In terms of national security threats, the headline-grabbing Islamic State militants that the U.S.is seeking to subdue in Iraq are less of a concern than Russian Federation and China, the incoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday.
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He pointed to Russia’s nuclear capability and its capability to violate the sovereignty of other countries and allies of the USA and to “do things that are inconsistent with our national interests”.
The notion that a Russian Federation that has mounted a de facto invasion of eastern Ukraine and openly threatened other European countries could pose a serious threat to the United States isn’t a groundbreaking observation.
Relations between Moscow and the West have plunged to a post-Cold War low since Russian Federation annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region past year.
North Korea’s nuclear program and missile technology is clearly a threat, Dunford said, followed by ISIL, but he stressed that addressing the threats is more complicated than ticking off a checklist.
The current commandant of the Marine Corps, Dunford, 59, was the senior commander in Afghanistan during 2013 and 2014 as the US pulled troops back. He led US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014.
Eradication of extremism is in common interest of USA and Pakistan, he said.
Dunford said he didn’t endorse a recent statement by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus that the F-35 “almost certainly will be” the nation’s last manned aircraft.
Dunford strongly supported the Defense Department’s rebalance to the Pacific, but said the conflict over building a new Marine air station on Okinawa to replace the Futenma facility was an internal Japanese political issue.
“I think he’s going to do a fine job”.
Pressed by Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., on the effort to build a moderate opposition force in Syria, Dunford said he understood that the law does not permit USA force against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
“From a military perspective it’s reasonable that we provide that support to the Ukrainians”, Dunford said.
Asked if the number of USA troops in Iraq is adequate, Dunford said is it enough but that, “as conditions change on the ground, it may become necessary to adjust how we implement the military campaign”.
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“Quite frankly, if we go into sequestration we will be unable to support the current strategy that we have to protect our nation”, he said, adding that the combat readiness of USA forces “will suffer what I would describe, and without exaggeration, as catastrophic consequences”.
