During his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Dunford told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that if they “want to talk about a nation that could pose an existential threat to the United States, I’d have to point to Russian Federation”.
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It would be “reasonable” to provide lethal weapons to Ukrainian forces battling pro-Russian rebels, he said.
He said he was “not aware” of any Russian objections to Dunford’s characterization. But with USA challenges overseas changing at a dizzying speed – including the rise of ISIS and other terrorists in the Middle East and Russia’s reemergence as a potentially risky foe, the Pentagon is rethinking its commitment to the F-35.
While Dunford said China does not now pose a direct threat to US national security, their activities bear watching.
State spokesperson Mark Toner said The states professionals have already been “very frank” about zones of debate, along with Russia’s strategies in Ukraine.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest suggested on Friday that Dunford “would be the first to admit that that reflects his own view and doesn’t necessarily reflect the consensus analysis of the President’s national security team”.
Under questioning, Dunford said the United States has the military capability to destroy Iran’s nuclear program.
He added North Korea and the Islamic State organization to the list of threats, as well as the challenges in space and in cyber domain, the report says. “We have strengthened our alliances and greatly expanded partnerships with countries like Singapore, Vietnam and India”, he said. He said that without talking with commanders on the ground, he could not provide further insight into the problems. But he said the US military and the Iraqis have learned from that loss.
In his characteristic brevity, Dunford promised in his short opening statement to give both the president and Congress his candid professional advice, and said his primary effort would be to rebuild the combat readiness degraded by sequestration and to “properly lead” the uniformed and civilian personnel who serve to defend the nation.
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Dunford said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a significant national security risk to the USA, especially if Tehran also had the technology to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles. He adding that there would need to be a change in USA policy before such forces were able to also take on the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
