:42,491 guarantees you plan to give to Sweden 98 00:03:42,491 --> 00:03:44,769 and Finland while they applied to NATO , 99 00:03:44,769 --> 00:03:47,110 given that it could be an 8-8 months to 100 00:03:47,110 --> 00:03:49,460 a year long process . What are the 101 00:03:49,470 --> 00:03:51,740 bilateral sort of security guarantees 102 00:03:51,740 --> 00:03:53,962 you're willing ? I think I think that's 103 00:03:53,962 --> 00:03:56,073 further a field of where we are right 104 00:03:56,073 --> 00:03:58,184 now , jen uh they haven't even made a 105 00:03:58,184 --> 00:04:00,407 formal application to NATO . So there's 106 00:04:00,407 --> 00:04:02,462 a multi step process here going from 107 00:04:02,462 --> 00:04:04,518 application to a session and I don't 108 00:04:04,518 --> 00:04:06,684 want to get ahead of where we are . Um 109 00:04:06,684 --> 00:04:09,320 what I said last week applies today . 110 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,320 These are two countries with modern 111 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:13,431 militaries , their two countries that 112 00:04:13,431 --> 00:04:15,487 we have operated exercised with . We 113 00:04:15,487 --> 00:04:17,431 know them , they know us there's a 114 00:04:17,431 --> 00:04:19,376 there's a from just a bilateral us 115 00:04:19,376 --> 00:04:21,640 relationship perspective , there's a 116 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,473 level of comfort there and we're 117 00:04:23,473 --> 00:04:25,660 confident that should there be um 118 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:28,570 capabilities or support that either 119 00:04:28,570 --> 00:04:30,403 nation might need in the interim 120 00:04:30,403 --> 00:04:33,760 between application and a session that 121 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:35,982 we'd be able to work something out with 122 00:04:35,982 --> 00:04:38,149 him . But I don't want to get ahead of 123 00:04:38,149 --> 00:04:40,204 where we are right now . And what is 124 00:04:40,204 --> 00:04:42,260 your reaction to Putin's response to 125 00:04:42,260 --> 00:04:44,480 their uh informing him that they will 126 00:04:44,490 --> 00:04:47,300 likely apply for furniture ? I think . 127 00:04:47,310 --> 00:04:49,310 Look , I I'd let Mr Putin speak for 128 00:04:49,310 --> 00:04:52,130 himself . I don't think there was a 129 00:04:52,140 --> 00:04:54,560 great shock or surprise that that the 130 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:56,782 Russians reacted the way they did about 131 00:04:56,782 --> 00:04:59,004 the news of these two countries wanting 132 00:04:59,004 --> 00:05:01,060 to join NATO . I think there's a few 133 00:05:01,060 --> 00:05:03,393 things that we all need to keep in mind . 134 00:05:03,393 --> 00:05:06,270 one NATO is a defensive alliance . It 135 00:05:06,270 --> 00:05:08,730 has never and it does not now pose a 136 00:05:08,730 --> 00:05:10,730 threat to any other nation and that 137 00:05:10,730 --> 00:05:13,390 includes Russia too . It's not up to Mr 138 00:05:13,390 --> 00:05:15,760 Putin or any other third party to get a 139 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,540 veto on whether a nation joins NATO or 140 00:05:18,540 --> 00:05:20,651 not , that is between that nation and 141 00:05:20,651 --> 00:05:22,762 the other members of NATO to decide . 142 00:05:22,762 --> 00:05:24,596 And again , there's a multi step 143 00:05:24,596 --> 00:05:27,860 process here . Um uh and um three , 144 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,900 I think we need to remember who is 145 00:05:30,900 --> 00:05:33,280 actually the aggressor here and whose 146 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:36,080 actions probably are motivating uh 147 00:05:36,090 --> 00:05:38,368 those two nations to want to join NATO . 148 00:05:38,368 --> 00:05:40,090 And that's Mr Putin and Russia 149 00:05:40,090 --> 00:05:42,146 themselves , they made a decision to 150 00:05:42,146 --> 00:05:44,090 invade Ukraine a nation which also 151 00:05:44,090 --> 00:05:46,410 posed no threat to anybody . They made 152 00:05:46,410 --> 00:05:48,850 a decision to jump in there with 153 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,420 Hundreds of thousands of of troops uh 154 00:05:52,420 --> 00:05:54,610 and or more more more than 100,000 155 00:05:54,610 --> 00:05:56,443 troops . Um and they're the ones 156 00:05:56,443 --> 00:05:58,388 prosecuting this war in an utterly 157 00:05:58,388 --> 00:06:01,150 brutal way uh and all of that can stop 158 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:03,160 right now . Mr Putin made the right 159 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,430 decision . Yeah . Abraham thanks a lot 160 00:06:05,430 --> 00:06:09,030 john um Two questions about the Somali 161 00:06:09,030 --> 00:06:10,974 announcement , A lot has been said 162 00:06:10,974 --> 00:06:13,840 about the same level of resources . No 163 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:17,270 change there . But it just seems thank 164 00:06:17,270 --> 00:06:20,090 you . So it seems though that there'll 165 00:06:20,090 --> 00:06:22,420 be a lot less airlift used Air Force 166 00:06:22,420 --> 00:06:25,230 assets moving those guys back into the 167 00:06:25,230 --> 00:06:27,960 operators into and out of Somalia . And 168 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,860 then second related question . The Air 169 00:06:30,860 --> 00:06:33,660 Force's divesting 100 Mq nine's to 170 00:06:33,660 --> 00:06:35,882 another government agency . Can you say 171 00:06:35,882 --> 00:06:37,993 what agency ? And if those will go to 172 00:06:37,993 --> 00:06:40,160 Africa , I don't have anything on that 173 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,327 one . I'd refer you to the Air Force . 174 00:06:42,327 --> 00:06:44,271 I don't have any information about 175 00:06:44,271 --> 00:06:46,271 divestment of of unmanned systems . 176 00:06:46,271 --> 00:06:48,438 That's really an Air Force question to 177 00:06:48,438 --> 00:06:51,470 take . Um But look , I mean the as we 178 00:06:51,470 --> 00:06:54,320 called it episodic um just uh we did 179 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:56,320 not feel the secretary did not feel 180 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,487 that that was in the best interests of 181 00:06:58,487 --> 00:07:01,190 helping partner forces go after a 182 00:07:01,190 --> 00:07:05,010 continued and uh um and in fact 183 00:07:05,010 --> 00:07:08,000 heightened threat by Al Shabaab . So we 184 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,880 believe this is the best , most 185 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,540 efficient way to continue that mission 186 00:07:12,540 --> 00:07:14,762 that the advise and assist and training 187 00:07:14,762 --> 00:07:17,490 mission . Um And by having a persistent 188 00:07:17,490 --> 00:07:19,490 presence , it's possible that there 189 00:07:19,490 --> 00:07:22,780 will be um a dimunition if you will on 190 00:07:22,780 --> 00:07:25,300 the on transport back and forth I think . 191 00:07:25,300 --> 00:07:28,510 But but in general Abraham , I mean um 192 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:30,450 this isn't going to make a huge 193 00:07:30,450 --> 00:07:32,450 difference , resource wise and it's 194 00:07:32,450 --> 00:07:34,672 just the right thing to do . I mean the 195 00:07:34,672 --> 00:07:36,617 advise and assist mission as we've 196 00:07:36,617 --> 00:07:38,783 we've we've seen in many places around 197 00:07:38,783 --> 00:07:40,894 the world um is best done when you're 198 00:07:40,894 --> 00:07:42,950 when you're on site and your and you 199 00:07:42,950 --> 00:07:45,117 can develop those relationships uh and 200 00:07:45,117 --> 00:07:47,283 keep those conversations going and and 201 00:07:47,283 --> 00:07:49,172 stay as relevant as possible when 202 00:07:49,172 --> 00:07:51,117 you're coming and going . That's a 203 00:07:51,117 --> 00:07:53,339 little bit that contact is a little bit 204 00:07:53,339 --> 00:07:55,672 harder , harder to to work . The more I . 205 00:07:55,672 --> 00:07:58,340 S . Are from Somalia and I'm not going 206 00:07:58,340 --> 00:08:00,618 to get ahead of where we are ? Abraham . 207 00:08:00,618 --> 00:08:02,673 I mean those are questions that only 208 00:08:02,673 --> 00:08:04,673 General Townsend at africom can can 209 00:08:04,673 --> 00:08:06,840 speak to . The the point is Al Shabaab 210 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,000 remains a threat . Um And uh and that 211 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,840 threat we we assess uh not only 212 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:15,030 continues but is increasing and we 213 00:08:15,030 --> 00:08:17,086 believe this is the this is the best 214 00:08:17,086 --> 00:08:19,197 way forward for us to continue . What 215 00:08:19,197 --> 00:08:21,419 has remained a very valuable advice and 216 00:08:21,419 --> 00:08:23,641 assistant training mission is just this 217 00:08:23,641 --> 00:08:25,586 is a better way to do it . Barbara 218 00:08:25,586 --> 00:08:27,641 Somalia , can you tell us , you said 219 00:08:27,641 --> 00:08:29,752 the threat is increasing specifically 220 00:08:29,752 --> 00:08:32,410 as much as you are able to , what is 221 00:08:32,420 --> 00:08:35,190 the Al Shabaab threat right now to the 222 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,020 U . S . And U . S . Interests . Uh Do 223 00:08:39,020 --> 00:08:42,250 you believe Al Shabaab is capable of 224 00:08:42,260 --> 00:08:45,430 actually carrying out an attack outside 225 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,750 now they've done it in the past but now 226 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:50,649 carrying out an attack outside of 227 00:08:50,649 --> 00:08:53,180 Somalia , do they have the capability 228 00:08:53,180 --> 00:08:55,347 to do that ? Because you're doing this 229 00:08:55,347 --> 00:08:57,013 you say because the threat is 230 00:08:57,013 --> 00:08:59,250 increasing and on the advice and assist 231 00:08:59,740 --> 00:09:03,240 in the past , US troops did accompany 232 00:09:03,250 --> 00:09:06,130 Somali and African forces into the 233 00:09:06,130 --> 00:09:08,720 field for advise and assist on their 234 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,460 missions but staying behind the so 235 00:09:11,460 --> 00:09:13,404 called glass covered and concealed 236 00:09:13,404 --> 00:09:16,710 position , will that still be 237 00:09:17,140 --> 00:09:19,580 the rules of the road for US troops 238 00:09:19,580 --> 00:09:21,950 that they will in the advice and the 239 00:09:21,950 --> 00:09:25,170 system will go out into the field on 240 00:09:25,170 --> 00:09:28,890 missions but stay behind any so called , 241 00:09:28,900 --> 00:09:31,240 you know sort of line of contact if you 242 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,407 will , I'm not gonna get into specific 243 00:09:33,407 --> 00:09:35,351 are away from the podium . I don't 244 00:09:35,351 --> 00:09:37,573 think that would be a valuable thing to 245 00:09:37,573 --> 00:09:39,796 do . The advise and assist mission that 246 00:09:39,796 --> 00:09:41,907 we've been conducting will continue . 247 00:09:41,907 --> 00:09:44,200 It's just that now they are troops 248 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,311 won't be coming and going , they will 249 00:09:46,311 --> 00:09:48,422 have a persistent presence there . Um 250 00:09:48,422 --> 00:09:50,589 So there's really no change to the way 251 00:09:50,589 --> 00:09:52,644 in which we've been doing advise and 252 00:09:52,644 --> 00:09:54,756 assist as for the increasing threat . 253 00:09:54,756 --> 00:09:56,867 Again , I want to be careful not to , 254 00:09:56,867 --> 00:09:58,478 you know , get into specific 255 00:09:58,478 --> 00:10:00,533 intelligence here , but this is a Al 256 00:10:00,533 --> 00:10:02,589 Shabaab continues to conduct attacks 257 00:10:02,589 --> 00:10:04,756 certainly there in Somalia , they have 258 00:10:04,756 --> 00:10:06,867 been capable of conducting attacks uh 259 00:10:06,867 --> 00:10:09,033 in the region . Um And we know that in 260 00:10:09,033 --> 00:10:11,144 the past they have expressed at least 261 00:10:11,144 --> 00:10:13,230 the intent and desire uh to attack 262 00:10:13,230 --> 00:10:15,286 outside the region including against 263 00:10:15,286 --> 00:10:17,452 american interests . So we're watching 264 00:10:17,452 --> 00:10:19,452 this closely , this is not a threat 265 00:10:19,452 --> 00:10:22,000 that's going away . Um Again , it's 266 00:10:22,010 --> 00:10:24,010 it's not like we haven't been doing 267 00:10:24,010 --> 00:10:26,232 anything in Somalia at all . That's not 268 00:10:26,232 --> 00:10:28,454 true . It's just the Secretary believes 269 00:10:28,454 --> 00:10:30,399 and the President has approved his 270 00:10:30,399 --> 00:10:32,970 recommendation that uh that a a better 271 00:10:32,970 --> 00:10:34,859 more efficient way to get at that 272 00:10:34,859 --> 00:10:36,859 threat is to have a more persistent 273 00:10:36,859 --> 00:10:38,803 presence . But it'll be it'll be a 274 00:10:38,803 --> 00:10:42,250 moderate presence . Uh it'll be uh and 275 00:10:42,250 --> 00:10:44,250 it will be that the work that we're 276 00:10:44,250 --> 00:10:46,528 doing will be deliberate to the threat . 277 00:10:46,528 --> 00:10:48,694 Quick , very quick Ukraine follow up . 278 00:10:48,694 --> 00:10:50,806 Do you have anything currently on the 279 00:10:50,806 --> 00:10:52,917 status of Kherson ? And the extent to 280 00:10:52,917 --> 00:10:55,980 which Ukraine forces maybe operating 281 00:10:55,980 --> 00:10:58,570 trying to push the Russians back in 282 00:10:58,570 --> 00:11:01,260 Kherson in and around Carson . Do you 283 00:11:01,260 --> 00:11:03,593 have any status on Carson at the moment ? 284 00:11:03,593 --> 00:11:05,704 Again , being careful not to get into 285 00:11:05,704 --> 00:11:08,790 too much tactical detail here in 286 00:11:08,790 --> 00:11:11,900 Ukraine are our assessment is 287 00:11:11,900 --> 00:11:15,800 that that Ukrainian and Russian forces 288 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:17,980 continue to come into contact and 289 00:11:17,980 --> 00:11:21,160 conflict with one another around Carson ? 290 00:11:21,170 --> 00:11:24,850 Um uh they , the 291 00:11:24,850 --> 00:11:27,017 Ukrainians as you know , prevented the 292 00:11:27,020 --> 00:11:29,131 Russians from moving from christendom 293 00:11:29,131 --> 00:11:31,298 ecology of that town to the north west 294 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:34,560 on the northern coast of the Black Sea . 295 00:11:34,740 --> 00:11:36,962 Um , in general , we just assessed that 296 00:11:36,962 --> 00:11:39,160 there has been increased activity over 297 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,740 the last couple of days between those 298 00:11:41,740 --> 00:11:44,470 two cities , Mykolaiv and Kherson . Um 299 00:11:44,470 --> 00:11:46,359 and between obviously Russian and 300 00:11:46,359 --> 00:11:48,526 Ukrainian forces , but I couldn't tell 301 00:11:48,526 --> 00:11:50,470 you on them , you know , with with 302 00:11:50,470 --> 00:11:52,581 great specificity where where exactly 303 00:11:52,581 --> 00:11:54,692 that fighting is . But there has been 304 00:11:54,692 --> 00:11:56,581 active fighting in and around the 305 00:11:56,581 --> 00:11:58,581 person in the last couple of days . 306 00:11:58,581 --> 00:12:01,710 Sylvie to go back to Somalia . At the 307 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:03,750 beginning of his monday , President 308 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,890 biden decided to limit the number of 309 00:12:06,970 --> 00:12:10,890 airstrikes , especially in Somalia . So 310 00:12:10,900 --> 00:12:13,290 does this decision to go back on the 311 00:12:13,290 --> 00:12:16,900 ground means that air strikes are going 312 00:12:16,910 --> 00:12:20,060 to resume ? I think we'll just , mm hmm 313 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:23,980 let the mission play out here . So v 314 00:12:23,980 --> 00:12:26,560 I'm not gonna be able to predict for 315 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:30,500 you . Um um weather and 316 00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:33,570 how and to what degree activity like 317 00:12:33,570 --> 00:12:35,626 air strikes are going to increase or 318 00:12:35,626 --> 00:12:38,970 decrease going forward . The mission is 319 00:12:38,970 --> 00:12:41,026 not one of combat operations for our 320 00:12:41,026 --> 00:12:43,450 troops . It's advise and assist and I 321 00:12:43,450 --> 00:12:46,730 think I'll leave it at there . Was 322 00:12:46,730 --> 00:12:49,460 there , why now was there a specific 323 00:12:49,460 --> 00:12:53,090 incident that caused 324 00:12:54,250 --> 00:12:57,060 him to ask for changes ? I mean this is 325 00:12:57,060 --> 00:12:59,282 something , I mean this is an outgrowth 326 00:12:59,282 --> 00:13:02,720 over many months of talking to General 327 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:04,720 Townsend at africom and getting his 328 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:06,776 fingertip feel for what's going on . 329 00:13:06,776 --> 00:13:08,890 It's been a result of watching the al 330 00:13:08,890 --> 00:13:11,070 Shabaab threat as it as they have 331 00:13:11,070 --> 00:13:14,370 continued to pose that threat uh in 332 00:13:14,370 --> 00:13:16,530 Somalia and in the region . Um and 333 00:13:16,530 --> 00:13:18,800 again this was this was an outgrowth of 334 00:13:18,810 --> 00:13:22,290 uh of a very deliberate , mature , 335 00:13:23,130 --> 00:13:26,620 reasonable policy process here at the 336 00:13:26,620 --> 00:13:28,120 Pentagon to come up with a 337 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:30,790 recommendation again based on the 338 00:13:30,790 --> 00:13:32,957 advice and counsel of General Townsend 339 00:13:32,957 --> 00:13:34,846 as well as the chairman , General 340 00:13:34,846 --> 00:13:37,012 Milley about what the best way forward 341 00:13:37,012 --> 00:13:39,068 for this advise and assist mission . 342 00:13:39,068 --> 00:13:41,234 And again we we believe it's the right 343 00:13:41,234 --> 00:13:43,457 thing to do to to to be there in a more 344 00:13:43,457 --> 00:13:46,610 persistent way . But again the mission 345 00:13:46,620 --> 00:13:49,590 is not changing motion A Quick one on 346 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,990 Ukraine . Um In Kharkiv , a senior 347 00:13:51,990 --> 00:13:54,157 defense official earlier said that the 348 00:13:54,157 --> 00:13:56,157 Ukrainian military has been able to 349 00:13:56,157 --> 00:13:58,323 gain ground pushing the Russian forces 350 00:13:58,540 --> 00:14:00,690 Closer to the to the Russian border 351 00:14:00,690 --> 00:14:02,910 within 3-4 km . I was wondering if you 352 00:14:02,910 --> 00:14:04,632 could provide any more details 353 00:14:04,632 --> 00:14:06,632 specifically have Russian force has 354 00:14:06,632 --> 00:14:09,320 been pushed back across the border . I 355 00:14:09,330 --> 00:14:11,163 don't have more detail than than 356 00:14:11,163 --> 00:14:14,400 basically that we do assess that uh to 357 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:16,540 the north of Kharkiv the Ukrainians 358 00:14:16,540 --> 00:14:18,651 have been able to push Russian forces 359 00:14:18,651 --> 00:14:20,596 back . They are they are regaining 360 00:14:20,596 --> 00:14:22,762 ground and territory that the Russians 361 00:14:22,762 --> 00:14:25,170 had occupied north of the city . I 362 00:14:25,170 --> 00:14:26,781 couldn't tell you with great 363 00:14:26,781 --> 00:14:29,550 granularity exactly how far or you know , 364 00:14:29,550 --> 00:14:31,606 or whether some of those forces have 365 00:14:31,606 --> 00:14:33,661 been actually pushed over the border 366 00:14:33,661 --> 00:14:36,490 and some or not . Um And I also I would 367 00:14:36,490 --> 00:14:38,379 caution to that , you know , it's 368 00:14:38,379 --> 00:14:40,212 possible that there may still be 369 00:14:40,212 --> 00:14:42,434 Russian forces that are still closer to 370 00:14:42,434 --> 00:14:44,268 the city and other areas . Um So 371 00:14:44,268 --> 00:14:47,150 generally do agree with the assessment 372 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:49,220 that they have been able to regain 373 00:14:49,220 --> 00:14:51,330 territory north of the town . We've 374 00:14:51,330 --> 00:14:53,750 also seen them regain territory east of 375 00:14:53,750 --> 00:14:55,917 Kharkiv . It's not really fair to call 376 00:14:55,917 --> 00:14:59,890 it a town , it's a big city . Um ah but 377 00:14:59,900 --> 00:15:02,122 but I can't get much more specific than 378 00:15:02,122 --> 00:15:04,240 that , unfortunately . Yeah , yeah , 379 00:15:04,250 --> 00:15:07,340 joe thanks , john , two questions . Um 380 00:15:07,350 --> 00:15:10,650 first you had alluded to a risk to 381 00:15:10,660 --> 00:15:12,827 troops in Somalia from this rotational 382 00:15:12,827 --> 00:15:14,993 model and I was wondering if you could 383 00:15:14,993 --> 00:15:16,882 say more about what kind of force 384 00:15:16,882 --> 00:15:18,771 protection risk that was , Well , 385 00:15:18,771 --> 00:15:20,882 without getting into the specifics of 386 00:15:20,882 --> 00:15:23,160 force protection and what we do to put , 387 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:25,327 you know , uh to put that in place . I 388 00:15:25,327 --> 00:15:25,280 mean , the constant coming and going . 389 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,650 I mean that just that just um that 390 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:30,929 if you're trying to do advise and 391 00:15:30,929 --> 00:15:32,929 assist and you're trying to develop 392 00:15:32,929 --> 00:15:34,984 those relationships if you're coming 393 00:15:34,984 --> 00:15:37,330 and going , it's harder to do that uh 394 00:15:37,340 --> 00:15:39,284 which doesn't make the mission any 395 00:15:39,284 --> 00:15:41,507 easier to accomplish . And then just to 396 00:15:41,507 --> 00:15:43,780 travel in and out and incurs uh time 397 00:15:43,780 --> 00:15:46,002 and additional potential risk here . So 398 00:15:46,002 --> 00:15:48,058 we we just think it's it's the right 399 00:15:48,058 --> 00:15:51,060 thing to do . And then on Sweden , 400 00:15:51,070 --> 00:15:53,630 Sweden's Defense Minister is uh is 401 00:15:53,630 --> 00:15:55,741 visiting Washington later this week . 402 00:15:55,741 --> 00:15:57,797 Is he gonna be here ? And um can you 403 00:15:57,797 --> 00:15:59,630 offer any kind of preview of his 404 00:15:59,910 --> 00:16:02,132 secretary is looking forward to meeting 405 00:16:02,132 --> 00:16:04,188 with the Swedish Defense Minister on 406 00:16:04,188 --> 00:16:06,354 Wednesday and will certainly have more 407 00:16:06,354 --> 00:16:08,354 to say about that at the after that 408 00:16:08,354 --> 00:16:10,466 meeting is over . I don't want to get 409 00:16:10,466 --> 00:16:12,577 ahead of the agenda . I have no doubt 410 00:16:12,577 --> 00:16:14,910 that the Defense Minister will want to 411 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,390 to uh to discuss with the secretary , 412 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,990 their plans with respect to to NATO , 413 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,160 but but I also think that there will be 414 00:16:24,170 --> 00:16:26,337 a robust discussion about what's going 415 00:16:26,337 --> 00:16:27,948 on in Ukraine because it has 416 00:16:27,948 --> 00:16:29,892 fundamentally changed the security 417 00:16:29,892 --> 00:16:31,892 environment in europe . Um and it's 418 00:16:31,892 --> 00:16:33,870 clear that the Swedish people also 419 00:16:33,870 --> 00:16:35,981 recognized that it has changed . So I 420 00:16:35,981 --> 00:16:38,203 have no doubt that that will be a major 421 00:16:38,203 --> 00:16:40,426 topic of discussion . But again , we'll 422 00:16:40,426 --> 00:16:42,648 we'll do like we normally do , you guys 423 00:16:42,648 --> 00:16:44,592 will be able to to to to catch the 424 00:16:44,592 --> 00:16:46,814 beginning of the meeting and then we'll 425 00:16:46,814 --> 00:16:48,926 we'll we'll have we'll have a readout 426 00:16:48,926 --> 00:16:50,814 afterwards . I'll probably end up 427 00:16:50,814 --> 00:16:52,870 coming up here to to talk about it . 428 00:16:52,870 --> 00:16:55,092 Thanks john , two questions . The first 429 00:16:55,092 --> 00:16:57,092 on Somalia , it appeared from other 430 00:16:57,092 --> 00:16:58,592 reporting that part of the 431 00:16:58,592 --> 00:17:00,537 secretariat's justification to the 432 00:17:00,537 --> 00:17:02,703 president was that this will allow the 433 00:17:02,703 --> 00:17:04,940 targeting of specific leaders within Al 434 00:17:04,940 --> 00:17:06,996 Shabaab . Can you confirm that ? I'm 435 00:17:06,996 --> 00:17:09,260 just going to say that it will allow us 436 00:17:09,260 --> 00:17:11,880 to do a better , more persistent job of 437 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,140 advising and assisting the Somali 438 00:17:15,140 --> 00:17:17,196 forces , our partner forces there as 439 00:17:17,196 --> 00:17:20,840 they go after Al Shabaab . And the 440 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:22,840 second question , totally unrelated 441 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:25,062 topic with this baby formula shortage , 442 00:17:25,062 --> 00:17:27,007 Has there been any talk at all the 443 00:17:27,007 --> 00:17:29,229 secretaries level about whether this is 444 00:17:29,229 --> 00:17:31,229 a problem for military families and 445 00:17:31,229 --> 00:17:33,396 whether there's any kind of assistance 446 00:17:33,396 --> 00:17:35,729 or relief that could be provided . Yeah , 447 00:17:35,729 --> 00:17:37,784 that's a great question , actually , 448 00:17:37,784 --> 00:17:40,480 Travis , um and we're we're not immune 449 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,050 to the same supply chain problems that 450 00:17:43,540 --> 00:17:46,480 that other families across America are , 451 00:17:46,490 --> 00:17:50,130 are experiencing . Um and uh as you 452 00:17:50,130 --> 00:17:54,080 know , we we have the commissary system 453 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,450 on , on bases that that provides 454 00:17:57,450 --> 00:18:01,130 groceries in and foodstuffs for for 455 00:18:01,130 --> 00:18:04,090 military families as as a benefit of 456 00:18:04,100 --> 00:18:06,100 being in the military . But again , 457 00:18:06,100 --> 00:18:08,211 we're not immune to this problem . Uh 458 00:18:08,211 --> 00:18:10,322 so we're working our way through that 459 00:18:10,322 --> 00:18:13,050 very , very , very hard . Um 460 00:18:13,820 --> 00:18:16,500 so the defense commissary agency , 461 00:18:16,500 --> 00:18:18,722 otherwise known as deca because we have 462 00:18:18,722 --> 00:18:20,722 to have an acronym for everything . 463 00:18:20,722 --> 00:18:22,833 Deck is monitoring the current market 464 00:18:22,833 --> 00:18:25,000 situation impacting the supply of baby 465 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:27,810 formula . Um Our assessment right now 466 00:18:27,810 --> 00:18:29,530 is that both overseas and 467 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,200 remote commissaries are currently at an 468 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,200 adequate level of supplies for baby 469 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:39,840 formula . The defense commissary agency 470 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:41,896 is working to ensure that all orders 471 00:18:41,896 --> 00:18:44,062 for overseas and remote stores receive 472 00:18:44,062 --> 00:18:46,062 baby formula shipments . Um They're 473 00:18:46,062 --> 00:18:48,007 working daily with distributors to 474 00:18:48,007 --> 00:18:49,896 address any product disruptions , 475 00:18:49,896 --> 00:18:52,007 current stock levels of a v available 476 00:18:52,007 --> 00:18:54,240 baby formula here in the continental 477 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:56,650 United States is at 50% at our 478 00:18:56,650 --> 00:18:59,080 commissaries throughout the States Um 479 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,540 and oversees , it stands at 70% . Uh 480 00:19:02,550 --> 00:19:04,940 And as I said that the deca is doing 481 00:19:04,940 --> 00:19:06,829 everything that he can to get the 482 00:19:06,829 --> 00:19:08,996 products they need under store shelves 483 00:19:08,996 --> 00:19:10,940 and that includes , again overseas 484 00:19:10,940 --> 00:19:14,160 commissary . So we're not immune . Uh 485 00:19:14,170 --> 00:19:16,400 the defense commissary agency is 486 00:19:16,410 --> 00:19:18,632 already ahead of that problem and doing 487 00:19:18,632 --> 00:19:20,743 everything they can to keep things on 488 00:19:20,743 --> 00:19:22,854 the shelf as best they can . So those 489 00:19:22,854 --> 00:19:24,910 percentages would be a percentage of 490 00:19:24,910 --> 00:19:27,243 the amount that you would normally have . 491 00:19:27,243 --> 00:19:29,243 Yeah . So it's 70% of what we would 492 00:19:29,243 --> 00:19:31,354 normally keep overseas , we've got on 493 00:19:31,354 --> 00:19:33,466 the shelves And then 50% here here at 494 00:19:33,466 --> 00:19:37,150 home . Yeah . But do you 495 00:19:37,150 --> 00:19:40,610 have , Is that 50% of 496 00:19:40,620 --> 00:19:43,820 problem for military families ? Do you 497 00:19:43,830 --> 00:19:46,390 pardon me ? Do you have any indications 498 00:19:46,390 --> 00:19:48,870 or reports yet at any basis in the 499 00:19:48,870 --> 00:19:52,560 United States That families cannot get 500 00:19:52,570 --> 00:19:55,370 the supply they need because only 50% 501 00:19:55,370 --> 00:19:57,760 is available . And are you able to 502 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,380 replenish and maintain that 50% at 503 00:20:00,380 --> 00:20:02,491 least we're working on this very very 504 00:20:02,491 --> 00:20:05,240 hard . Barbara I know of no indications . 505 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,296 That's not to say that I can't speak 506 00:20:07,296 --> 00:20:09,518 for every military family at every base 507 00:20:09,518 --> 00:20:12,440 and what Every commissary has on any 508 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,730 given hour on their shelves . But we 509 00:20:14,730 --> 00:20:16,841 did check with the defense commissary 510 00:20:16,841 --> 00:20:18,730 agency . And right now today they 511 00:20:18,730 --> 00:20:20,619 assess that throughout the United 512 00:20:20,619 --> 00:20:22,770 States , there's a 50% what they 513 00:20:22,770 --> 00:20:24,881 normally would have . They've got 50% 514 00:20:24,881 --> 00:20:26,881 of what they normally would have on 515 00:20:26,881 --> 00:20:29,220 store shelves um uh and 70% overseas . 516 00:20:29,220 --> 00:20:31,290 But I couldn't speak to every 517 00:20:31,290 --> 00:20:33,012 individual commissary or every 518 00:20:33,012 --> 00:20:35,068 individual military family . What we 519 00:20:35,068 --> 00:20:37,920 can say is that we aren't immune to the 520 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:39,920 same supply chain problems that the 521 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,087 rest of the country is facing . Number 522 00:20:42,087 --> 00:20:44,309 one . Number two , we obviously take it 523 00:20:44,309 --> 00:20:46,476 very very seriously our responsibility 524 00:20:46,476 --> 00:20:48,587 to make sure that the kinds of things 525 00:20:48,587 --> 00:20:50,476 our families need to take care of 526 00:20:50,476 --> 00:20:52,500 themselves to feed uh their their 527 00:20:52,500 --> 00:20:54,940 Children . We take that very seriously 528 00:20:54,940 --> 00:20:57,107 too . And we're working very very hard 529 00:20:57,107 --> 00:20:59,051 at that and the defense commissary 530 00:20:59,051 --> 00:21:01,273 agency . Um as you would expect them to 531 00:21:01,273 --> 00:21:03,218 do or monitoring this situation as 532 00:21:03,218 --> 00:21:05,384 closely as they can . And particularly 533 00:21:05,384 --> 00:21:08,010 for overseas they're working closely 534 00:21:08,010 --> 00:21:10,121 with distributors to make sure we can 535 00:21:10,121 --> 00:21:12,010 keep those stocks up because that 536 00:21:12,010 --> 00:21:14,232 overseas it's it's always not as always 537 00:21:14,232 --> 00:21:16,454 as is easy for our military families to 538 00:21:16,454 --> 00:21:18,677 to get food stuffs in some overseas and 539 00:21:18,677 --> 00:21:20,621 particularly remote commissaries . 540 00:21:20,621 --> 00:21:22,677 Thank you . Yeah . In the back there 541 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:25,520 yesterday a video was released from 542 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:27,464 Mario pool what seemed like Bernie 543 00:21:27,464 --> 00:21:29,760 munitions falling over the steel plant 544 00:21:30,130 --> 00:21:32,352 And a british military expert says that 545 00:21:32,352 --> 00:21:34,574 it could be white phosphorus . Is there 546 00:21:34,574 --> 00:21:36,797 any word from the pentagon about that ? 547 00:21:36,797 --> 00:21:39,130 Any confirmation ? I can't confirm that . 548 00:21:39,130 --> 00:21:41,130 Yeah . Let me go back to the phones 549 00:21:41,130 --> 00:21:44,300 here . Matt . Sailor from abc john 550 00:21:44,300 --> 00:21:46,990 thank you . Um on unidentified aerial 551 00:21:46,990 --> 00:21:49,300 phenomena with Ronald Moultrie and 552 00:21:49,300 --> 00:21:51,244 scott bray on the hill tomorrow to 553 00:21:51,244 --> 00:21:53,467 discuss recent D . O . D . Findings . I 554 00:21:53,467 --> 00:21:55,633 just want to see if you could give any 555 00:21:55,633 --> 00:21:57,800 preview of what we might expect out of 556 00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:59,911 that . And also if you could say when 557 00:21:59,911 --> 00:21:59,590 is the last time that Secretary Austin 558 00:21:59,590 --> 00:22:02,210 was briefed on the ongoing U . Ap 559 00:22:02,210 --> 00:22:04,550 research by D . O . D . I'll have to 560 00:22:04,550 --> 00:22:06,772 take the question on the last time . He 561 00:22:06,772 --> 00:22:08,994 might have gotten a brief . I don't I'm 562 00:22:08,994 --> 00:22:11,106 not tracking that matt . Um Look as I 563 00:22:11,106 --> 00:22:13,106 said last week , we look forward to 564 00:22:13,106 --> 00:22:15,380 getting a chance to testify to Congress 565 00:22:15,390 --> 00:22:18,350 um about the work that we're doing to 566 00:22:18,350 --> 00:22:20,850 get a better handle on the process 567 00:22:20,850 --> 00:22:23,920 itself ? Um I'm not gonna get ahead of 568 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:25,976 a hearing that hasn't happened yet , 569 00:22:25,976 --> 00:22:27,864 but I know Mr Moultrie is looking 570 00:22:27,864 --> 00:22:30,190 forward to uh to walking members of 571 00:22:30,190 --> 00:22:32,190 Congress through how we're going to 572 00:22:32,190 --> 00:22:34,320 organize around this effort . And 573 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,542 that's really what this is about . It's 574 00:22:36,542 --> 00:22:38,653 about organizing around the effort so 575 00:22:38,653 --> 00:22:40,487 that there's a common collection 576 00:22:40,487 --> 00:22:42,376 process for how these reports get 577 00:22:42,376 --> 00:22:44,542 brought into the system , how they get 578 00:22:44,542 --> 00:22:46,709 analyzed how they get investigated and 579 00:22:46,709 --> 00:22:48,876 then how they get adjudicated . That's 580 00:22:48,876 --> 00:22:48,780 what we really got to get our arms 581 00:22:48,780 --> 00:22:51,660 around . Uh And I think this is uh yeah , 582 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:53,784 Undersecretary Moultrie is looking 583 00:22:53,784 --> 00:22:57,250 forward to that . Jeff Seldin john 584 00:22:57,250 --> 00:22:59,472 thanks very much for doing this . A few 585 00:22:59,472 --> 00:23:01,570 On on Somalia . General Townsend has 586 00:23:01,570 --> 00:23:03,626 been talking about the downside with 587 00:23:03,626 --> 00:23:05,626 what he called commuting to work in 588 00:23:05,626 --> 00:23:08,000 Somalia Since at least April 2021 . He 589 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,830 noted in June 2021 . At that point , Al 590 00:23:10,830 --> 00:23:12,830 Shabaab was threatening Somalia the 591 00:23:12,830 --> 00:23:15,090 region and potentially the US homeland 592 00:23:15,090 --> 00:23:17,860 itself . So what finally convinced 593 00:23:17,860 --> 00:23:20,380 everyone about a year later that the 594 00:23:20,380 --> 00:23:22,547 tipping point has had been reached and 595 00:23:22,547 --> 00:23:24,602 now was the time to finally send the 596 00:23:24,602 --> 00:23:27,330 troops back to Somalia ? Um Second 597 00:23:27,330 --> 00:23:30,970 question answer Maya , um what impact 598 00:23:30,980 --> 00:23:33,147 will the presence of US forces have on 599 00:23:33,147 --> 00:23:35,313 other regional forces that are there ? 600 00:23:35,313 --> 00:23:37,313 Like the forces from the au some of 601 00:23:37,313 --> 00:23:39,369 which have been leaving . Were there 602 00:23:39,369 --> 00:23:41,424 any conversations with them prior to 603 00:23:41,424 --> 00:23:43,591 this decision being made ? Thank you . 604 00:23:43,740 --> 00:23:46,260 I'll let africom speak to whatever 605 00:23:46,270 --> 00:23:48,437 conversations they might have had with 606 00:23:48,437 --> 00:23:50,659 the partners in the region . But look , 607 00:23:50,659 --> 00:23:52,770 as I mentioned to Sylvia , this isn't 608 00:23:52,770 --> 00:23:52,180 this isn't about a tipping point . I 609 00:23:52,180 --> 00:23:54,347 mean , this was something that we took 610 00:23:54,347 --> 00:23:56,347 very seriously through a deliberate 611 00:23:56,347 --> 00:23:58,458 policy making process . Um This was a 612 00:23:58,458 --> 00:24:00,790 decision . The decision to remove the 613 00:24:00,790 --> 00:24:02,790 persistent presence was done by the 614 00:24:02,790 --> 00:24:04,550 previous administration . This 615 00:24:04,550 --> 00:24:06,494 administration came in . Wanted to 616 00:24:06,494 --> 00:24:08,439 revisit that we did through a very 617 00:24:08,439 --> 00:24:10,661 deliberate policy making process . It's 618 00:24:10,661 --> 00:24:12,717 not as if advise and assist missions 619 00:24:12,717 --> 00:24:15,750 weren't happening . They were we were 620 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,480 absolutely continuing to to work with 621 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,320 our partner forces on the ground uh to 622 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:23,590 go after al Shabaab . But you're 623 00:24:23,590 --> 00:24:25,590 absolutely right . General Townsend 624 00:24:25,590 --> 00:24:27,646 made clear that his view was that it 625 00:24:27,646 --> 00:24:29,423 was better to have a persistent 626 00:24:29,423 --> 00:24:31,479 presence . His recommendations . And 627 00:24:31,479 --> 00:24:33,646 those of other senior military leaders 628 00:24:33,646 --> 00:24:35,812 were factored into this process and we 629 00:24:35,812 --> 00:24:37,979 are where we are . I wouldn't point to 630 00:24:37,979 --> 00:24:40,034 a specific date on the calendar or a 631 00:24:40,034 --> 00:24:41,979 specific event and saying , well , 632 00:24:41,979 --> 00:24:44,201 that's it . That that is what convinced 633 00:24:44,201 --> 00:24:46,090 us what convinced us was having a 634 00:24:46,090 --> 00:24:48,201 reasonable mature , deliberate policy 635 00:24:48,201 --> 00:24:50,368 making decision process to get to this 636 00:24:50,368 --> 00:24:52,423 decision . And again , the Secretary 637 00:24:52,423 --> 00:24:54,201 made the recommendation and the 638 00:24:54,201 --> 00:24:56,090 president authorized it and we're 639 00:24:56,090 --> 00:24:58,312 looking forward to uh to moving forward 640 00:24:58,312 --> 00:25:00,312 now . And there's some there's some 641 00:25:00,312 --> 00:25:02,479 additional uh spade work that needs to 642 00:25:02,479 --> 00:25:04,740 be done to change from the where we are 643 00:25:04,740 --> 00:25:08,420 now episodic uh events and 644 00:25:08,420 --> 00:25:10,480 episodic presence to a persistent 645 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,440 presence ? Uh , Laura , Seligman 646 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:14,170 politico . 647 00:25:23,940 --> 00:25:27,460 Okay . Nothing heard Jared from our 648 00:25:27,460 --> 00:25:30,670 monitor . Mhm , 649 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,751 mm hmm . John . I think I think laura 650 00:25:33,751 --> 00:25:35,696 is audible to us . She wants to go 651 00:25:35,696 --> 00:25:38,960 ahead . Hey , can you hear me ? Gotcha . 652 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,220 Hey , sorry about that . I'm just two 653 00:25:42,220 --> 00:25:44,760 quick questions . One on Somalia . Um , 654 00:25:44,770 --> 00:25:46,937 is there an end date that you can tell 655 00:25:46,937 --> 00:25:49,870 us for this deployment or is this is it 656 00:25:49,870 --> 00:25:51,537 open ended ? Not . It's not a 657 00:25:51,537 --> 00:25:53,759 deployment laura that this is , this is 658 00:25:53,759 --> 00:25:55,814 a change in the posture . It's about 659 00:25:55,814 --> 00:25:59,040 putting troops back into Somalia on a 660 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,930 persistent basis . And so it's it's not 661 00:26:01,930 --> 00:26:04,460 a deployment with an end date . Now now 662 00:26:04,940 --> 00:26:08,720 forces will come and go um as they do 663 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,020 with the other , the other co coms . Uh 664 00:26:11,030 --> 00:26:13,197 they'll they'll come and go to support 665 00:26:13,197 --> 00:26:15,308 the requirement , but the requirement 666 00:26:15,308 --> 00:26:17,474 now is for a persistent presence . But 667 00:26:17,474 --> 00:26:19,697 that doesn't mean that whatever unit is 668 00:26:19,697 --> 00:26:21,752 going to be the first one to to have 669 00:26:21,752 --> 00:26:23,808 that persistent will always be there 670 00:26:23,808 --> 00:26:25,974 for time immemorial . I mean , they'll 671 00:26:25,974 --> 00:26:27,752 they'll come and go as as as we 672 00:26:27,752 --> 00:26:30,070 routinely um , rotate forces in and out 673 00:26:30,070 --> 00:26:32,690 of different combatant commands , I 674 00:26:32,690 --> 00:26:34,857 guess . What I mean ? Is that is there 675 00:26:34,857 --> 00:26:36,801 an end date for troops to leave us 676 00:26:36,801 --> 00:26:39,400 troops to leave Somalia or or like I 677 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,170 said , is this an open ended presence 678 00:26:42,170 --> 00:26:43,837 that we're going to be having 679 00:26:43,837 --> 00:26:45,670 recommendation that we move to a 680 00:26:45,670 --> 00:26:47,726 persistent presence in Somalia and I 681 00:26:47,726 --> 00:26:49,281 think that's where we are . 682 00:26:53,540 --> 00:26:56,170 Okay . Did you have another one , Laura ? 683 00:26:56,740 --> 00:26:58,907 Yes . Yes . Sorry . Um can you confirm 684 00:26:58,907 --> 00:27:01,018 reports that Ukrainian troops in that 685 00:27:01,018 --> 00:27:04,620 um the sorry as off style Plant 686 00:27:04,630 --> 00:27:06,970 have surrendered ? I'm not seeing 687 00:27:06,970 --> 00:27:09,081 reports on that . No , I'm afraid . I 688 00:27:09,081 --> 00:27:11,340 can't confirm that . Go ahead . 689 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,862 Hi john just wanted to tell us a little 690 00:27:16,862 --> 00:27:18,973 more about this trip . Vice President 691 00:27:18,973 --> 00:27:21,084 Harry Secretary Blinken and Secretary 692 00:27:21,084 --> 00:27:22,918 Austin to the U . A . E . It was 693 00:27:22,918 --> 00:27:25,084 diplomatic formality Or were there any 694 00:27:25,084 --> 00:27:27,362 new initiatives discussed in the U . A . 695 00:27:27,362 --> 00:27:29,696 U . A . U . S . Partnership during this ? 696 00:27:29,696 --> 00:27:31,880 Uh is it the trip was to pay our 697 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,250 respects to the president who who just 698 00:27:35,250 --> 00:27:38,420 passed away ? That was the goal . I uh 699 00:27:38,430 --> 00:27:41,060 there were obviously uh 700 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:44,062 discussions that the Vice president had 701 00:27:44,062 --> 00:27:45,951 but I would refer you to the Vice 702 00:27:45,951 --> 00:27:48,062 President's office to speak to . That 703 00:27:48,062 --> 00:27:50,118 Secretary was proud to go as part of 704 00:27:50,118 --> 00:27:52,284 the delegation but it really is a this 705 00:27:52,284 --> 00:27:54,340 is a white house thing to speak to . 706 00:27:54,340 --> 00:27:56,340 Not not the Department of Defense . 707 00:27:56,340 --> 00:27:59,560 Yeah . About Somalia . And another one 708 00:27:59,940 --> 00:28:03,000 on Somalia we have seen that al shabaab 709 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,130 threat was fluctuating over the years 710 00:28:05,130 --> 00:28:07,352 and the United States was responding by 711 00:28:07,352 --> 00:28:09,352 over the horizon capabilities . Now 712 00:28:09,352 --> 00:28:11,630 they have you have changed the posture . 713 00:28:11,630 --> 00:28:13,630 Does does that suggest the over the 714 00:28:13,630 --> 00:28:16,230 horizon capability actually didn't work 715 00:28:16,230 --> 00:28:18,230 in Somalia . I think that's a false 716 00:28:18,230 --> 00:28:20,286 comparison completely . When we talk 717 00:28:20,286 --> 00:28:22,619 about over the horizon counterterrorism , 718 00:28:22,619 --> 00:28:25,700 we're talking about uh counterterrorism 719 00:28:25,700 --> 00:28:28,880 operations in places where we have no 720 00:28:28,890 --> 00:28:31,280 we have no partner forces . We have no 721 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,380 footprint . Somalia wouldn't be that 722 00:28:33,380 --> 00:28:35,630 case . We and it hasn't been that case 723 00:28:35,630 --> 00:28:37,797 because we've been going in and out of 724 00:28:37,797 --> 00:28:39,963 Somalia now , we're just gonna be able 725 00:28:39,963 --> 00:28:42,074 to stay there and they're our partner 726 00:28:42,074 --> 00:28:44,297 forces and they're the ones engaging al 727 00:28:44,297 --> 00:28:43,830 Shabaab . It's a completely different 728 00:28:43,830 --> 00:28:45,997 scenario together . And I have another 729 00:28:45,997 --> 00:28:48,350 one . Sorry , I have two questions . 730 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:52,130 You are the one Sweden . Turkey has put 731 00:28:52,130 --> 00:28:53,870 some reservations on Sweden's 732 00:28:54,340 --> 00:28:57,400 application to NATO , citing the 733 00:28:57,410 --> 00:29:00,260 PKK's presence in that country . And 734 00:29:00,270 --> 00:29:01,937 PKK is a designated terrorist 735 00:29:01,937 --> 00:29:04,048 organization by the United States and 736 00:29:04,048 --> 00:29:06,048 almost all NATO members . Would you 737 00:29:06,048 --> 00:29:10,030 recommend Sweden to take action 738 00:29:10,030 --> 00:29:12,740 against PKK in order to bridge those 739 00:29:12,740 --> 00:29:14,796 disagreements ? That that is not for 740 00:29:14,796 --> 00:29:16,907 the Department of Defense to speak to 741 00:29:16,907 --> 00:29:18,851 Kassem . Um We're still working to 742 00:29:18,851 --> 00:29:20,851 clarify Turkey's position on this . 743 00:29:20,851 --> 00:29:23,830 They're valued NATO ally . Uh neither 744 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:25,920 Sweden Norway Finland have made a 745 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:27,753 formal application to NATO yet . 746 00:29:27,753 --> 00:29:30,000 There's a process here . Um and I think 747 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,111 we're gonna work our way through that 748 00:29:32,111 --> 00:29:33,944 process , but it's not for us to 749 00:29:33,944 --> 00:29:35,889 dictate from the pentagon what the 750 00:29:35,889 --> 00:29:38,056 foreign policy of another nation ought 751 00:29:38,056 --> 00:29:40,167 to be . Yeah , really ? Thank you . I 752 00:29:40,167 --> 00:29:42,278 want to ask you about China's nuclear 753 00:29:42,278 --> 00:29:44,520 development . The Admiral Richard says 754 00:29:44,530 --> 00:29:46,863 in the congressional hearing this month , 755 00:29:46,863 --> 00:29:48,990 China will rightly use nuclear 756 00:29:48,990 --> 00:29:51,460 corrosion to their advantage in the 757 00:29:51,470 --> 00:29:53,860 future as long as he did in Ukraine . 758 00:29:53,870 --> 00:29:56,130 Is that an assessment that secretary 759 00:29:56,140 --> 00:29:58,690 agrees with ? I think the secretary has 760 00:29:58,690 --> 00:30:00,690 been crystal clear that we consider 761 00:30:00,690 --> 00:30:02,801 china the number one pacing challenge 762 00:30:02,801 --> 00:30:04,634 for the department and that they 763 00:30:04,634 --> 00:30:06,660 routinely try to use coercion and 764 00:30:06,660 --> 00:30:08,820 intimidation uh to bully their 765 00:30:08,820 --> 00:30:11,850 neighbors um into actions or non 766 00:30:11,860 --> 00:30:15,230 actions that suit china's uh what what 767 00:30:15,230 --> 00:30:18,440 China believes it's uh its interests 768 00:30:18,450 --> 00:30:20,970 are even though they may be inimical 769 00:30:20,980 --> 00:30:23,850 not only to those other nations in the 770 00:30:23,850 --> 00:30:25,961 region , but also to nations like the 771 00:30:25,961 --> 00:30:27,961 United States . So we're gonna stay 772 00:30:27,961 --> 00:30:30,128 laser focused on that , on that pacing 773 00:30:30,128 --> 00:30:32,294 challenge that that is china . I'm not 774 00:30:32,294 --> 00:30:35,570 going to speculate about uh the use or 775 00:30:35,570 --> 00:30:37,860 non use of nuclear weapons with respect 776 00:30:37,860 --> 00:30:41,280 to to to china's activities in the 777 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:43,370 region . They've already proven that 778 00:30:43,380 --> 00:30:45,436 they're they're willing to bully and 779 00:30:45,436 --> 00:30:47,436 intimidate their neighbors . And we 780 00:30:47,436 --> 00:30:49,713 want to see that action stop obviously . 781 00:30:49,713 --> 00:30:51,824 But in the meantime , we also want to 782 00:30:51,824 --> 00:30:54,047 make sure we're building we're building 783 00:30:54,047 --> 00:30:56,269 up the right capabilities in the region 784 00:30:56,269 --> 00:30:56,200 and the operational concepts to support 785 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,089 those capabilities so that we can 786 00:30:58,089 --> 00:31:00,256 defend our national security interests 787 00:31:00,256 --> 00:31:02,256 in the region . And I might add the 788 00:31:02,256 --> 00:31:04,422 national security interests of so many 789 00:31:04,422 --> 00:31:06,533 allies and partners . We have five of 790 00:31:06,533 --> 00:31:08,644 our seven treaty alliances are in the 791 00:31:08,644 --> 00:31:10,756 pacific and those those uh incur upon 792 00:31:10,756 --> 00:31:13,240 us very specific , very real security 793 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,351 commitments that we have to make sure 794 00:31:15,351 --> 00:31:17,210 we can meet before the biden 795 00:31:17,210 --> 00:31:19,800 administration has expressed interest 796 00:31:19,810 --> 00:31:22,650 in having a dialogue with china about 797 00:31:22,650 --> 00:31:25,520 the nuclear issues . Is that a part of 798 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,070 their topics that the Secretary 799 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,024 discussed with the chinese defense 800 00:31:30,024 --> 00:31:32,136 minister by form this month ? I won't 801 00:31:32,136 --> 00:31:34,302 get into the more details of the phone 802 00:31:34,302 --> 00:31:36,413 call with minister way than what that 803 00:31:36,413 --> 00:31:38,580 what we've already read out . I mean , 804 00:31:38,580 --> 00:31:42,040 again , the secretary uh was 805 00:31:42,050 --> 00:31:45,730 uh I was glad that he was able to have 806 00:31:45,740 --> 00:31:48,700 this initial conversation uh to to 807 00:31:48,700 --> 00:31:51,200 begin to have communications at that 808 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:53,390 level with with chinese officials , 809 00:31:53,390 --> 00:31:55,223 that he was very clear about our 810 00:31:55,223 --> 00:31:57,610 concerns about china's behavior in the 811 00:31:57,610 --> 00:31:59,666 indo pacific . But I think I'll just 812 00:31:59,666 --> 00:32:01,499 leave it at that . Okay . Thanks 813 00:32:01,499 --> 00:32:04,160 everybody . See you tomorrow .