U.S. Africa Command 2026 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)

[0:00] We convened publicly after a classified session on the posture of U.S. Central Command and U.S. [0:05] Africa Command. At the outset, I want to thank Admiral Cooper and General Anderson [0:09] for their distinguished service to their country, as well as for their candid testimony during the [0:15] closed session. Let me start by addressing the situation in the Middle East. Throughout [0:21] Operation Epic Fury, Admiral Cooper commanded our highly trained and courageous men and women [0:28] in uniform as they executed an exceptional military campaign. The campaign has rendered the Islamic [0:35] Republic of Iran a shadow of its former self. The effort has not been without significant losses, [0:42] though, and certainly we continue to honor the memory of the 14 service members who lost their [0:47] lives in this campaign, as well as the approximately 300 service members who have been injured. Since [0:55] 1979, Iran's clerical regime has chosen to make the United States its number one enemy. The motto of [1:03] Iran's ayatollahs has never been, God bless Iran or long live Iran. They have chanted death to America, [1:13] death to Israel. The regime states its murderous goals plainly. The entire foreign policy of Iran [1:21] revolves around killing others rather than building for its people. As part of Iran's war of choice [1:30] against the United States, the regime has directed its terrorist proxies to kill hundreds of American [1:36] service members, take dozens of Americans hostage, and assassinate senior American officials, including [1:43] attempts on the life of President Trump. It has also developed a nuclear and ballistic missile program [1:50] that aimed to hold multiple continents and dozens of U.S. partners at risk. Every American president [1:58] since Carter has had to deal with the consequences of Iran's war on the United States. Yet rather than [2:05] dealing with the problem, successive Democrat and Republican administrations sought so-called [2:11] de-escalation with Iran. This often afforded Iran the time and resources to develop its nuclear [2:18] program, the ballistic missile program, and global terrorist infrastructure. I commend President [2:25] Trump for recognizing that the Iranian regime cannot be appeased and for directing action to defeat this [2:35] threat. Doing so will not be easy. The Iranian threat, the Iranian regime is deeply ideological and [2:42] insists that it is winning even when it is losing by every conceivable metric. I look forward to Admiral [2:49] Cooper sharing his assessment of how close we are to destroying Iran's military capabilities. I'd also [2:57] like to hear what he needs from Congress to ensure our men and women in the uniform have what they need [3:04] to finish the job. Bailey, to complete the Iran mission would send our adversaries a dangerous signal [3:12] about our nation's wherewithal and resolve. I would send that erroneous message to Iran and to other [3:21] adversaries around the globe. As we've seen, the nature and scope of the threats we face transcend [3:28] geographic boundaries. This is particularly true as we look to Africa and that's where General [3:35] Anderson comes in. The continent is not a distant concern for American national security. Rather, [3:41] it is an arena of growing strategic consequence defined by converging threats from adversarial nation [3:48] states like China and Russia, radical Islamist terrorism and instability driven by weak governance. [3:59] China and Russia recognize the strategic importance of Africa. China is leveraging economic coercion, [4:05] debt diplomacy and military basing to support President Xi's global ambition. Through its mercenaries [4:14] and other proxies, Russia is destabilizing fragile states and extracting resources in order to bankroll its [4:20] malign activities in Ukraine and elsewhere around the world. I look to General Anderson to provide his [4:28] assessment of Chinese and Russian objectives in Africa and to update the committee on how Africa [4:35] command is addressing the threat posed by these nefarious actors. The terrorist threats across Africa remain [4:42] persistent, adaptive and dangerous. Increasingly, Africa is becoming the epicenter of global terrorism. [4:51] Al-Qaeda and ISIS senior leadership now reside in Africa and their terrorist affiliates are expanding [4:58] in size, capability and geographic reach from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa. Their murderous ambitions are [5:06] not confined to that continent. These groups remain intent on killing Americans around the world, [5:12] yet significant shortfalls in key military capabilities, including intelligence, surveillance and [5:19] reconnaissance complicate our ability to track these groups and the threat they pose. So we look to [5:26] General Anderson to let the committee know how these resource shortfalls are impacting his ability [5:33] to combat the terrorist threat and where this committee can be helpful. I have noted in my remarks, [5:39] Africa is of increasing strategic importance to American national security interest. This is precisely why [5:46] a dedicated combatant command for Africa is indispensable. Africa command was established in 2007 [5:55] because the United States recognized that these challenges require sustained and dedicated focus. This [6:01] committee remains committed to ensuring Africa command has the authorities resources and strategic [6:08] support necessary to protect American interests across the continent. With that, I turn to my partner and [6:18] colleague, Ranking Member Reid. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Admiral Cooper, General Anderson, [6:24] thank you for your dedication and service with great distinction over many years. Thank you. And also, [6:31] I think I expressed the concerns of all of us, or the hopes of all, that you convey our congratulations and [6:39] appreciation to the men and women that you lead in your areas. I want to also begin by expressing my [6:47] deepest condolences to the families of the service members who we recently lost in the Middle East and Africa, [6:54] and we owe them our greatest respect and gratitude. Amber Cooper, we are 75 days into this war with Iran, [7:02] and I am concerned the president does not have a credible strategy to win. Every member of this [7:08] committee shares the goal of preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon, but there is no purely [7:14] military solution to this problem. Instead, every president over the past 50 years has used diplomacy, [7:21] sanctions, and international cooperation to this point successfully prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear [7:28] weapon. President Trump tore up the Iran nuclear deal, and instead of negotiating a new deal, [7:35] unilaterally took our nation to war. More than a dozen service members have lost their lives, [7:40] and hundreds more have been wounded. We have suffered significant damages to our bases, [7:46] dramatically expended our munitions stockpiles, and sustained billions of dollars of damaged equipment. [7:53] The Strait of Hormuz is still closed, despite attempts to escort commercial ships. While [8:00] Secretaries Hegseth and Rubio have said Operation Epic Fury is concluded, it is unclear what objectives [8:08] have been accomplished. Iran's regime is intact. Its nuclear material remains in place. The majority of [8:16] its missiles and launchers have reportedly been recovered. Iran has demonstrated its ability to shut down the [8:22] strait. And most importantly, or certainly of equal weight, American families are bearing real costs at [8:30] the gas pump and the grocery store for a war they did not want, and Congress has not authorized. [8:37] Admiral Cooper, the military forces under your command have performed with exceptional skill and bravery, [8:44] and that is attributable to your leadership and your chain of command. The firepower that we have brought [8:50] to bear in Iran has been formidable, but we have not yet, I think, articulated a clear strategy going forward, [9:00] and this is continuing to hamper our objectives. I think everyone on this committee would love to see [9:11] these peace negotiations succeed, and I'd be the first one to applaud significant results achieved through [9:19] diplomacy. But one of the issues we're facing, and we've talked about it in the closed session, [9:27] is at every term we are not receiving the information that we are legally entitled to. [9:35] We've not seen the legal justification for this operation, nor the execute orders, [9:42] and the administration's explanation for course and the path forward have shifted constantly. [9:47] This week, the President said that the ceasefire is on life support, and it leaves us a fundamental [9:57] question. Where are we and where are we going? And I hope you can touch on that, Admiral Cooper. [10:02] There's two other concerns in CENTCOM I'd like to address. First, we withdrew all of our troops from Syria, [10:10] and this has created some adverse consequences in my view. Our modest military footprint there produced [10:19] significant returns, including a very reliable partner in the Syrian Democratic Forces, [10:26] a sustained counter-ISIS mission which we conducted, and a degree of leverage in a strategically important [10:33] area of the world. And we gave that up very quickly when we withdrew, and if you could provide some [10:38] understanding of the current situation, I'd appreciate it. Second, the ceasefire in Lebanon is fragile, [10:45] and Israel's continued airstrikes and demolition operations in the south are eroding it. The Lebanese [10:53] Armed Forces are one of the few genuine stabilizing instruments we have left in the region, and we [10:58] should be seriously investing in it. And again, Admiral, I'd like to know what resources you need to make this [11:04] partnership successful, our partnership with the Lebanese military, in displacing Hezbollah and establishing a [11:13] reliable government. General Anderson, I'm concerned by discussions about whether AFRICOM should be [11:19] maintained as an independent combatant command. The same concerns I believe the chairman has. That [11:28] fight should be not necessary, and it really, I think, reveals a misunderstanding of the continuing [11:34] importance of Africa in so many different ways. If we were to merge AFRICOM with UCOM, I think that would [11:42] be a mistake. It would signal to our allies and adversaries that Africa is not a priority for the [11:47] United States. Russia and China are not making that mistake. Russia's Africa core has expanded [11:54] steadily across numerous countries, and China continues to build ports, infrastructure, and relationships [12:00] across the continent. Both nations are filling a space that America has created for them by our [12:07] disengagement. And, General, I would ask you to share your views on the current security situation [12:12] and how you are working with allies and partners to address the political and economic instability in [12:18] Africa. Finally, I would note that the dismantling of USAID has made this situation worse. More than 12 [12:25] billion dollars in annual assistance to sub-Sahara Africa is largely gone. This has translated directly into [12:33] instability, radicalization, and openings for our adversaries. The administration's from aid to trade [12:40] slogan in Africa may be a reasonable long-term aspiration, but is not a near-term substitute for [12:46] what has been lost, and our partners on the ground know it. I'd like to know what authorities and support [12:52] you need from this committee to effectively partner with vulnerable nations in Africa to keep us from [12:57] losing more ground to China and Russia. Admiral Cooper, General Anson, thank you for your leadership, [13:03] your outstanding service, and I look forward to your testimony. Thank you. [13:07] Admiral Cooper, you are now recognized for your opening statement, sir. [13:10] Thank you very much. Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, members of this committee, thank you for the [13:17] opportunity to testify before you today, and thank you all in this committee for your very steadfast support [13:24] to the United States military and to our men and women deployed today. I'm pleased to be sitting [13:29] here today with my good friend, the commander of U.S. Africa Command, General Dogg Anderson, and I'm [13:33] joined by Fleet Command Master Chief Lateef Compton, our senior enlisted leader at Central Command. [13:39] Events in the Central Region have shown how quickly the course of history can change. In just the last few [13:45] years, decades-old features of the strategic landscape, once thought immutable, have been upended, [13:52] bringing both challenges and opportunities. I strongly believe that every success that we have [13:58] starts and ends with our people. In just the last seven months, America's sons and daughters serving [14:04] in CENTCOM have played key roles in world events, implementing the president's 20-point peace plan in [14:09] Gaza, degrading the ISIS threat in Syria, preventing what I would characterize as an ISIS crisis by [14:17] conducting a historic prisoner transfer to Iraq, creating the most integrated and effective air defense [14:23] architecture ever seen, which was decades in the making, and most recently addressing the Iranian [14:29] threat. The performance of our warfighters and combined joint task force Operation Inherent Resolve, [14:35] often referred to as CJTF OIR, is particularly noteworthy. In January, responding to a rapidly [14:42] deteriorating security situation, they executed an extraordinary transfer of more than 5,700 ISIS prisoners, [14:50] all terrorists, from Syria to Iraqi custody. Their effort prevented a mass prison break that risked [14:56] large-scale ISIS reconstitution and acute risk to the American homeland. In parallel, OIR has maintained [15:03] relentless pressure on ISIS remnants in Syria, most recently Operation Hawkeye Strike removed over 50 ISIS [15:10] terrorists and 100 terror infrastructure targets from the battlefield. U.S. Central Command was created in [15:16] direct response to the threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and I am the 16th CENTCOM commander [15:23] to deal with the Iranian problem set. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has terrorized the region and made [15:30] hostility to the United States a core tenant of its rule. Their hostile, lethal track record against the [15:36] United States is well documented, but I don't know that it is always well understood. Here's a data point. [15:43] In just the last 30 months prior to the commencement of Epic Fury, Iranian-supported terror groups have [15:49] attacked U.S. troops and diplomats more than 350 times, the equivalent of attack more than every third [15:56] day, killing four U.S. service members and wounding nearly 200 more. After more than two years of Iranian [16:02] attempts to leverage October 7th of 2023 to tear the region apart, at the direction of the president, [16:08] United States Central Command initiated Operation Epic Fury. In less than 40 days, CENTCOM forces [16:14] achieved our military objectives. Most notably, we degraded Iran's ability to project power outside [16:20] its borders and threaten the region and threaten our interests. As an example, we can all remember [16:27] April and October of 2024, hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones raining down in the [16:33] Middle East. Today, Iran can no longer attack with that mass and scale. And further, with 90 percent of [16:40] its defense industrial base destroyed, Iran won't be able to reconstitute those weapons for years. [16:47] We also all watched Iran spend decades and billions and billions of dollars arming proxies. Today, Hamas, [16:55] Hezbollah, and the Houthis are all cut off from Iran's weapons supply and support. This result was not [17:03] foreordained, nor was it brought by chance. It's the culmination of months of careful planning built upon [17:09] decades of experience. These results also do not come without cost. We honor the memories of the 14 [17:17] service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice during Operation Epic Fury and the two soldiers and [17:23] the one civilian killed in Palmyra, Syria. They represent truly the very best of all of us. As I sit here, [17:30] we are clear-eyed. The situation in front of us is very complex. High-stakes negotiations continue. [17:37] Our job is to be ready, and we are. I testify today on behalf of the 50,000-plus servicemen and women [17:45] deployed to the Central Region. It's a great honor and privilege of a lifetime to serve as their [17:50] commander. And thank you very much, and I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much. General [17:55] Anders. Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Reed, and distinguished members of the committee, [18:02] thank you for the opportunity to provide you an update on U.S. Africa Command. I'm joined today by Command [18:07] Sergeant Major Garrick Banfield, our senior enlisted leader, and I'm proud to sit beside my friend from [18:12] U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper. We both appreciate your unwavering support to our nation's [18:17] warfighters. Before I start, I'd like to recognize the service of First Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont Key, [18:22] Jr., and Specialist Mariah Collington, who lost their lives in a tragic accident during African Lion in [18:29] our returning home today. I would also like to express my appreciation to our allies and partners, [18:34] particularly Morocco, who stepped forward when it mattered most. Africa sits at the crossroads of [18:41] global commerce and security, bridging the strategic terrain between the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific. [18:47] It's the world's supplier of critical minerals for advanced defense system and home to 12 of the [18:51] world's 20 fastest growing economies. By 2050, it will account for a third of the global working age [18:57] population. Today, the epicenter of global terrorism is in Africa. ISIS leadership is African. Al-Qaeda's [19:07] economic engine is in Africa. Both of these groups share the will and intent to strike our homeland. [19:15] Their affiliates, once isolated nodes, now show increased connectivity. Just as concerning is the [19:22] nexus between Al-Qaeda's Al-Shabaab and the Iranian-sponsored Houthis. AFRICOM is prioritizing [19:29] willing and capable partners. We support partners with capabilities that only the U.S. can bring. [19:35] ISR targeting precision strike. These efforts have driven ISIS leaders in Somalia underground, [19:42] disrupting their command and control of the global ISIS network. In West Africa, Al-Qaeda affiliate [19:48] JNM has demonstrated increased capacity to control key terrain in the Sahel, most notably by strangling [19:53] fuel supplies around population centers. The capture of a capital city would provide Al-Qaeda with all the [19:59] trappings of a nation state to sponsor global terrorism. With a 75 percent reduction in our regional [20:06] posture over the past decade, compounded by the drawdown of our allies, we struggle with an [20:11] intelligence black hole. And without sufficient indicators and warnings, we risk being blind to [20:15] the gathering dangers and threats in the region. AFRICOM's lack of expeditionary capabilities and [20:21] diminished force posture compromise our crisis response. In a crisis, we can always surge assets, [20:27] but you cannot surge trust. Our reduced presence on the continent also allows disruptive actors to drive the [20:33] agenda, undercutting American interests. China views Africa as its second continent, securing control [20:40] over critical minerals and infrastructure, potentially boxing us out of resources that energize our [20:45] industrial base. Africa also serves as Putin's purse, where Russia exploits instability to extract [20:52] resources to include human lives to fuel its war machine. To contend with these threats, AFRICOM must think [20:59] and operate differently. With less than one-tenth of one percent of the department's budget, we must maximize [21:05] every taxpayer dollar to deliver an outsized return on investment. AFRICOM continues to leverage low-cost, [21:11] high-yield activities to amplify our impact on the continent. Programs like the International Military [21:16] Education and Training and the State Partnership Program are reliable force multipliers that forge [21:22] enduring relationships with African militaries and are proven models for cost-effective burden sharing. [21:27] The AFRICOM Exercise Program is emerging as a battle lab to test and validate new technologies [21:33] on behalf of both the joint force and our African partners. And finally, AFRICOM is focused on the [21:39] critical convergence of security and economics. Our efforts span all elements of national power [21:44] as we coordinate closely with state, commerce, energy, and treasury. The department's new economic [21:49] defense unit has been an invaluable partner. To defend the homeland, promote U.S. interests, and ensure [21:56] effective crisis response, AFRICOM needs targeted investments in layered, non-traditional ISR, [22:02] innovative force protection, programs that enable willing and capable partners, the opportunity to [22:10] conduct experimentation of emerging technologies, and the ability to respond to crisis at the time and [22:15] point of need. Africa is a continent of opportunities, not only crises. With the continued support of this [22:22] committee, I can assure you that every dollar you authorize for AFRICOM will contribute directly to the [22:27] security, safety, and prosperity of the United States. Thank you. I look forward to your questions. [22:33] Well, thank you very much. Let's get right into Iran, Admiral Cooper. And I think one of the basic [22:43] questions is, was this exercise of hours, was this operation of hours of war of choice or war of necessity? [22:53] Let me get your military perspective. Did Iran have enriched uranium up to six percent prior to [23:03] Operation Midnight Hammer? Yes, sir, they did. And is there a civilian use at all for uranium that is [23:12] enriched to 60 percent? There's not, Senator. Is it fair to say that Iran's nuclear breakout time [23:23] has been set back then, thanks to Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Epic Fury? Without talking [23:31] specifics, that's accurate, Senator. All right. And has Iran ever been willing to curtail [23:37] its ballistic missile program, ballistic missile program, through negotiations? They have not, [23:42] sir. And then perhaps you can explain in some detail to what extent Operation Epic Fury has set back [23:54] Iran's ballistic missile program? To what extent you can tell us in this open setting? Yes, [24:01] Senator. Thank you. Thank you very much for that question. Our military mission in Operation Epic [24:06] Fury was crystal clear from the very outset and remained steady throughout. The mission was to [24:12] degrade Iran's ability to project power on its neighbors and U.S. interests. It had three key [24:18] components. Degrade Iran's ballistic missiles and the defense industrial base that supports it. [24:23] Degrade Iran's drones and the defense industrial base that supports that. And degrade their navy and the [24:31] defense industrial base that supports that. In each of those categories, we met all of the achievements. [24:37] Each of those systems were significantly degraded. If I give you just a couple of examples, [24:43] the defense industrial base where their drones and their missiles and their navy were degraded by 90%. [24:48] They have about 10% left. For the navy, my military assessment would be that the navy will not begin to [24:55] rebuild for five to ten years. Many of you serve in states that build ships. It's complex. It's [25:01] particularly complex when you don't have an industrial base to build it. My professional [25:06] perspective on this also is that Iran would not return to the same level of navy that it had for a [25:13] generation. Now this 10% of drones left, are they exquisite or the sort of relatively inexpensive drones [25:22] we've been hearing about? Senator, thank you for this question. I think I'd like to use the opportunity to [25:27] to myth bust on drones. Okay. The days of $35,000 drones that we saw in the last couple of years, [25:33] particularly in the fight against the Houthis in Yemen, those days are behind us. Today we face [25:39] an increased threat from drones that are highly sophisticated. They're jet-powered. They have high-end [25:45] sensors. They have electronic warfare. They have signals intelligence. So those days of using high-value [25:51] defenses to shoot down cheap targets are behind us. Quite the contrary, what we have been doing [25:57] lately is using our own low-cost one-way attack drones attacking Iran, making them use higher-end [26:05] more expensive weapons. So I can confidently tell you we have flipped the cost curve in many ways. [26:10] Always work to be done, but I like where we are in this regard. Okay, and you know there's been a lot [26:15] to talk about a part of the negotiations being giving up the nuclear ambitions, but almost as important [26:25] to me is the support of terrorist proxies. So has Iran ever been willing into support for the terrorist [26:35] proxies, Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah? They have not, Senator. So to what extent has this exercise, [26:44] this operation denied Iran resources for funding terrorism? Senator, this has been a significant [26:52] priority from the outset, and as we sit here today, there are no resources and equipment [26:57] that are flowing from Iran to Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis. Those transfer paths and methods have [27:06] been cut off. To the extent that that source of support has been cut off, what are the other sources of [27:14] support that these terrorist groups can look to? I think some of those pieces are best discussed in [27:21] a more classified environment, but I think the key element of this is the main supplier of resources [27:28] and training for decades and billions of dollars, and we've seen all this before our very eyes. Those [27:34] pieces have been completely cut off today. Thank you very much. We'll take another round, but at this [27:39] point I recognize the ranking member. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Admiral Cooper, [27:45] is Iran militarily still able to inflict significant damage on infrastructure of the surrounding [27:55] countries in the Persian Gulf? Senator, in this environment, what I would tell you is [28:00] their capabilities have been dramatically degraded. That certainly doesn't mean that they don't [28:04] have anything left, but the large-scale volleys that we've seen over the last couple years, [28:10] Iran is no longer capable of executing those. This would be less large-scale volleys than directed [28:17] attacks on critical infrastructure, which would set back petroleum production, even if the Strait of, [28:24] or petroleum distribution, I would say, even if the Strait of Hamuz is open. Does that capability [28:30] still exist? Capabilities across the board inside Iran still exist at a degraded scale. We've also [28:37] planned accordingly for each of these scenarios, if necessary, to deal with them from a defensive [28:41] perspective. So would you characterize Iran as no longer a threat? Iran has a significantly degraded [28:51] threat, and they no longer threaten regional partners or the United States in ways that they were able [28:58] to do before. Across every domain, they've been significantly degraded. But they can still [29:04] threaten their partners. It's a very large country. They have, they have, they retain some mineral [29:10] capability. That's correct, and that's accurate. And of course, we've accounted for that from a defensive [29:14] perspective. General Anderson, what's happened is that the administration recalled over 30 career ambassadors [29:23] in Africa, including, excuse me, over 30 career ambassadors overall, 12 in Africa. In the United [29:30] States, there's only 14 confirmed ambassadors. In other words, 40 ambassador posts in Africa are vacant or [29:38] filled by charge affairs. Is it essential to your work to have fully functioning embassies with ambassadors? [29:47] Senator, we work very closely with all the embassies across the continent to pursue and further American [29:55] interests. And so that relationship with these embassies is critical for AFRICOM's effective [30:00] engagements. But what about the ambassadors? Yes, sir. So the ambassadors do enjoy access. I think that that's [30:08] important to have ambassadors in place because the hierarchical nature of many of the African countries is that [30:15] if you're not an ambassador, you don't always get access. And so there is obviously benefit to that. And we coordinate with [30:23] them quite closely when we engage. Thank you very much, sir. You are combating one of the most [30:32] sophisticated information warfare operations we've seen in a long time from Russia. What can we do to [30:42] improve your ability to withstand this information operation and also to engage in something on the same [30:50] level by the United States? Yes, sir. I appreciate the recognition of this concern because our adversaries [30:58] are very active in the information domain. As you highlighted Russia, I'd also say China is also very [31:02] active in these domains. They use this to undercut not only our interest, but undercut and disrupt the [31:10] democracies that are in Africa. And this is an area that I've talked to several of the leaders across, [31:15] especially coastal West Africa, that are very concerned about the Russian propaganda that is [31:20] destabilizing their democracies. For me, we have a limited budget that we are mostly in a reactive [31:28] mode to respond to issues. What would be beneficial as one of the few entities that looks across the [31:33] entirety of the continent is a consistent budget that would allow us to campaign in the information space. [31:41] We coordinate very closely with state department and others on this and work with the embassies, [31:45] but our ability to look across the continent and highlight these things, I think, is an area where we [31:49] could be of benefit to the American interest. Thank you, sir. Admiral Cooper, one more question. [31:56] Do we still maintain a relationship with the Syrian Democratic Forces? Senator, we do have a nascent [32:04] relationship with them in the context of evacuating the more than 5,700 ISIS prisoners from predominantly [32:11] northeast Syria to Iraq. A small number of prisoners, mostly chronically ill and with multiple amputees, [32:18] stayed in the primary prison known as Hasakah and SDF is today serving as the guards. [32:24] Just a follow-on question. Do you detect any kind of resentment or to our rapid departure from SDF? [32:37] I think, Senator, we've had a long-standing relationship with the SDF. The ceasefire that they have in place [32:43] today with the Syrian government remains in effect and we remain engaged. Thank you very much. Thank you. [32:49] Thank you. Senator Fisher. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [32:54] Welcome, Admiral. General, thank you for your service. Admiral, what did the Iranians [33:02] attempted missile attack on the island of Diego Garcia tell us about the ballistic missile program [33:11] and their intent to use it? Did it come as a surprise? Senator, appropriate to talk in this [33:21] forum, because there's clearly a classified component of this. I think we've all heard publicly [33:26] what Iran described as their self-imposed limitations on their missile force. The execution of that [33:32] particular attempted strike, which failed, was twice the distance of what they previously advertised [33:38] that they said that they would self-constrained themselves to. Thank you. And as you look at the [33:46] total operation, the conflict there, what lessons have you learned from that? And how have you used those [33:53] lessons thus far to ensure that your command is prepared for the fight that we have today? Yes, [34:01] Senator, thank you very much for this. It's fair to say that we have captured thousands of lessons, [34:06] mostly tactical. I think there's no military in the world that makes adjustments as well as the United [34:11] States military does. And whether they were in stride tactically with a lot of support from [34:17] organizations back in the United States or they're more at the operational level, we took a very hard [34:22] look inward to see where can we improve our defenses. Force protection and protecting our people is my [34:28] number one priority. We focused on that first, made a significant number of adjustments to enhance what was [34:35] already a very effective air defense umbrella. And that's where we are predominantly focused, [34:40] as well as putting ourselves in a position to meet a wide range of contingencies going forward. [34:46] Thank you, sir. General Anderson, ISIS is on the rise in Africa, and you've been very, [34:52] very clear about that. How is your command working with our partners in order to address that? [34:58] Senator, you are correct. ISIS is putting a concerted effort in its establishment on the [35:07] continent. We have been working very closely with willing partners who have been willing to address [35:12] this threat. So two examples of that in northern Somalia, working with the Somali and the Pootland [35:18] forces there to go up into those mountains. What has been key there to putting pressure and isolating [35:25] the ISIS leadership there is the partner's ability to stay in those mountains. And so our partnership [35:30] to provide them the intelligence, some training, and some limited logistics that allow them to stay, [35:34] is helping isolate that leadership node in Somalia. We've also been working very closely with Nigeria, [35:40] who is in the last few months opened up with a very positive engagement with intel sharing and [35:48] ability to go after and target some of these terrorist threats that are in northern Nigeria. And so that [35:54] has been a positive area that we've seen as well. We would like to reestablish some pragmatic [35:59] relationships in the Sahel where ISIS also has a stronghold where they are currently holding an [36:04] American hostage in order to gain better access. And that's an area we need to continue to improve [36:09] to work with those partners for a intel sharing and understanding of what that threat is there. But we [36:14] are working very deliberately with our partners to address these common threats. Do you feel that you're [36:20] appropriately resourced to address these threats? We have the minimum necessary resources in order to [36:29] address the threats in order to do this because of the size of the continent and the complexity of those [36:34] attacks or of those threats. In order to thwart these we have to shift resources and that entails [36:40] taking some risk in those other areas in order to address the primary efforts. I'd like to have you [36:49] address some of the connections that we see with the drug cartels with the terror groups. Can you [36:57] elaborate on those, especially with regards to the Central and South American cartels? [37:05] Yes, Senator. That's an area that is emerging that is causing us great concern. So two points to that. [37:12] Recently there was a interdiction based on some intelligence that we were able to provide [37:17] that the Spanish interdicted a shipment of cocaine that was 35 tons of cocaine. We believe that's [37:24] about a billion dollars of street value. We believe that's the largest interdiction in history. That [37:29] came out of South America. It was transiting along the west coast of Africa towards another location [37:34] that I could talk about in a classified environment. And so we're seeing more of that drug trafficking [37:41] coming in and the terrorist organizations are helping transit that. They're getting payments through that [37:46] and there's a symbiotic relationship that money then comes back to our hemisphere to those drug cartels [37:52] but also helps provide fuel for those terrorists. Another area that I think is important to highlight [37:58] is that in the last 18 to 24 months we have assisted in or at least tipped off many partner nations [38:06] to drug activities and labs in their country. In this time, 11 of the 12 drug labs that have been [38:13] interdicted have had Mexican cartel members on site to include the largest drug lab that had ever been [38:20] disrupted in South Africa that there were Sinaloa cartel members on site. And so they are actually [38:26] doing production now in Africa as well as the transit of that across the continent. So we're watching this [38:32] develop and it's of concern as this fuels both the terrorists and the cartels. What's the destination of [38:38] those drugs? Those drugs are destined for the Middle East, for Europe, but we're also seeing them then [38:44] come in through the northern route back into America as we have applied pressure on the southern border. [38:49] They're finding other means to bring those drugs into our nation. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Fischer. [38:57] Senator Blumenthal. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Thank you both for being here. Thank you for your extraordinary [39:04] service in a difficult time. General Anderson, I want to express my condolences to you and your team [39:11] and the families of Lieutenant General, Lieutenant Kendrick Lamont and Specialist Maria Collington. [39:19] The Army's lost two young patriots and dedicated man and woman. And I'm certain that the recovery mission [39:30] was difficult. And I want to commend your team for bringing closure to their families. [39:36] Admiral, there's been public reporting that Iran continues to have as much as 70 to 75 percent of [39:49] its missiles and launchers available to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Does that reporting [39:59] conform roughly with your estimate as to Iran's continuing strength? Senator, thank you for the [40:08] question. And first, thank you for your time these past few days. It's been meaningful and very much [40:12] appreciated. I think it's appropriate in this forum not to discuss specific intelligence assessments. [40:18] What I would say from my perspective is the numbers that I've seen in open source are not accurate. [40:23] I think what also is not taken into consideration, it's more than just the numbers. It's the command and [40:29] control that's been shattered. It's a significant degradation and capability. And it's the lack of [40:35] any ability to then produce any missiles or drones on the back end. I think we have to take a holistic [40:41] look at that, but that's what we've done. But regardless of what the numbers are, Iran continues to pose [40:49] a significant threat to shipping because it has missiles and fast boats and other assets that are available [40:57] to attack shipping in the area, correct? Senator, in each of those cases, their capability [41:04] have been significantly degraded. If I just use my own professional experience in 100 transits through [41:10] the Strait of Hormuz, you would typically see 20 to 40 fast boats and lately we've seen two or three. [41:17] So the degradation means it's been super, it's been significant, but some residual capability does exist. [41:27] With respect to the threat that remains, your forces were successful in Project Freedom in enabling ships to [41:36] go through the Strait, correct? That's correct, sir. And Project Freedom was stopped for what reason? [41:47] Senator, I think I'll look back a couple of days ago on the Chairman of the Joint Chief's testimony [41:52] before the Senate Appropriations Committee. I think he characterized it well. The situation in the [41:56] Strait of Hormuz is rather complex these days and I would offer just these quick points. First and [42:04] foremost, the United States controls, via our blockade, which I'd be happy to talk about, the [42:10] overall flow of commerce going into and out of Iran. The Iranian capability to stop commerce has been [42:16] dramatically degraded through the Straits, but their voice is very loud and those threats are clearly heard [42:24] by the merchant industry and the insurance industry. Those are factors, they're certainly factors in energy, [42:29] and on top of all that. But Project, and I apologize for interrupting, but I'm going to run out of time, [42:34] as you understand. I think the point that I want to make here is that Project Freedom could be started [42:42] again and the voices of the Iranians, large as they are, could be contradicted or reduced in impact if [42:56] Project Freedom were ongoing and the world could see that shipping was going through the Straits. [43:02] Am I off base in that view? Senator, there's a wide range of contingencies that we are prepared to [43:09] execute and I would defer to the policy makers on anything having to do specifically with the [43:13] Strait of Hormuz, particularly during this time of sensitive negotiations where it's what's front and [43:18] center in the negotiations. And have you seen any progress in those negotiations? Senator, I'd refer to [43:27] the diplomats and the team engaged in the negotiations. Let me ask you, in the time that I have left, [43:36] one of the objectives that President Trump articulated at the beginning of this war, which [43:42] in my view could not be accomplished with bombing, was to secure the enriched uranium. Would you agree [43:50] that taking possession of that uranium would require boots on the ground and significant casualties [44:02] for United States forces? Senator, in this particular forum, I think it would be highly inappropriate, [44:08] given the classified nature of any contingencies to talk about the nuclear program. [44:13] Well, let me just finish by making the observation that you have, I think, sought to be forthcoming to [44:21] the committee in the classified setting where we had an earlier conversation with questions and answers. [44:30] My view is that the vast majority of what you told us should also be told to the American people. [44:40] They deserve to know. And our adversaries know a lot of what we know. The ones who really don't know [44:50] are the American people and they deserve more information, which is not a criticism of you. It is [44:57] of the system which causes the withholding of this information and the administration, which has refused [45:06] to provide figures as to the costs of the war and other details that are relevant and important for the [45:15] American people to know. So I'm hopeful that we can have a way to make more information available to the [45:24] American people. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Admiral Cooper, during the brief time of Project Freedom, [45:36] before it was closed off again, can you say in this setting whether or not our services were able to open the strait? [45:52] Senator, thank you for this. Very much appreciated. As has been publicly highlighted, the first two ships [46:00] to flow from the Arabian Gulf from the western part into the east through the Strait of Hormuz were U.S. [46:08] flagged vessels that was successfully executed. And U.S. Navy destroyers then came into the Arabian Gulf, [46:15] operated for a number of days, and then, as you subsequently saw, float out of the Arabian Gulf. [46:21] Okay, so Senator Blumenthal's question presumed that you could give in public your judgment as to [46:29] whether the United States is capable of doing that again. Senator, there's a military [46:36] component of this, and then there's also a policy component that I believe to the policy makers. [46:41] But from the military standpoint, we could do that again, could we not? We just did it last week. [46:48] Thank you. Senator Ernst, I believe. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And gentlemen, thank you for being here [46:56] today, and to your teams as well. We truly appreciate your service and dedication to our nation, [47:03] and I also want to acknowledge the loss of the two individuals in Morocco and thank our Moroccan partners [47:10] as well for their contribution in the recovery efforts. I do want to recognize Admiral Cooper, [47:17] those that we have lost during this current operation or the former operation Epic Fury, [47:23] as well as the two Iowa National Guardsmen that we lost in Syria this last December. We have also more [47:31] than 380 who have been wounded in this fight. So for all of those service members that have given so [47:38] much and to their families, they will not be forgotten. The operations that have been conducted against Iran [47:44] and its proxies across the Central Command AOR wouldn't have been possible without some really tremendous [47:53] partners in that region. And we have seen a large burden borne by Israel and Jordan. We've seen [48:03] assistance coming from Bahrain and UAE, who has taken a significant amount of incoming fire. Saudi Arabia, [48:12] Qatar. They haven't all been passive bystanders. They've been actively engaged. So they have contributed [48:20] to every line of effort and we appreciate them contributing to our successes. We can't overstate [48:28] what their basing access logistics, their networks and intelligence cooperations have meant operationally [48:34] to us. So Admiral Cooper, what is the one or maybe two things that you want all of us to understand [48:42] as we walk out of this hearing knowing about what our allies have assisted with in this fight? [48:49] Senator, first, thank you for the question and thank you for your leadership and thank you for [48:56] all that has been done by the great men and women from from your state. They've played an outsized [49:00] role so thank you for that. Thank you. In terms of our partners, I think a key feature is we have enhanced [49:07] middle-to-mill relationships across the board in the Middle East. As we sit here right now, we have [49:13] five specific partner nations who are not just conceptually side by side but literally side by [49:19] side with the United States in defense. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. [49:27] Over the course of epic fury, they defended themselves and they defended Americans. In addition to those key [49:34] allies, everything that we've accomplished would have been impossible without the Kingdom of Jordan and [49:41] clearly we were operating very closely with the state of Israel. I think that group in particular [49:45] should be commended. They didn't just execute missions. They served side by side with Americans [49:50] and protected Americans. Thank you. And this takes years to develop those friendships, those relationships, [49:57] the mill-to-mill work that you do. Is that correct? It does. There's there's the mill-to-mill work, [50:02] there's the friendships. It's all about bringing these together and the air defense umbrella that's been [50:07] created is has been in concept for the better part of a decade and a half now fully realized. [50:12] And again, I just want to reiterate that we have such tremendous partnerships with so many of [50:18] those nations and we we thank them for that. I'll move to AFRICOM now General Anderson. Over the past [50:26] couple of years, the U.S. has been withdrawing forces from a number of countries including Niger, Mali and [50:34] Chad. And Russia's African Corps has moved in to fill that vacuum. Where we don't exist, others will. [50:43] But just a few weeks ago, they retreated from Kidal Mali under fire. They had surrendered to the very [50:51] militants that they were sent to defeat. So we have some really interesting dynamics going on in in that [50:59] region and AFRICOM is left with the responsibility for a lot more high risk high threat posts than any [51:06] other combatant command in the world. So walk us through just very briefly what AFRICOM cannot do [51:14] today that it could five years ago. Well Senator, I think there's one very poignant example that I can [51:24] use very quickly is that five years ago as a commander of Special Operations Command Africa. [51:28] Philip Walton was taken hostage in Niger and transported by bandits being prepared to be sold [51:34] to terrorist organization. We were able to identify him in 24 hours. We were able to pinpoint his location [51:39] within 48. He was rescued in less than 96. That was largely due to the access that we had, also the [51:44] partnerships and the relationships that we enjoyed. Today, Kevin Rideout is on day 205 of captivity, [51:53] largely because we don't have the access that we had before and the relationships that are necessary. [51:57] And that posture reduction has been difficult. And he was also taken out of Niame. Unfortunately, [52:03] he was then sold by the bandits to ISIS and is being held there today. And thank you for that. And Mr. [52:09] Chairman, I just want folks to understand the lack of presence that we have in AFRICOM and that exact [52:18] difference. So thank you, General Anderson, for a very, very specific example of what a lack of presence [52:26] has meant. Thank you, Senator Ernst. There's a proposal for substantially more funding for your [52:34] command. Is that right, General Anderson? Senator, that is correct. The presidential budget [52:40] significantly increases our budget and addresses some of these key concerns. Well, [52:44] that one example you just gave, would that be addressed by these proposed additional funds? [52:51] So not entirely, Senator, because the access and relationships are what were key there. [52:57] But we do, because of this, because of that lack of posture, need more investment in expeditionary [53:01] capabilities. And that is being addressed in the proposed budget. But those relationships that [53:09] the Senator highlight and maintaining those relationships are absolutely critical, because [53:12] you cannot surge trust in the time of need. Okay. Well, you and I have gone back and forth [53:17] about unfunded requirements. And so I guess your testimony is, is that that's not a matter of [53:25] funding. It's just a matter of relationships. Senator, that is a matter of relationships. The funding that [53:33] we would ask for that would encourage, that would help us is the contingency response ability, [53:37] expeditionary, but also some targeted programs to work with key partners who are willing and able [53:43] to address the threat to increase their capability and capacity to do that. So those are the investments. [53:48] Those are all included in the proposed budget. So right now, I don't have many needs. Very well. [53:55] Very well. Senator Cain. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And to our witnesses, President Trump's decision to [54:02] unilaterally take the United States into a war with Iran is deeply unpopular in Virginia. [54:08] We are a very pro military state, a very pro military state. And as I've traveled around [54:14] Virginia and talked to Virginians, the unpopularity sort of gets crystallized into, have we learned [54:19] nothing from 25 years of war in the region? 14,000 American troops and contractors died in the war on [54:27] terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 65,000 injured, $8 trillion spent. And Virginians who've watched [54:34] their friends and family repeatedly deployed over the last quarter century have grave concerns about [54:40] what was accomplished and was the sacrifice worth it. Our troops sacrificed so bravely. Chief Warrant [54:48] Officer Robert Marzon, one of the 14 who have died in Epic Fury, Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Our forward [54:54] carrier strike group just returned the longest post-Vietnam deployment of any carrier. Our folks sacrifice. [55:02] They want civilian leaders to make the right decisions about whether and when and how they [55:08] should sacrifice. And there's deep concern that in this instance, the decision is a wrong one. [55:14] Part of it is a failure to really grapple with history. In the hearings in this committee, I've [55:20] heard over and over again, and I've heard the President, Secretary of Defense talk about Iran's bad [55:25] actions since 1979. And everything that's been said about Iran's bad actions are true. [55:31] But there's a lot of the story that folks don't talk about. History didn't begin in 1979. Iran and the [55:37] United States were allies in World War II. One of the pivotal events in World War II was the Tehran [55:42] Conference, where President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin met in Tehran to guarantee Iran [55:49] independence, stable borders, and sovereignty. Iran loved the United States. The United States led a coup to [55:58] topple the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953 during the Eisenhower administration. [56:05] The United States propped up a dictatorship, the Shah of Iran, trained the secret police, the Savak, [56:11] that tortured, exiled, imprisoned, killed Iranians by the thousands. And 26 years after that, [56:20] there was a revolution in 1979. And yes, then it was death to America. The U.S. funding a dictatorship and [56:27] toppling a democratic elected government led to an Iran that has been very hostile. And all the events [56:33] my colleagues have talked about since then are accurate. But just as Iran seized our embassy in [56:39] violation of international law, then the United States funded Saddam Hussein for Iraq to wage war [56:46] against Iran in the 1980s, killing hundreds of thousands of Iranians. And just as Iran funded proxies [56:52] that bombed a marine barracks on our embassy in Beirut, the USS Navy shot down an Iranian civilian [56:59] aircraft in 1989, killing 290 civilians. And the U.S. invaded Iran's next-door neighbors to topple [57:06] their government. And then, yes, Iranians attacked U.S. troops arrayed near their border. And we've [57:12] attacked and killed their leadership. I'm not saying that Iran is good. Iran is horrible. Horrible to its [57:20] neighbors, horrible to people outside its borders and even worse to its own people. But if you ignore [57:26] the history of the back and forth between the U.S. and Iran, you will not get this right. If more war [57:32] between the U.S. and Iran were the answer, we would have found the answer sometime between 1953 and now. [57:38] Here's something I think it's important for my colleagues to know. We did look for a path, [57:45] a diplomatic path, to end this hostility that's been going on since 1953. And President Trump tore up [57:52] a diplomatic deal over the advice of the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State. And many of us [57:59] said at the time, if you do this, it is likely to lead to Americans dying. If you make diplomacy [58:06] impossible, you will make war inevitable. And I believe the troops who have been killed in epic [58:11] fury would be alive today if the United States had not decided to abandon a diplomatic deal. [58:17] Admiral Cooper and to my colleagues on the committee, here's something that's pretty amazing [58:21] that we shouldn't settle for. The administration is refusing to allow members of this committee [58:27] to see the OLC opinion stating the legal case for war. We've always had the ability. We're [58:34] Armed Services members. We're being asked to fund a $1.5 trillion budget, but our request to the DOJ [58:41] to see the OLC opinion justifying this war, they have refused to allow members of the Armed Services [58:47] Committee to see it. U.S. Senators, Appropriators, we're not allowed to see it. What are they hiding? [58:57] If they will not allow us to see the legal rationale for the war, what are they hiding? And Mr. Charles [59:04] just concluded and said, I hope we might as a committee, whatever our agreements about the wisdom or [59:10] the legality of the war, I hope we might as a committee agree that we should at least in a classified [59:16] setting be able to read the legal opinion upon which this entire 76-day war is based. Thank you, Mr. Chair. [59:25] Yes. Thank you, Senator. You have made a statement that raises questions that these two witnesses [59:36] are unable to answer because you've asked, you've raised policy questions. And so just for the benefit [59:44] of those listening in, we have had the civilian leadership before this committee to answer questions [59:52] like that. And these two gentlemen would have to decline. If you had formed that and stated that [1:00:00] in the form of a question, they would have to decline to answer because that is a matter of policy. [1:00:05] Who is next? Senator Moody, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for being here [1:00:17] today. Admiral Cooper, General Anderson, thank you for your leadership to the men and women of CENTCOM [1:00:23] and AFRICOM. Thank you for everything that you have have done over the course of your careers and are [1:00:28] continuing to do to serve our country. And I see there are so many men and women with you behind you [1:00:33] to support these efforts today to speak with us, to meet with us, to answer our questions. [1:00:39] I know a lot of preparation goes into that. And so I thank you as well. Admiral Cooper, [1:00:44] the fight you're leading certainly with CENTCOM under your command. I'm always proud to say that [1:00:51] that is from my home based in my home county in Florida, Hillsborough County, Florida. That's where [1:00:56] I was born and raised. It's been there since 1983, 43 years of commanding operations like we're involved in [1:01:05] today. So proud to have you here, sir. Florida is so involved from SOCOM, Space Forces Central, [1:01:13] Patrick Space Force Base, Cape Canaveral. We're both the command hub and launch pad for most all [1:01:20] conflict. So we are proud to be that, proud to be a stakeholder in everything that's done within the [1:01:26] military. And so on behalf of all the service members in Florida, civilian and their families, [1:01:31] we want to say thank you to them. I am the newest member of this committee. It's always interesting [1:01:38] to me to hear the different perspectives from other members on this committee. You would think [1:01:44] from some of the questioning previously that the United States willy-nilly abandoned all diplomatic [1:01:50] efforts. Didn't think through that. There was no justification. And I'm wondering, I know if you could [1:01:56] tell me, Admiral Cooper, what is your background working with CENTCOM and all of the leadership [1:02:03] positions you've held? Senator, first, thank you for the question and thanks for your time yesterday [1:02:09] and thanks for your leadership. Thousands of Floridians are serving in the Middle East today [1:02:14] and they're serving honorably and well. And what specifically have been your roles with CENTCOM? [1:02:19] I've been focused on the Middle East for the last five years, three years of which we're serving in Bahrain [1:02:24] as the fleet commander and then about 16 months as the deputy commander prior to my current position. [1:02:30] And how long have you been familiar with Iran and its leadership and its attacks against the United [1:02:39] States? I've studied or been a part of it for the better part of three decades, particularly acutely [1:02:44] in the last five years. And leading up to February 28th, months prior to that, what was jarring to you [1:02:53] that you saw different than what had been for those many decades that you've been involved? [1:02:59] I think it's important to note just in the 30 months before Epic Fury commenced, [1:03:04] Iran and its proxies had been attacking U.S. service members and diplomats about 350 times. [1:03:10] Can you repeat that? About every third day, Iran and its proxies [1:03:13] attacked American service members 350 times in the Middle East. I don't think that Americans were aware [1:03:20] of that, that in the 30 months that they had attacked Americans or their service members 350 [1:03:25] times. Does that surprise you that I would say that? That I don't believe that everyday American [1:03:31] going to work knew that? It's disappointing, but between the actions of proxies in Iraq and Syria [1:03:38] as well as the Houthis, that's simply the fact of what happened. And the months leading up to [1:03:44] that decision, that very serious decision on February the 28th, [1:03:48] what were your concerns regarding the proliferation of missiles or the ability of the United States to [1:03:54] do anything if that nuclear threat escalated? Senator, in this venue what I would say is, [1:04:00] since our number one priority is to prevent a nuclear-capable Iran, I always every day focused [1:04:07] on that problem. But what we saw in the weeks and months leading up to Epic Fury was an increase in the [1:04:13] production capability of ballistic missiles, which presented a very significant risk both to the [1:04:18] partners and ourselves. And this is why it was part of our military objectives to eliminate those [1:04:24] missiles and equally, if not more importantly, eliminate the ability for Iran to generate any more- [1:04:28] And those couple of months leading right up until that, you saw a dramatic escalation in that ability [1:04:33] on Iran's part? That's correct. Between starting in about November and December, you started to see an [1:04:38] increase in Iran's capability and intent to produce more ballistic missiles. And if we couldn't have [1:04:46] neutralized that threat diplomatically, does there come a point where that that's not an option [1:04:50] anymore, where there may be a slippery slope where we can't get back to our ability to be effective to [1:04:56] quell that threat? Without crossing into classified lanes, the short answer is yes. Iran has a large, [1:05:03] had a large scale capability to produce ballistic missiles beyond which could potentially be defended. [1:05:10] I think that's a very important point. The second point is that capability has been virtually eliminated. [1:05:15] And I believe I heard you say at this point, you believe Epic Fury has satisfied its mission? [1:05:20] Senator, we met every military objective for Epic Fury. And what is the difference between [1:05:24] where we were on the 28th of February and right now? If I used a couple of examples, [1:05:29] the Iranian Navy went from harassing throughout the region and being a regional power to having no [1:05:36] Navy. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Moody. Senator King. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [1:05:44] Admiral, you mentioned you used the word myth busting a few minutes ago. And I have to do a little [1:05:49] myth busting. It's sort of a common rhetoric today that no administration prior to this one has [1:05:55] confronted the threats of Iran. In fact, the most effective confrontation with the threat [1:06:01] from Iran, the nuclear threat was during President Obama's administration with the JCPOA. [1:06:07] I would point out that at the time that President Trump tore up unilaterally, tore up the nuclear [1:06:14] agreement with Iran, Iran had zero highly enriched uranium. As you know, today, one of the focuses of this [1:06:23] whole enterprise is 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium that's in place in Iran that was produced [1:06:31] since the unilateral dissolution of the JCPOA. The idea that nobody ever confronted this problem is just not [1:06:41] true. And we're now confronting a problem that was created by the abandonment of the JCPOA, which is the [1:06:48] most comprehensive nuclear control agreement ever and the most highly inspected by the International Atomic [1:06:56] Energy Agency in world history. So we're confronted with a problem now that in many ways this administration [1:07:04] created in 2018 by abandoning this agreement. Let me move on. Do we have any clarity now as to who's in [1:07:16] charge in Iran? Do we know who has the power to negotiate and make agreements? [1:07:22] Senator, the negotiations themselves are held via diplomatic channels, and I would really refer to [1:07:30] the diplomats to address that. But clearly, from a military perspective, their command control was [1:07:35] significantly fractured as a result of our strikes in Operation Epic Fury. And command and control is [1:07:40] another way of saying their leadership. There's a communications difficulty. Is the IRGC in charge at [1:07:47] this point? The IRGC is exercising significant authority. General Anderson, talk to me about the [1:07:58] loss of soft power in Africa, our abandonment of USAID and what's happened with the Chinese and the [1:08:06] Russians that my understanding is are now filling that gap in addition to the other aggressive actions [1:08:14] that they're taking. Senator, I would say that we look at all facets of national power and how to bring [1:08:22] those to bear on the continent in order to provide security outcomes. Oftentimes... [1:08:27] You've taken one facet of our national power off the table, unilaterally, for no apparent reason. [1:08:34] The whim of Elon Musk. Senator, we work very closely with state, [1:08:40] with commerce and energy in order to look at the security requirements on the continent. I have a [1:08:45] foreign service commercial officer joining my staff this summer along with a liaison from [1:08:49] Department of Energy in order to look at economic opportunities. But it is a fact, is it not that we [1:08:53] have essentially left all of the the role that USAID played on the continent. That's gone. Isn't that [1:09:00] that's a yes or no question? Senator, there are still aid programs that are active on the continent. They [1:09:07] are much reduced from what they were before. Much reduced. That's a fair way of stating it. You mentioned [1:09:14] earlier that the uh al-Qaeda and and ISIS have a have resurged in in Africa. Now the term epicenter has [1:09:21] been used several times of of world terrorism. You you use the term they said you said they have the will [1:09:27] and intent to attack the homeland. My question is do they have the capacity? Do they are they developing [1:09:35] weapons, strategies, uh other ways to to take that will and intent and turn it into something [1:09:44] of imminent danger to the American people? Senator, that is the uh exact issue that is my top concern [1:09:50] is for being able to provide they have the assets necessary to provide the indication warnings to know [1:09:56] and be able to identify when they shift that will intent to have to have the capacity and capability. [1:10:01] That is something that is very difficult for us to ascertain in the Sahel right now given our limited [1:10:06] posture. That was that was going to be my follow-up question is do we have the capacity to determine [1:10:11] their capacity? It sounds like you just said uh we have we don't have the capacity that we should [1:10:17] have or need. Senator we are uh that's why in the president's bucket we have asked for additional [1:10:23] intelligent surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities and why we're also looking at [1:10:27] a layered approach to look at everything from surface to space to look at commercial assets to [1:10:32] look at emerging technologies open source as well and use these technologies especially artificial [1:10:38] intelligence in order to fuse these multiple different types of layered ISR in order to gain [1:10:42] that understanding and illuminate this black hole of intelligence in the Sahel. We cannot sustainably [1:10:49] afford to do that solely with airborne ISR so we have to look at a multi-faceted approach. There are some very [1:10:54] promising emerging technologies that we are looking into and are affordable and sustainable and that also can [1:11:01] work with our partners because one of the key points to this is this is not necessarily ours to action. [1:11:06] So having that tech the intelligence that we can share with partners so they can then action those [1:11:11] uh on a mutual threat is going to be key to our future uh but being able to understand that is the [1:11:17] number one priority of the command and where we are looking at investing with emerging technology. [1:11:21] And I think as you've testified if they take over the capital of Bali that's a that's a that's a very [1:11:26] dangerous moment. That would be a game changer I believe in how they would have be viewed uh internationally [1:11:33] and what attraction they would be then I think to other adherents. Thank you. How would that affect [1:11:38] Americans general? Well I think that would then give momentum to these terrorist organizations that [1:11:44] have the will and intent and it would allow them to then start moving towards the capability and [1:11:48] capacities that Senator King just mentioned. And so that then I think poses a threat in the long term [1:11:53] to the United States as they continue to develop this. We know that they have not given up this intent [1:11:59] and it's just a matter of having the time and space to develop them. And it would be Vladimir Putin [1:12:04] that would be happiest about this is that correct? The prudent that what sir? That it would be [1:12:11] President Vladimir Putin who would rejoice at such a contingency or would it be Xi Jinping? I can't [1:12:21] speak for what either one of those leaders would believe but I think that that we they would be able to [1:12:26] parlay that to their interest. Well who's financing this contingency if it were to happen? Uh the [1:12:34] terrorists? Yes. They're gaining uh they're through lots of illicit materials so it's not necessarily [1:12:40] directly from a state actor they're working with as I mentioned earlier the narco terrorist uh [1:12:44] trafficking they're doing this through uh kidnap for ransom they're doing this for other legal [1:12:49] smuggling they even do have their own taxation networks in the territories that they control where they [1:12:54] generate millions of dollars. And before I turn to Senator Scott with regard to the the funds that [1:13:02] we're not spending anymore on USAID but have been supplemented elsewhere um in in terms of dollars [1:13:13] let's let's talking in terms of U.S dollar uh equivalence how does the food aid health aid and um and [1:13:24] development aid that we're currently delivering in your jurisdiction compare to to um to what China [1:13:34] and Russia are doing? Senator I don't have those exact numbers uh I'd have to get back to you on those [1:13:42] as those are often in other departments other agencies within the government but we can look [1:13:46] into that for you and look at what that comparison is. Okay well if you would then supplement that on [1:13:51] the record for us because I don't know the answer either uh Senator Scott. Thank you chairman thank [1:13:59] uh thank both of you for um for your service and all the men and women that work for you. [1:14:03] Admiral Cooper Cooper can you I know uh this is not a classified setting but can you talk a little bit [1:14:08] about uh what other countries have done uh to help us either with intelligence or with cape military [1:14:14] capabilities and and I don't know whether you want to do this or not some that you would like to have done [1:14:19] more? Senator I think the most prominent seven countries uh that have been most helpful and serve [1:14:27] side by side are five of the six GCC countries uh UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. [1:14:35] Also indispensable in our effort has been the Kingdom of Jordan and clearly Israel uh with whom [1:14:39] we conducted the strikes. We're always eager to expand partnerships uh there's a couple that I think [1:14:45] I could address in a classified setting uh that were less than stellar. And do you feel like we've been a [1:14:51] great partner to them and helping them build up their uh their capabilities over the last over the [1:14:55] last 20 years or so? Senator I think it's been an excellent two-way street and if I look at mill [1:15:00] to mill relationships it's been very strong. I'd simply highlight uh the result of years of effort [1:15:06] and collaboration and partnership uh put our partners literally side by side with patriot defenses [1:15:12] with our partners defending Americans. I think that sends a lot. I think that sends a good signal and says a lot. [1:15:17] So I think uh Senator Wicker asked you some questions about drones. We had a we had a meeting the other [1:15:23] day and um the individual came in and said that Ukraine is building five million drones a year [1:15:30] um and so they probably are ahead of most people because they've had to because of war they're in. So [1:15:36] can you talk about um are we where we need to be with drone technology? Are we using it everywhere we can? Are [1:15:44] we using are we where we need to be with regard with regard to drone um defense capabilities? Can you [1:15:50] just talk a little bit more about that? Yes Senator first I I I would say that the the secretary and [1:15:56] the department's uh focus on drone domination drone dominance has really kick-started uh our our [1:16:02] capabilities and flowed more capabilities into the region much faster than we had seen before and many [1:16:08] of those capabilities have now been proven in combat. I think in a classified setting I'd like to tell you what [1:16:13] that looked like but as we sit here today we have drone capabilities in the air on the sea and under [1:16:18] the sea as a result of this initiative. Do you have any feel for whether the impact you've had on [1:16:24] uh Iran has impacted uh their ability to help Russia in their war against Ukraine? So I think best to [1:16:32] discuss that in a classified setting. Clearly uh Iran and Russia have had a years-long relationship [1:16:38] particularly when it comes to drones. So what are you most proud of? What do you what do you what [1:16:43] are you most proud of that you've accomplished since you've had this role? Absolutely number one two [1:16:48] and three I'm most proud of the men and women who executed an extraordinarily complex mission. The [1:16:54] first major combat operations the United States has seen in a generation establishing in my mind the [1:16:59] latest greatest generation of American warriors. Same question General Anderson. What are you most [1:17:05] proud of that you've accomplished so far? Senator I think the uh I would agree with uh Admiral Cooper that's the [1:17:14] men and women of the very small footprint and very small recent amount of resources uh punch way [1:17:19] above their weight class and have outsized impacts on the continent. What we just did in African line [1:17:24] in Morocco was significant in our largest exercise on the continent of bringing over 40 nations together [1:17:30] to include over three dozen African countries and nations as far away as Brazil and Japan. That ability [1:17:36] to convene is one of the great powers of the United States and it differentiates us from many others. [1:17:41] So I am proud of the fact that we can do that and that we cannot just uh pursue our own readiness but [1:17:47] actually bring multiple nations together to address common threats. Thanks both of you and thanks to all [1:17:52] the men and women that work for you. Thank you very much Senator. We have uh Shaheen and then Hirono. [1:18:00] Thank you Mr. Chairman and again thank you to both of you for being here and for your service. Um I wanted to [1:18:07] pick up on Senator King's questions about the closing of so much of our foreign assistance in Africa. General [1:18:16] Anderson and um Senator Wicker asked what we're seeing in terms of China. I have a couple of examples that [1:18:23] I think are worth pointing out how much um that has meant in terms of China's ability to make inroads [1:18:30] because China's actually eclipsed Russia as the largest weapons exporter to sub-Saharan Africa which I'm [1:18:37] sure you're aware of and 70 percent of all African armies now operate vehicles from the PRC as opposed to [1:18:46] the United States. Beijing's looking to expand military grants training and joint exercises between the [1:18:52] PRC in African countries and we don't have the kind of foreign assistance um soft power that we did before [1:19:04] the elimination of USAID um but you mentioned General Anderson that you've taken on a foreign [1:19:11] commercial service officer which I think is a really interesting idea and as you're aware I'm sure [1:19:16] at Indopaycom Admiral Paparo has really used this to good advantage coordinating with the state [1:19:23] department with the development finance corporation with the U.S. Trade Development Agency and the [1:19:28] Millennium Challenge Corporation to identify potential projects um to work on in that AOR. So can you talk a [1:19:36] little bit more about how you're identifying development projects and whether you need any other [1:19:42] authorizations from congress or support for this effort from us so that you can help implement the [1:19:48] kind of coordination that's going on in Indopaycom. Senator yes I very much appreciate your interest [1:19:56] here because this is an area I think is emerging on the continent with the just the demographics of the [1:20:01] continent and the growing economies being able to identify these in the intersection of security and [1:20:07] economics is absolutely vital all of the agencies you mentioned are ones that we are coordinating with to [1:20:11] make sure that those investments go into the continent and have the greatest effect but they're also [1:20:16] informed by what are the security implications so sometimes it may not have the same economic return [1:20:21] but that return may come in security and that's where we come in as being able to convene some of [1:20:26] these different agencies as well as private industry to be able to articulate what those security concerns are [1:20:31] what those implications are and then also the fact that we are able to execute exercises and other things [1:20:36] around the continent helps go into the calculus of those investments and buy down some of that risk [1:20:41] so that is what we are looking to uh to develop so do those agencies routinely check with you if [1:20:47] there's a major project that they're looking to fund in Africa so historically no and that's why we're [1:20:53] standing up a very small unit within the headquarters in order to have that uh point where they can help [1:20:58] facilitate these discussions because often they didn't know where to have them and is that something [1:21:03] that congress can be helpful with in terms of trying to encourage that sort of coordination i i think there [1:21:10] is there are ways that encouraging that coordination would be very helpful and being able to articulate [1:21:15] this across the committees that oversee these various agencies and understanding how that interrelation [1:21:20] of national power can come together that it's not always the military lever that produces a security [1:21:25] outcome but being able to have that dialogue i think would be critical the other area that i think [1:21:29] would be very helpful also is incentive structures that help energize our industrial base to help produce the [1:21:36] equipment that our partners want they would much prefer to buy u.s equipment but often our systems take [1:21:42] so long and are so uh long to deliver because often the incentive structure's not there that they go to [1:21:49] they turn to china out of necessity not because of desire they often see that as inferior equipment [1:21:55] and they would much prefer to buy american we need to incentivize our industrial base to meet that demand [1:22:01] yeah i agree and as you know it's an issue not just in that on in that respect but in a whole lot of [1:22:07] other areas in terms of the challenges with the industrial base admiral cooper um one of the things that's [1:22:15] gotten a fair amount of tension um in recent weeks has been president zelinski's working with some of our [1:22:22] allies and partners in the middle east and response to the war in iran on their the expertise that the ukrainians [1:22:30] have developed to address um counter drone responses can you talk a little bit about what [1:22:37] you're seeing with respect to that and um whether our allies and partners find that kind of um support [1:22:44] helpful from the ukrainians senator i think most significantly adopted a large number of tactics [1:22:50] techniques and procedures that the ukrainians have passed us that have helped us uh defend americans and [1:22:57] all of our partners are working uh with ukraine in some way shape or form i'd really defer to them but [1:23:01] talk about it but are they more effective as a result yes thank you thank you mr chairman [1:23:09] thank you mr chairman before um i give my questions i want to again take a moment to highlight the true [1:23:16] costs both for the military and everyday americans of the president's illegal war with iran and summarize [1:23:23] how we got here 13 brave u.s soldiers have been killed and more than 400 have been wounded [1:23:31] the dod is now estimating that this war has cost over 29 billion dollars and costing more every single [1:23:38] day the continued closure of the strait of hormuz which somehow caught the president by surprise is [1:23:43] directly contributing to the growing affordability crisis that americans are facing and negotiations are [1:23:50] at a stalemate but stalemate but it's becoming clear this president's plan is to attempt to secure an [1:23:58] agreement that looks very similar to the 2015 jcpoa which my colleague senator king referred to which this [1:24:06] president recklessly tore up in 2018 as you recall the jcpoa which was an agreement that also included [1:24:14] countries not just us it included france the uk germany china and russia and the jcpoa put limits on iran's nuclear [1:24:26] program with a rigorous inspection and monetary program run by the iaea all of which was tossed out by president trump [1:24:36] and while that agreement did have a sunset clause what we should have done was work diplomatically [1:24:42] with our allies to extend it instead here we are engaged in another endless war in the middle east [1:24:49] no end in sight that is driving up costs undermining military readiness and alienating our allies with [1:24:56] neither a clear rationale for starting the conflict which the president originally said oh well then maybe [1:25:02] there'll be reduced regime change and now he seems to have landed on uh preventing a nuclear nuclear [1:25:08] capable uh iran which is was exactly what the jcpoa was intended to do emma cooper did the president ever [1:25:16] explain to you why he tore up the jcpoa uh senator that's a a policy matter that i would have expected [1:25:26] anyone to he never explained to you why he tore up the jcpoa he either explained it to you or i'm not [1:25:34] asking you for the congress actual conversation but did he happen to explain to you why he did [1:25:40] something which led to the very uh uh nuclear crisis that we're now confronting regarding iran and their [1:25:47] enriched uranium uh senator i was in a completely different assignment when when this occurred eight [1:25:53] years ago so apparently the president uh didn't have a discussion with um anybody in fact it was a [1:25:59] uh unilateral decision that he made now you have vast experience emerald and the navy etc and uh before [1:26:10] we went into uh before we attacked iran did it cross your mind that iran may close the strait of humus [1:26:19] senator as you know one of my responsibilities as a combatant commander is to generate a wide range of [1:26:23] options with associated risks uh and opportunities present those to the secretary and the president i think [1:26:29] it'd be inappropriate to talk about what those specifically are i'm just asking whether we [1:26:33] always make them very comprehensively excuse me uh i'm asking whether with your experience the thought [1:26:40] that should we attack iran that they would close the strait of humus did that cross your mind [1:26:47] senator i've transited through the strait about a hundred times i think of the strait of humus [1:26:51] virtually every day so is that a yes that you are very aware that the strait of humus the very thing [1:27:00] that happened that that is something that you contemplated happening i hope that is the case [1:27:05] because with your experience i i i have to conclude that you um contemplated that possibility so you did [1:27:14] mention that our diplomats are engaged in the negotiations well who are those diplomats uh senator i [1:27:22] really would refer to the white house who specifically is engaged well apparently the diplomats are jerry [1:27:28] kushner kushner kushner who i don't think even works for our country and mr whitlock steve whitlock who [1:27:35] happens to be a um i don't know a i don't think he has a lot of experience engaging in these kinds of [1:27:43] negotiations so here we are the jcpoa which was a very intense uh the results of very intense negotiations [1:27:51] among many countries and for us to act as though uh the the idea of a nuclear one is just something that [1:27:58] occurred to president trump and not to uh his predecessors is pretty ridiculous and in fact [1:28:05] we had in place a regime that was intended to do that uh that very thing which was to prevent a nuclear [1:28:12] iran mr chairman thank you thank you senator hirono senator cotton gentlemen thank you for your appearance [1:28:19] and your service to our nation and many thanks to all the troops that you represent um admiral cooper [1:28:26] um some critics of operation epic fury have referred to it as another forever war and your [1:28:34] opening statement in the third sentence in fact you say since 1979 the iranian regime has terrorized [1:28:41] the region is it fair to say the only forever war here is the war of terror that iran has waged [1:28:48] against the united states in the civilized world for 47 years i i would agree that that that was a [1:28:55] sustained effort by the by iran okay um let's uh take a look in context since my democratic friends [1:29:02] have wanted to talk so much about the jcpoa about not just epic fury but about midnight hammer as well [1:29:08] so where we stand today in mid-may versus where we were not even a year ago 12 11 months ago um based on [1:29:18] your extensive military experience do you believe that iran posed a significant threat to the united states [1:29:24] 11 months ago before operation midnight hammer and epic fury senator they attacked u.s forces 350 times [1:29:31] in the 30 months preceding epic fury do you believe that it absent midnight hammer and epic fury do you [1:29:37] believe that threat was likely to continue to grow yes microphone please so we yes for the record i do um [1:29:46] is iran now less of a threat than it was 11 months ago they are significantly less of a threat um is it [1:29:54] fair to say that the iranian regime is still a revolutionary terrorist regime even after all the [1:29:59] deaths of their senior leaders they are yeah um is it fair to say the revolutionary terrorist regime [1:30:07] no longer has nearly as much military capability to act on its revolutionary terrorist intentions [1:30:14] that is fair and i think it's also fair to say across every element of national power they've been [1:30:19] significantly degraded you you stayed in your opening statement that centcom forces systematically [1:30:27] dismantled what iran spent four decades and tens of billions of dollars building how long do you [1:30:34] assess that it will take them to get back to where they were in terms of their military and other [1:30:41] capabilities just 11 months ago before centcom dismantled it all senator i would assess that the drone and missile [1:30:47] force will take years to reconstitute uh the navy likely will not get back to its previous size for [1:30:53] a full generation is that why you say in your opening statement that centcom assesses iran can no longer [1:31:01] project power across the region nor pose a persistent threat to the united states or our partners than it [1:31:07] did prior to operation epic fury they certainly cannot do it at the level of mass that we all saw with [1:31:14] hundreds of missiles and drones raining across the middle east that doesn't mean they don't have any [1:31:18] capability but that broad power projection capability no longer exists and the whole world saw that [1:31:27] just in a number of days after the beginning of your operation correct and the number of i think it was [1:31:32] a near 90 decline um in iran's attacks on the united states and its neighbors in the region that's correct [1:31:40] early on the the attacks were in the hundreds and they went to uh to the teens okay um i know that [1:31:47] there's been a lot of questions about the strait of her moves to be clear the strait of her moves was [1:31:52] never part of our objectives but we knew as anyone who looks at a map would know that iran has the [1:32:01] power to temporarily close the straight up for moves is that correct that's accurate senator is it fair to [1:32:06] say that the united states and our partners have the power to permanently open the strait without getting [1:32:12] the specifics we have the military power yes um could you talk to us a little bit about what the [1:32:18] blockade in the meantime has done to iran yes sir the blockade was implemented uh within 24 hours of [1:32:26] presidential direction based on a plan that we had on the shelf uh the blockade itself is designed to [1:32:32] prevent any commerce from leaving iranian ports uh going to global distribution and any commerce from [1:32:38] coming around the world going back to global uh going back into iran uh there's been zero trade going [1:32:44] into or out of iran in the last month and just finally what what is iran's current ability since it [1:32:50] retains its revolutionary terrorist ambitions to support its terror proxy network in the region versus [1:32:57] where uh it was just 11 months ago uh as we sit here today uh they are unable to resource and supply [1:33:04] uh hezbollah hamas uh or the houthis uh chapter to be seen of what that looks like in iraq new uh [1:33:11] prime minister wants to distance himself uh from iran but we'll see that's what it's committed to we'll [1:33:16] see what that looks like so they they can't support their terrorist proxies they're years and [1:33:21] years away from reconstituting if at all their missile and drone forces and their nuclear program [1:33:26] and they're a generation away from rebuilding their navy seems to me like a little bit better [1:33:32] position than we were relative to iran under barack obama and joe biden's disastrous nuclear deal [1:33:38] thank you thank you senator cotton center slotkin um thank you uh gentlemen for being here and thank [1:33:45] you for what you're doing um i'm going to direct my questions to uh general um uh cooper i'm sorry [1:33:52] admiral cooper excuse me and i'm going to give a good pass to my fellow michigander um from ipsy michigan [1:33:58] um we're we're happy to see you in service thank you for what you're doing and you're always welcome [1:34:02] back home when you retire um i think the you know i feel um like whatever whatever feelings i have [1:34:12] about the imminence of the threat from iran um or not um we want our military to come through this war [1:34:22] as successfully and safely as possible i am interested um in making sure we get out of this [1:34:29] um quickly and safely um and i have actually no doubt that with all the firepower we've used in [1:34:39] this war that we've degraded their nuclear capability their ballistic missile capability their terrorism [1:34:44] capability and as someone who served um three tours in iraq i saw that terrorism up close and personal [1:34:50] um but it is hard to say sitting here um with the strait of hormuz closed and every american feeling [1:35:00] um a deep deep spike in the price of gas and that we're only in the beginning of that that we can't [1:35:07] say we we are overall better off until that strait is opened and while um i believe we could militarily [1:35:17] um open the straits it seems to me that the iranians have strategic geography they have the ability [1:35:25] even though though it's degraded to project power onto things like the oil infrastructure in places [1:35:32] like saudi arabia or kuwait or anywhere they want further hurting the world economy you know the united [1:35:38] states um do you believe is that correct that um while militarily we may be able to physically open [1:35:46] the straits that they still retain the ability to affect infrastructure in the region um and therefore [1:35:55] kind of have a veto power over the world economy right now sir i would from a military perspective i [1:36:02] would i would characterize iran as having a remnant uh capability uh across multiple domains uh in terms of [1:36:10] veto power i'd really uh would defer to policy makers for that characterization but sorry can they [1:36:17] strike oil infrastructure across the persian gulf they have a very moderate uh if not small capability [1:36:26] to continue strikes and we of course have uh uh accordingly uh prepared for such a contingency [1:36:32] okay but but if we could if we have the power to militarily open the straits and their threat is quote [1:36:39] moderate or small why wouldn't we just do it so i really would defer to policy makers on in this [1:36:45] particular matter uh and the strait clearly is in the middle of the negotiation being undertaken now [1:36:51] yeah i mean it just seems to me that they still certainly have it may be diminished power but if the [1:36:57] united states military is not physically opening the straits right now it's because the iranians do have [1:37:03] the real capability to affect um uh strikes in or drone strikes into the gulf countries affecting their [1:37:11] oil infrastructure and sending the price of oil worldwide even higher so you know it may be diminished [1:37:17] but it's real capability unless i'm missing something um you know can you describe for me i'm very [1:37:24] sensitive about the the um way that place countries like russia or china may be enabling the iranians to [1:37:33] target and kill american forces or to provide um intelligence on their locations in real or near [1:37:40] real time um uh is it fair to say that the that the chinese are providing intelligence to the iranians [1:37:49] to help them target u.s forces so i think best to talk about anything regarding intelligence in a [1:37:55] classified manner what i can say is uh the iranian uh military is largely made up of russian and chinese [1:38:02] equipment okay i i i think you know um it it feels like either chinese government and or chinese [1:38:12] companies are helping and aiding and abetting um the iranians in in providing that information i [1:38:19] understand we don't want to go into the details but some of this is like out in open press i would [1:38:24] just say i personally feel like that crosses a rubicon um anytime we have another country providing that [1:38:31] kind of intelligence to an adversary i think that should play very heavily in our calculus in our [1:38:37] conversations i know the president is with the chinese government right now um but i hope that no [1:38:42] matter what party we're from that's just a rubicon we all believe once you cross it we're in a very [1:38:48] different conversation and i hope that's playing out in beijing i yield back chairman thank you senator [1:38:54] banks thank you mr chairman admiral cooper any any update at all on activities in afghanistan increased [1:39:02] activity from isis or any other groups that concern you anything at all that you can tell us [1:39:08] uh senator just uh thank you for the question uh afghanistan remains uh on the forefront of of what [1:39:14] we're watching in terms of terrorist activity i think best to address that in a classified forum [1:39:18] uh for right now our partnerships in the region are suppressing that threat can you give any update at [1:39:22] all uh for the record uh no no remains an area of concern for centcom you're you're you're tracking [1:39:31] paying attention to it we're not we're not completely ignoring afghanistan remains area of concern we're [1:39:36] paying close attention through a variety of partnerships uh we're suppressing any threat thanks [1:39:41] um thank you for your leadership i mean i think this is uh an incredible moment you're doing an [1:39:47] incredible job when it comes to iran and degrading their military their defense industrial base you [1:39:54] cite in your testimony that the u.s has quote delivered a long-term rollback of iran's ability [1:39:58] to project power in the region and beyond end quote damaging or destroying over 85 percent of its [1:40:06] ballistic missile drone and naval defense industrial base and 82 percent of its air defense missile systems [1:40:12] that that's that's pretty damn good um that that's a strong um statement and i'm i'm proud of your [1:40:18] efforts the nds talks about the concept of simultaneity in which our adversaries could undertake [1:40:26] simultaneous aggression across multiple theaters does operation epic fury's degradation of the iranian [1:40:33] military and defense industrial base reduce the problem of simultaneity senator i think there's uh it [1:40:42] remains to be seen what happens uh uh going forward with iran uh but what i think we've seen is a [1:40:48] combination of ability for the united states to project power and influence uh and defeat an [1:40:53] adversary very quickly 38 days uh the effects uh on other theaters i think i would really refer to [1:41:00] u.s european commander in the pacific camp command commander but clearly the united states is agile and [1:41:06] we can move from theater to theater very quickly can you unpack this concept of simultaneity well [1:41:11] the united states have to us the united states has significant capacity we have forces uh deployed [1:41:16] around the world addressing a variety of issues we're focused today largely on iran but uh clearly [1:41:22] uh general anderson is actioning uh key and critical uh matters in africa we're doing it in europe [1:41:29] we're doing it in asia and we're doing it in south america and we're at the same time we're able to do [1:41:34] that at the same time that's how the united states military rolls you also write in your testimony that [1:41:38] iran's ability to reconstitute its military capability will quote depend in large part on [1:41:44] decisions we and our partners make what should we be doing to press our advantage i think there's a [1:41:52] policy component uh to this senator and potential potentially a legislative component uh then there [1:41:58] are a restricted number of countries there's a finite number of countries that uh historically uh had trade [1:42:04] with iran uh addressing those countries and what they are trading how they're doing and what that [1:42:10] looks like i think is something we should take a look at yeah because if they don't have the parts [1:42:14] they're not going to build the weapons well put i was very proud to see the lucas drones deployed and [1:42:20] used in sitcom uh the indiana national guard played a really important role in testing the lucas drone [1:42:26] at camp atterbury in my state what if anything can we extrapolate from the performance of our lucas drones [1:42:32] and other conflicts yes senator so the lucas drones were the united states first opportunity to use [1:42:38] our own one-way attack drones against an adversary i remember well the training that happened to camp [1:42:43] atterbury i was watching it like a hawk that training has produced uh additional capability that [1:42:49] we've now employed against an adversary very effectively what else can we learn from it well [1:42:53] there's a lot more to be learned from it i'd love to take it in a classified setting and [1:42:58] particularly given where we are right now vis-a-vis iran i think i would just like to keep that in the [1:43:01] classified setting for more than a month our war fighters in the middle east were hammered by [1:43:06] small drones how can we ensure that doesn't happen again if combat operations resume yes senator a little [1:43:12] bit of a myth buster on this uh iranian drones uh are uh significantly capable on the days of 35 000 [1:43:21] walmart light drones those those things are behind us iran is has a very capable drone force we have [1:43:26] very capably defeated it good uh well put thank you very much uh that's all i have i yield back mr [1:43:32] chair thank you senator kelly and then senator gillibrand thank you mr chairman admiral cooper [1:43:39] general anderson thank you both for being here today admiral cooper i want to start with you i've got [1:43:44] questions for both of you but um i want to talk a little bit about the civilian harm mitigation team [1:43:51] uh at cencom my understanding is that you've gone from 10 down to one as part of a department-wide [1:44:00] reduction in shimmer that their role is to try to minimize harm to civilians when we're conducting [1:44:10] combat combat operations is that correct you've gone from 10 to one yes sir that's the bill there's [1:44:17] a larger component to this over over a course of years we've gone from a compliance to uh civilian [1:44:23] casualties and risk mitigation being just part of the culture there are dozens if not hundreds of [1:44:28] people who are involved in this process what did those nine individuals do who were removed from their [1:44:36] from their jobs they're now uh integrated in other capacities they retain other capacities in the joint [1:44:41] what we would call joint but what were they doing when they were part of the civilian harm mitigation team [1:44:47] they're paying playing a key role in uh helping us move from compliance to culture uh on on cifcas [1:44:55] focusing on it every day which they continue to do so by your estimates how many civilians have been [1:45:01] killed or injured over the course of this war the investigation on on the one incident that we've had [1:45:08] after more than 13 000 strikes is still underway uh will certainly be transparent release that when we can [1:45:14] this is a matter that i'm i'm passionate about i'd like to use the occasion to invite you other members [1:45:20] of the committee and your staffs to tampa to take a look at what our targeting process looks like if you [1:45:25] were to find out that there was an error in the targeting process would you reinstate some of those [1:45:30] people that were removed from that team sir it's a hypothetical i think we we i'm i'm always looking [1:45:36] to organize to purpose uh and we'll just see what the investigation are you taking any additional steps now [1:45:41] because of the civilian civilian casualties to date we have taken additional steps our additional steps [1:45:47] have been very proactive throughout epic fury our staff specifically warned the iranian people more [1:45:52] than 100 times about the threat of them being being used as human shields i personally warned the iranian [1:45:57] people on march 8th 11th and the 23rd that they had the potential to be human shields and that that [1:46:03] communication was very effective so again we're moving not just targeting but a proactive measures to [1:46:08] minimize all right well thank you for doing that uh general anderson so china and russia continue to [1:46:14] expand their influence across africa we discussed this with misinformation uh disinformation [1:46:22] across many african countries you requested 94 million dollars for information operation activities [1:46:29] you were promised and this is in fiscal year 26 you were promised 25 million from the department [1:46:35] you ultimately received only 19 million can you talk about the difference between having 19 million to [1:46:41] do that job and 94 million like what are you able to do if you were fully funded general anderson i i i [1:46:49] get it i mean we see this stuff all the time the amount of misinformation that comes from the chinese [1:46:53] and the russians it is a huge problem but if you could just explain to us a little bit about what you [1:46:59] could do if you had the full request senator i think the the key point there is right now we are [1:47:06] in a reactionary mode to propaganda and to other information operations to what we can do at the [1:47:12] moment what the fuller funding would do especially if it's consistent over time would allow us to build an [1:47:17] information campaign and address these issues across the continent we're one of the few organizations [1:47:23] that looks across the entirety of the continent and can understand how these propaganda and [1:47:28] misinformation play across borders we work very closely with the state department u.s embassies on [1:47:33] this to make sure our messaging is key but this would allow us to do is help coordinate that messaging [1:47:38] across regions and across the continent to highlight the the issues that come with this misinformation [1:47:43] especially as much of it is destabilizing the democracies across the region do you ever feel like [1:47:49] we should be countering some of their disinformation with disinformation of our own sir i think the most [1:47:55] powerful tool we have is the truth what america brings is very unique we're still a beacon of hope [1:48:00] and light in the world and i think we should be willing to talk about who we are this is america's 250th [1:48:05] anniversary there's a long history on the continent that is i mean this good and bad but there's a lot [1:48:10] of good that we can talk about of what america brings the fact that john c robinson founded the tuskegee [1:48:17] airmen two years later founded the ethiopian air force and then went on to found ethiopian airlines which is [1:48:22] now the pride not only of ethiopia but africa it's not a story that's well known but that is a tie that [1:48:27] we have had between the aviation communities for years there are multiple stories like that across [1:48:31] the continent that we need to propagate and talk about so i would say we should focus on the goodness [1:48:36] and the positivity of engaging with america and worry less about the disinformation that our partners put [1:48:41] out but we have to engage in this environment we have to be active in the information space so you got [1:48:46] about 25 of the requests so if you got the full amount you could put more out there positive stuff [1:48:53] that the united states is doing and i know these are you know challenging times with resources even [1:48:58] beyond what dod has usa id and others but do you think the um that that would be sufficient to counter [1:49:10] chinese and russian misinformation senator i think uh information operations is one of the [1:49:17] lower cost investments that we can make that have outsized return and help amplify the limited [1:49:23] resources we have in the military side and highlight the benefits that those provide and [1:49:28] being able to talk about that broadly i do think has outside proportion so small investments can have [1:49:33] a large impact and this is an area of information where i think we can make a lot of gains even despite [1:49:39] our smaller physical presence that can highlight the uh totality of what the united states brings i 100 [1:49:45] agree with you general and we should really look into getting you the resources you need to do this job [1:49:50] thank you general anderson i 100 agree with you um senator gillibrand admiral cooper uh we had secretary [1:50:01] hagseth here a week or so ago and we did not get satisfactory satisfactory answers about iran so what is [1:50:11] your mission in iran right now senator with epic fury now uh formally ended uh for the president's [1:50:19] notification uh we shifted uh our mission to a blockade mission in the following day and we're [1:50:24] implementing that mission uh in accordance with the international armed conflict that's our main [1:50:29] mission today as well as to be ready for a broad range of contingencies and do you feel that uh [1:50:35] president trump's declaration that we have obliterated uh all of iran's capabilities uh and their nuclear [1:50:43] program is that accurate senator i speak from a military perspective we have significantly degraded [1:50:50] their drone missile uh and naval capabilities we've fractured their command and control uh we've [1:50:56] eliminated the large preponderance of their space program uh they uh by every measure uh are degraded [1:51:03] significantly across all measures of national power so what's your exit strategy to end the conflict with [1:51:08] iran uh that's that's a policy decision and don't you have to offer the president various exit strategies [1:51:15] so he knows how to get from a to b uh senator uh consistent with my statutory obligations i've provided [1:51:21] a broad range of options along with the risks and mitigations through the secretary so given your [1:51:27] current mission how many more days weeks months years are we going to be at war with iran well as as [1:51:34] we sit here today we are in a ceasefire uh and the way ahead will be determined by our policy makers [1:51:40] well currently we are still spending a billion dollars a day on this war with iran and i can tell [1:51:44] you from my new york constituents they're furious about it because a billion dollars a day could be [1:51:50] lowering their housing costs lowering their food costs lowering their health care costs lowering the [1:51:55] cost of everyday expenses that continue to go up because of the war in iran with the price of gas as [1:52:00] high as it is the price of diesel as high as it is it means everything that they have to buy for [1:52:05] their families is more expensive so we expect from our middle military leaders a plan about why and how [1:52:13] long we are going to be spending a billion dollars a day and i have not seen that plan or the why from [1:52:19] president trump or secretary hegseth so i'm hoping as the military person in charge of operations that [1:52:25] you have a plan to end this war and to stop spending a billion dollars a day senator we have a [1:52:33] broad range of plans and contingencies uh consistent with uh my obligation uh to provide that advice both [1:52:40] the secretary and the president we've done so uh decisions will may be made by our civilian leadership [1:52:45] and my job will be to execute them the second concern i have admiral cooper is uh how we've prosecuted [1:52:51] this war to date we have data and information publicly available in publications like the new york times [1:52:58] that 22 schools have been hit hospitals dozens of hospitals have been hit we have regulations we have [1:53:06] the law of war we have human rights obligations we have our own targeting requirements to avoid civilian [1:53:14] harm and death have you been implementing all the laws that are required under current law [1:53:21] to minimize civilian death senator we have executed every operation consistent with the law of armed [1:53:27] conflict the subject of civilian casualties is a particular passion of mine we pay attention to it [1:53:32] we follow all the procedures and have gone above and beyond to in my case personally warn the iranian [1:53:38] people of several instances uh during conflict where they were being if they've been warned how did we [1:53:44] then bomb 22 schools there's no indication that we have that that has been corroborated how many schools [1:53:51] have we bombed there is one active civilian casualty investigation from the 13 629 munitions so how do [1:53:58] you explain the publicly available information that 22 schools have been hit and multiple hospitals there's [1:54:04] no way that we can corroborate that no indication of that whatsoever senator there's no way you can [1:54:09] corroborate or no indication of it which one no indication well the indication is what's publicly [1:54:15] available there is indication have you investigated those claims we have not why have you not if this is a [1:54:22] passion of yours if you believe that the civilian casualties are not consistent with the law of [1:54:27] war and not consistent with human rights obligations that our military regularly follows with great pride [1:54:33] and great diligence why have you not investigated those allegations when they're publicly being made [1:54:38] on the cover of the new york times i'll be happy to take a look at the in each instance i would like [1:54:43] a report to do that i would like a report from you from your team about whether there have been [1:54:53] attacks that have resulted in the destruction of schools and hospitals and if so why and how then [1:55:00] last have you managed the 90 cut to the personnel who are supposed to avoid civilian targets happy to [1:55:07] provide uh any any report and i would invite you and every staff member here to come to tampa to look at [1:55:12] the process to see exactly how how it works thank you thank you admiral senator duckworth thank you mr [1:55:23] chairman and thank you gentlemen for being here admiral cooper the senate received a letter from [1:55:27] president trump on friday may 1st stating that hostilities with iran have ended and you just stated [1:55:34] here that we are no longer uh operating under operation uh urgent fury um would you say that we are still [1:55:42] engaging hostilities with iran or have they ended consistent with the president's letter uh those epic fury is [1:55:50] uh complete we are operating under international armed conflict uh rules in the implementation of [1:55:55] the blockade so so are we engaged in hostilities with iran yes or no we are not we're in a ceasefire [1:56:00] the strait of hormuz remains blocked right you're you're you're engaged in a blockade are you not [1:56:06] the blockade is against iranian ports commerce going in and coming out uh it is the last thing we would [1:56:11] want to do is blockade the strait of hormuz and as we've seen in the last week there have been [1:56:16] instances of ships coming in and out including our own but under international law a blockade is an [1:56:21] act of war so are we if you're blockading actively block blockading iran then you are engaged in an act [1:56:29] we are currently in an act of war with iran under international law that a blockade is one of the [1:56:33] definitions of an act of war under international law consistent with the uh the direction we've been [1:56:38] given those characterizations are best done through uh the department's legal counsel it's not it's not [1:56:43] characterization it's international law it's listed a blockade is an act of war um so let's we've now [1:56:53] engaged in the united states and the united states and iranian forces are trading fire as they continue [1:56:58] to launch missiles drones from our boat stacks president trump himself says the ceasefire is on [1:57:02] life support and he repeatedly threatens to renew u.s military strikes and to be clear no one is disputing [1:57:08] the valor and professionalism of our military but the civilian leaders are abdicating uh their [1:57:14] responsibility to craft a clear strategy and service members and american people are the ones who will [1:57:18] suffer under this leadership vacuum admiral cooper before operation epic fury began what desired end [1:57:25] state for the operation were you given by your civilian leadership senator i was given crystal clear [1:57:31] guidance our military mission was to degrade iran's ability to project power on its neighbors and u.s [1:57:36] interests it included three specific objectives degrade iranian ballistic missiles and their defense and [1:57:42] uh defense industrial base degrade their drones and the defense industrial base degrade their navy [1:57:48] and the defense uh industrial base all of those were achieved uh as as i've discussed and because they [1:57:55] were achieved that's why the operation ended or did the operation end because the president said let's end [1:58:00] operation operations commencing and ending are made by our civilian leadership uh and not a military [1:58:08] decision okay well that civilian leadership president trump has provided many possible end states in only two [1:58:13] months including in just two months he said unconditional surrender and regime change in iran which have [1:58:18] not happened um he's talked about okay operations will end when there's destruction of iranian nuclear sites allegedly [1:58:25] already accomplished last summer under operation midnight hammer um he has also said that iran [1:58:31] will never have nuclear weapons which cannot be accomplished with only a bombing campaign [1:58:36] he said that his goal is to destroy the iranian military forces and infrastructure completely [1:58:41] which the intel intelligence community assesses has not happened and now uh he said that it's a [1:58:47] reopening of the strait of hormuz which is a reminder was open before the war began so if we don't know [1:58:52] what we're fighting for we certainly don't know how long we'll be fighting admiral cooper what have you [1:58:56] been given have you been given any timeline for how long our forces will be in the strait of hormuz or [1:59:02] near iran or blockading iran um whether by a timeline or a condition an end state for how long you'll be [1:59:09] blockading iran senator i think it's important from a military perspective that uh my advice uh [1:59:15] related to options uh be provided to both the secretary and the president we've done that the [1:59:19] decisions on timeline and execution are up to our civilian leadership okay um so you mentioned the [1:59:25] secretary of defense who only talks tactics and a president who changes his strategy on social [1:59:29] media multiple times a day this is who's giving you the orders secretary hexath has touted the destruction of [1:59:35] tens of thousands of targets across iran he said that iran's air defenses are flattened his words [1:59:41] and its industrial base overwhelmingly destroyed and claims that iran's navy is at the bottom of [1:59:45] the sea every metric that the secretary offers is one of destruction and destruction alone is not an [1:59:51] end state especially not with new public reporting that u.s intelligence officials believe iran has [1:59:55] operational access to most of its missile capacity and that iran is clearly still capable of controlling the [2:00:01] strait of hormuz americans are not safer our service members are at risk prices at home are higher and [2:00:07] iran has more control over the strait and global economy than it did before this this whole thing [2:00:11] started american people our service members deserve clear answers what does done with the war look [2:00:16] like and how do we get there we have no strategy as we saw in afghanistan if you don't have a sound [2:00:20] strategy you keep doing tactics forever this is not your fault but this is where we are and admiral cooper [2:00:26] have you been asked for your advice and under what conditions would you advise deploying ground [2:00:31] troops for any purpose in iran senator i think it would uh it would be inappropriate to talk about [2:00:36] any contingency planning in this particular forum it's my obligation as a combatant commander to [2:00:41] provide a broad range of options through the secretary into the can you answer that question for me in [2:00:46] the skiff at a later time i'd be more than happy to talk about anything classified all right thank you [2:00:51] thank you mr chairman senator kelly no further questions mr chairman sorry i didn't didn't mark off [2:01:04] senator peters thank you thank you mr chairman gentlemen thank you uh both for being here and [2:01:11] uh i speak uh for myself and i think everybody on this panel we appreciate the incredible professionalism [2:01:16] of men and women in uniform and uh and the uh job that they do every day with professionalism and [2:01:22] heroism and uh thank you for doing that but we do have a number of questions about how we win this war [2:01:29] and uh ended uh going forward uh and and those are usually political questions related to political [2:01:35] leadership the men and women in uniform execute those orders and they order and they have demonstrated [2:01:41] that they're certainly the best in the world but emerald cooper you mentioned that the current mission [2:01:46] right now is basically the block uh the u.s blockade of uh iranian ships uh or ships that are [2:01:52] transiting the straits of her who's to iranian ports uh that's in response to iran basically [2:01:59] effectively shutting down the strait of hormuz before that as you know experts across the [2:02:05] political spectrum and and multiple administrations political administrations have all agreed [2:02:11] uh that a war uh against iran iran's first moves would be to mine the straits of hormuz to prevent [2:02:17] tanker traffic but despite these known risks and repeated claims that the dod has planned i'm sure [2:02:25] you have plans i attended the war college i've served in the navy there are no shortage of plans [2:02:29] that we have that you have plans uh to deal with this the closing of the strait we had four mine [2:02:36] sweepers that were stationed in the middle east were just retired last year and our remaining mine [2:02:41] sweepers were either stationed in japan or not pre-positioned in the region this is despite public [2:02:47] reporting that we currently already have limited uh unmanned mine clearance capacity and [2:02:55] reports from the new york times and reuters has also indicated that iran still has hundreds uh if [2:03:01] not thousands of small boats that can lay mines or perform hit and run attacks on top of their [2:03:07] existing land missiles uh and drones which i'm sure they're building at a furious pace right now to [2:03:13] restock what they have uh and this is on top of existing land land missiles and drones the american [2:03:20] people as uh we all know are already paying higher prices uh in the united states inflation is up as [2:03:27] a result of chaotic tariffs that uh president trump has put into place and now thanks to this war and [2:03:33] the straits closure they're paying uh high gas prices that continue to to rise as well putting a strain on [2:03:38] family budgets so my question for you is if there was advanced planning and i'm sure there was advanced [2:03:43] planning about the straits closure why were the mine sweepers not pre-positioned in the region when it had [2:03:50] been public reported that we publicly reported that we already have limited unmanned mine clearance [2:03:55] capacities when you have a plan usually before you execute the plan you make sure that all your [2:04:00] assets are in place to actually execute that plan so it's curious that those assets were not there why [2:04:07] senator i think best to talk specific tactics and operations in a classified environment what i can say [2:04:12] here is we did have sufficient and continue to have sufficient mine clearance capability in the theater [2:04:18] because it happened to not be in those four vessels that were decommissioned after decades of service [2:04:23] i think is interesting point the support and the ability to conduct counter mining comes in a lot [2:04:28] of different flavors best to discuss in a classified environment and i don't mean to get into that i [2:04:32] understand that totally you don't want to do it but it's clear that there is a concern about mines we [2:04:37] aren't seeing ships go through there commercial companies do not want to go through the straits they're not [2:04:41] going to put their ships at risk so they don't feel safe to me that speaks volumes as to whether or not it's [2:04:46] safe that there is a real concern there and we know that the iranians have significant capabilities [2:04:52] to deal with that you know i asked a previous question uh related to strategy and and really [2:04:58] talked about von klauswitz uh on war which is as you know the seminal text uh on on strategy that is [2:05:04] taught in all the war colleges uh and you know it better than i will ever know it uh the uh uh concept of [2:05:11] that is that in order to win a war you've got to know the center of gravity of your enemy and you [2:05:16] have to be focused on able to neutralize that uh what is the center of gravity in iran what's what [2:05:22] would you how are you planning and that's a military decision as to what is the center of gravity that's [2:05:27] the kind of advice you would give a president what is the center of gravity so i really would defer to [2:05:32] our policy makers to determine what they view from a policy perspective as a center of gravity from a [2:05:37] military perspective we're focused on achieving military objectives which is exactly what our men and [2:05:42] women have done and they've done it extremely well well you do as you know and every every war plan [2:05:48] has a center of gravity that you identify and then you work around that so so there is the war plan [2:05:53] that we have for iran would have the center of gravity well why can't you share what that is that's [2:05:59] in the past it's been before we knew the center of gravity in the persian gulf war uh for iraq uh colin [2:06:06] powell said it was the republican guard troops the iraq's elite unit there uh obama administration in [2:06:12] afghanistan admiral mike mullen defined the center of gravity uh as building afghan government support [2:06:18] these they made this public they weren't hiding the center of gravity and our enemy knows what our [2:06:23] center of gravity is and we know what theirs is there's no reason to keep that secret because the [2:06:28] american people have a right to know what what what is it that we're trying to accomplish and that's [2:06:32] outlined very clearly in that term a part of every military plan that is put forward yes sir i i agree [2:06:39] every war plan has a center of gravity and those war plans are classified i'd be more than happy to [2:06:44] talk about in a classified environment fair enough um senator rosen thank you chairman wicker and thank [2:06:53] you admiral cooper general general anderson for your service and uh your willingness to continue to [2:06:58] serve our nation um admiral cooper i want to talk about the international stabilization force um it's [2:07:05] been publicly reported that centcom is going to play a role in the in the proposed international [2:07:10] stabilization force in gaza we'll just call it isf going forward through many questions remain though [2:07:16] many questions remain on what the isf is when it will be deployed and how it will operate so can you [2:07:23] clarify the roles of the u.s and centcom in the isf specifically is the vision for centcom to retain [2:07:30] command and control or is there a timeline of mechanism mechanism for transitioning oversight to a [2:07:35] multinational or civilian led and uh structure senator uh first great to see you again and thank you for [2:07:42] the question uh our role uh can be simply defined as one of support right now the international [2:07:49] stabilization force commander who's been designated is also dual hatted as the commander of special [2:07:54] operations command central he has about 45 uh members of the joint force presently working for him [2:08:01] we're really at the infancy of forming that international stabilization force thus far there have been four [2:08:06] countries who've uh committed to provide forces and so i think as we look to the future i'd be happy to [2:08:11] come back on what that looks like later on uh we're heading in the right direction but we're just at the [2:08:16] infancy of the process thank you and speaking of uh hitting in a direction we need to talk about munitions [2:08:22] uh sustainment because admiral cooper according to publicly available resources the u.s has fired at least [2:08:28] 45 percent of its patriot missile interceptors and more than half of its thad interceptors [2:08:33] so far in operation epic fury and it's had to move air defense from other theaters so can you talk to [2:08:40] me about how this constrains our air and missile defense and those of our regional partners and [2:08:45] allies like the israel uae and others who are also um under attack senator i have all the munitions [2:08:52] necessary uh uh to both defend our forces as well as conduct a broad range of contingencies our partners [2:08:59] also uh have uh the sufficient munitions uh necessary for defensive operations do you have estimates [2:09:04] about how long it would take us to replenish or rebuild or stockpile i would i would really defer [2:09:09] to the folks who do this on an everyday basis both in the department and the services thank you i'm [2:09:14] going to continue on you and then we'll move over to general anderson in a minute because i want to [2:09:18] just take a moment to talk about lebanon because i do appreciate that you've applauded the lebanese armed [2:09:24] forces for their efforts to disarm hezbollah while the current effort uh in conflict has demonstrated [2:09:30] the extent to which hezbollah is rearmed a strong lebanese armed forces remains the best pathway for [2:09:35] lebanon through which hezbollah can be disarmed once and for all and we know that needs to happen [2:09:41] so what can the u.s do to support the lebanese armed forces to ensure that they have the necessary [2:09:46] capacity to disarm hezbollah while also holding them accountable senator taking on the disarmment of [2:09:54] hezbollah is a tall order they've been funded by iran for decades with billions of dollars and [2:09:59] hezbollah is is inculcated into every fabric of the lebanese society i think right now our continued [2:10:05] commitment with modest dollars to the lebanese armed forces is helpful they have in particular [2:10:12] several units who can do more we have to be i believe our commitment could be to provide the [2:10:18] funding necessary so that they can do more thank you i'm going to move over to uh africom now general [2:10:25] anderson because isis and al-qaeda affiliates uh well we know they've spanned the african continent [2:10:32] and so understanding of course this is an open setting can you talk about the extent to which [2:10:36] these franchises that they work cross borders within local settings to coordinate with one another [2:10:43] and the threat that this poses to our priorities in the regions and do you think there's a need for a [2:10:47] comprehensive ct strategy on the continent and if so um could you outline again considering it's a [2:10:54] open setting uh broadly what that strategy might include please senator i appreciate the uh highlighting [2:11:02] of the the transnational uh threat that both al-qaeda and isis pose i can say in this setting that uh isis [2:11:10] has several affiliates across the continent that are coordinating more and more whether that's in the [2:11:15] goless mountains of somalia or the lake shad basin of nigeria or in the sahel as well as mozambique [2:11:21] and others so the this terrorist network has to be addressed holistically they have to look at the [2:11:27] entirety of the network it's not any single node anymore and so as we look at this i work coordinate [2:11:31] very closely with admiral cooper because isis still has a strong presence in centcoms aor as well as al-qaeda [2:11:39] as we look at this the strategy to go after this is to work with our partners those willing and capable [2:11:44] partners enable them first and foremost to take on this threat when they are unable to do that then [2:11:50] bringing in only the unique capabilities that the u.s can bring in order to address those threats we've [2:11:55] seen that in the goless mountains where we've been able to bring intelligence limit isr some limited [2:12:00] strike capabilities that has been able to disrupt uh their leadership network uh this needs to be applied [2:12:06] across all of these areas so investments in additional isr investments in expeditionary [2:12:12] capabilities such as in a float forward staging base like the herschel woody williams that allow us to [2:12:17] move to the point of need at the time of need and then the force protection requirements that are [2:12:21] necessary to protect that force in the expeditionary area and i would add not just the force protection [2:12:26] as in the counter uas and the integrated air missile defense which are critical but also investments [2:12:31] in emerging technologies that allow austere medicine forward medicine remote medicine [2:12:35] uh automated cazovac these types of things allow us to become more expeditionary in order to get after [2:12:42] these critical threats and only the critical threats that pose uh threat to us and then enable partners [2:12:47] as able to address these common threats so it is a multi-faceted strategy i could even go into more [2:12:53] i won't in this detail but really maintaining the relationships and the engagements are equally important [2:12:58] and having that pragmatic approach opening dialogue with the aes states and the sahel again addressing [2:13:03] this with uh places like algeria and morocco and libya even who share these concerns building those [2:13:09] relationships are absolutely vital because you cannot surge trust if the chairman would indulge [2:13:14] me can i have a follow-up question on the sahel since he brought it up uh yes why don't you do that [2:13:19] thank you um we know since you brought up the sahel but last month the jnim and local uh militias in [2:13:25] molly executed coordinated nationwide offensive attacks attacking molly's capital seizing the key towns [2:13:31] killing the malayan defense minister though these attacks were greater in scale intensity than any [2:13:37] other since 2012 and to clearly demonstrate the attacker's ability to strike against an expansive [2:13:44] geographical area so you're talking a little bit about this uh sahel but the permissive environment [2:13:49] in the sahel that's making these attacks possible and uh what what more can you do would you like to [2:13:55] add if you want to speak a little bit more about the stability there i would uh there are a few things i [2:14:00] would like to add in this setting i can talk to you more in a classified setting that would be [2:14:03] uh highly appropriate to this but to your point there is no effective uh external counterterrorism [2:14:09] effect or effort in the sahel right now the russians have claimed to do that but we saw that they had to [2:14:14] withdraw from kadal uh were unable to defend against that threat there they are providing some [2:14:18] limited support but we do not see the same western presence because of that then how do we enable [2:14:24] the partners uh the other nations that are there how do we look at expeditionary capabilities again that [2:14:29] we can result in this one of the key areas that we would need some assistance with is the authorities [2:14:34] and ability to bring in an experiment with emerging technologies whether that's in the surveillance and [2:14:39] isr type of technologies or in other over the horizon type capabilities like i mentioned with the uh [2:14:45] medicine and others in order to reach uh when there is a threat that threatens the homeland to be able to [2:14:51] reach it and and take care of it but more importantly continue to enable the partners to address the threats in their [2:14:56] uh local areas and a lot of that's through intelligent sharing i i would be happy in a classified [2:15:01] environment to talk in more depth thank you i appreciate that thank you uh admiral general thank you chairman wicker [2:15:07] uh thank you very much senator rosen and i'm glad you brought up um lebanon and and hezbollah [2:15:15] um so i'm going to take another round um admiral cooper and stop me when i'm wrong um on march [2:15:26] second of this year hezbollah attacked israel in response to operation epic fury is that correct uh [2:15:36] that's correct sir um according to israel's foreign minister hezbollah has fired 10 000 missiles rockets [2:15:47] and drones at israel during the past two months is that correct i believe that's correct sir and in [2:15:53] response to these attacks israel initiated a ground offensive in southern lebanon aiming to create an [2:16:00] uninhabited buffer zone along its northern border and border and to push hezbollah north to the latini [2:16:10] river is that correct that's correct senator um to enable this operation the israeli military ordered [2:16:22] the evacuation of southern lebanon um displacing over one million people nearly 20 percent of lebanon's [2:16:30] population that is also correct i don't know that that number specifically is correct but the but [2:16:35] the concept of of uh of the evacuation is correct while governments of israel and lebanon declared a [2:16:47] ceasefire in april of this year hezbollah secretary general naim qasim announced that his organization [2:16:54] would not recognize the ceasefire and would never agree to disarm is that correct uh his statement that [2:17:02] statement is correct yeah he made that statement uh hezbollah then continued to fire projectiles into [2:17:07] israel and israel has continued to strike hezbollah positions in southern lebanon that's also correct [2:17:12] isn't it that's correct sir um and i think central rosen would wholeheartedly agree with me that peace [2:17:26] between israel and i i can't ask questions to my my friend and colleague but i think we would both agree [2:17:34] that peace between israel and lebanon would be a wonderful development and a wonderful development [2:17:41] for america and for israel but peace between israel and lebanon depends on the lebanese government having [2:17:52] both the capability and the will to disarm hezbollah has the united states provided the lebanese armed [2:18:01] forces with approximately three billion dollars since 2006. so i'd have to take that specific volume [2:18:08] that that's a lot of money number uh for the record and follow up but we have been providing aid for [2:18:14] two decades is it fair to say that the primary goal of u.s support for the laf the lebanese armed [2:18:21] forces was to counter hezbollah yes sir and from 2006 until 2023 is it accurate to say that hezbollah's [2:18:32] rocket and missile arsenal grew from 2006 to 2023 from approximately 9 000 rockets and missiles to 150 [2:18:45] 000. as a result of decades and billions of dollars in iranian support that's correct um israel's foreign [2:18:55] foreign minister alleges that hezbollah fired more than 10 000 projectiles at israel since the beginning of [2:19:06] march of this year in light of um the lebanese armed forces in action was israel um was israel's [2:19:16] offensive into southern lebanon military militarily necessary if hezbollah's attacks were going to be [2:19:25] countered was there another way to do that so i would really defer to israel on intent and effectiveness [2:19:32] but just as a general statement militarily necessary though there are uh it is an option [2:19:38] among options uh of which there are a few to deal with the hezbollah problem i just i appreciate uh [2:19:46] senator rosen bringing this up um and and uh it just would go back to the central point it would it would [2:19:54] be a tremendous achievement uh for israel lebanon um the united states and the middle east if uh if hezbollah [2:20:07] could be eliminated and allow the lebanese people and the lebanese government um to resume the happy [2:20:17] relations that that we once had and and um strive for um between the united states 11. would um senator [2:20:30] rosen have any further questions uh that then this concludes today's hearing i want to thank our [2:20:38] witnesses for uh their testimony and and i would acknowledge that many um many of the arrows um aimed at [2:20:48] these two witnesses um were were better aimed at people in the civilian leadership who according to [2:21:00] our great constitution and our principles dating back to george washington uh um are in control of policy [2:21:10] and i would commend these two military um veterans for adhering to that constitutional principle and with [2:21:20] that we are i would inform members that questions of the record be due to the committee within two business [2:21:27] days and we are adjourned