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Suzanimal
02-04-2015, 08:07 AM
Secretary of Defense nominee Carter says he'll focus on ISIS, may expand counterterror operations


Ashton Carter, President Obama's nominee to replace Chuck Hagel as secretary of Defense, has told senators in advance of his confirmation hearing Wednesday that counterterror operations may need to be expanded to stem the tide of foreign fighters joining up with the ISIS terror group.

"I believe foreign fighters pose a threat to the U.S., and that this threat is exacerbated by the ongoing political and security instability in Libya," Carter said in a written response to senators' questions ahead of his Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "If confirmed, I will focus attention on the foreign fighter flow as the department works with regional partners in North Africa to address the challenge posed by the terrorist safe haven in Libya and broader counterterrorism issues."

Carter will face the panel one day after the terror group released a grisly video showing a captured Jordanian Air Force pilot being burned alive. In response to written questions from the committee, Carter said that he is aware of reports that ISIS may try to expand into Afghanistan, and that he will work with NATO coalition partners to ensure that does not happen.

Carter also said he would consider changing plans for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016 if security conditions worsen. About 10,600 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan.

Wednesday's hearing is likely to focus as much on Obama's foreign policy as on Carter's own vision for the Defense Department, with the 60-year-old likely to face questions on Russian actions in Ukraine, Iran's nuclear ambitions, and Obama's push to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, among other issues.

Another thorny issue Carter faces is an uncertain outlook for the defense budget. In his remarks, Carter is expected to acknowledge that the Pentagon must end wasteful practices that undermine public confidence even as he criticizes the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration.

"I cannot suggest support and stability for the defense budget without at the same time frankly noting that not every defense dollar is spent as well as it should be," Carter says in his prepared remarks. "The taxpayer cannot comprehend, let alone support, the defense budget when they read of cost overruns, lack of accounting and accountability, needless overhead and the like."

If confirmed, Carter would be the fourth Secretary of Defense to serve under Obama, after Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, and Hagel. The relationship between the White House and the Pentagon has often been strained, with some officials in the department saying Obama views the military skeptically and centralizes decision making in the West Wing. Hagel, in particular, is said to to have grown particularly frustrated with the policymaking process overseen by national security adviser Susan Rice. Gates and Panetta have publicly aired their grievances with what they saw as White House micromanagement.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/04/obama-pick-for-secretary-defense-says-hell-focus-on-isis-may-expand/?intcmp=trending

devil21
02-12-2015, 10:55 PM
Oh look, it's another one. I'm sure his priorities will be protecting Americans, not Israel :rolleyes:

PaleoPaul
02-12-2015, 10:58 PM
Oh look, it's another one. I'm sure his priorities will be protecting Americans, not Israel :rolleyes:
If he was an Israel firster, he'd be using hawish rhetoric against Iran. He seems to be hawish about ISIS at the moment.

devil21
02-12-2015, 11:06 PM
Perhaps you should read up more on Carter's past statements on Iran.


If he was an Israel firster, he'd be using hawish rhetoric against Iran. He seems to be hawish about ISIS at the moment.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/senate-confirms-ashton-carter-as-pentagon-chief/


His first official trip to Israel was in 2013 — shortly after a visit by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. Carter met with Ya’alon, then-national security adviser Yaakov Amidror and Defense Ministry Director Udi Shani, who hosted an official dinner for him.

Observing members of the Oketz IDF Canine Unit, Carter told the soldiers that “protecting America means protecting Israel, and that’s why we’re here in the first place.”

Carter’s relative quiet on Israel is balanced by a long series of statements on Iran.

Whereas, previously, the State Department has almost exclusively managed the ongoing P5+1 talks with Iran, the appointment of Carter to the top Pentagon position would introduce a new cabinet member with a vocal record on the subject.

Carter brings to the table over 20 years’ worth of experience with nuclear policy, giving him a potentially credible voice in cabinet discussions.

During president Bill Clinton’s first term, Carter served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy and had a formative role in shaping the deals that resulted in the nuclear disarming of Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan following the fall of the Soviet Union.

Although his policy papers tend to be nuanced and complex, Carter’s position can be characterized as advocating strong action to further non-proliferation aims. In comparison with the administration, Carter seems to place more weight on the significance of credible military force in conducting de-nuclearization negotiations with Iran.

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http://www.lobelog.com/on-iran-ashton-carter-has-been-hawkish/



Before his service—first as Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, and then as Deputy Secretary of Defense—during Obama’s first term, Carter was a strong advocate of using or threatening to use military force to prevent nuclear non-proliferation. Like Dennis Ross, he had served on the Iran task force of the Bipartisan Policy Center, which produced a report in September 2008 that I described at the time as a roadmap to war. It was reportedly drafted by one of the architects of the Iraq invasion and occupation, Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute, and overseen by Michael Makovsky, then director of foreign policy at the BPC, and currently CEO of the ultra-hawkish Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RC1Mepk_Sw

DamianTV
02-12-2015, 11:21 PM
Another excuse to push for more War on Us.