During the hearing, Carter acknowledged that the USA has only 60 trainees in a program to prepare and arm thousands of moderate Syrian rebels in the fight against IS militants.
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Without weapons to counter tank and artillery fire, Ukrainian troops would not be able to fend off “Russian aggression”, he said.
His written answers were obtained ahead of the hearing by The Associated Press.
When asked about other top challenges, Dunford said China falls right behind Russian Federation because of their capabilities and their behavior throughout the Asia Pacific.
Dunford said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a significant national security risk to the US, especially if Tehran also had the technology to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles.
As envoys of the USA and other world powers are in Vienna seeking to negotiate an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program in return for easing economic sanctions, Dunford conveyed a message of continued vigilance against Iranian efforts to dominate its neighbors and support terrorism.
The nominee to become chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff says Russian Federation presents “the greatest threat” to national security and its behavior is “nothing short of alarming”.
Gen. Joseph Dunford says that if he is confirmed by the Senate he also wants to assess whether the USA should focus more on the Islamic State group’s “shifting geographic reach” and confront the militants where they are now and where they are most likely to go in the future. “On balance, our force can deal with the challenges that we have now”.
About 3,300 US forces are training and advising the Iraqis, and the Obama administration is limiting the number of American troops in Iraq to about 3,550. The loss of Ramadi, Dunford said, was a tactical setback that shows how agile and adaptive IS has become.
“From a military perspective it’s reasonable that we provide that support to the Ukrainians”, Dunford said. Dunford, who until past year had been serving as the top USA commander in the country, said that if the USA force in Afghanistan falls to 1,000 in 2017, the counterterrorism mission there would be significantly degraded and the USA would risk losing its eyes and ears along the border with Pakistan.
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Defense spending bills moving through Congress call for padding a war-fighting account, which is not subject to congressional spending caps, known as sequestration. “What keeps me up at night is our ability to respond to the unexpected”, he said.
