US Central Command leaders face Senate panel on Iran, military posture

[0:00] islamic republic of iran a shadow of its former self the effort has not been without significant [0:06] losses though and certainly we continue to honor the memory of the 14 service members [0:11] who lost their lives in this campaign as well as the approximately 300 service members who've been [0:18] injured since 1979 iran's clerical regime has chosen to make the united states its number one [0:26] enemy the motto of iran's ayatollahs has never been god bless iran or long live iran they have chanted [0:36] death to america death to israel the regime states its murderous goals plainly the entire foreign [0:44] policy of iran revolves around killing others rather than building for its people as part of [0:53] iran's war of choice against the united states the regime has directed its terrorist proxies to kill [1:00] hundreds of american service members take dozens of americans hostage and assassinate senior american [1:07] officials including attempts on the life of president trump it has also developed a nuclear [1:13] and ballistic missile program that aimed to hold multiple continents and dozens of u.s partners at [1:20] risk every american president since carter has had to deal with the consequences of iran's war [1:27] on the united states yet rather than dealing with the problem successive democrat and republican [1:34] administrations sought so-called de-escalation with iran this often afforded iran the time and [1:41] resources to develop its nuclear program the ballistic missile program and global terrorist infrastructure [1:49] i commend president trump for recognizing that the iranian regime cannot be appeased and for [1:58] directing action to defeat this threat doing so will not be easy the iranian threat the iranian regime [2:05] is deeply ideological and insists that it is winning even when it is losing by every conceivable metric [2:12] i look forward to admiral cooper sharing his assessment of how close we are to destroying iran's military [2:20] capabilities i also like to hear what he needs from congress to ensure our men and women in the uniform [2:28] have what they need to finish the job failing to complete the iran mission would send our [2:34] adversaries a dangerous signal about our nation's wherewithal and resolve would send that erroneous [2:44] message to iran and to other adversaries around the globe as we've seen the nature and scope of the [2:50] threats we face transcend geographic boundaries this is particularly true as we look to africa and that's [2:59] where general anderson comes in the continent is not a distant concern for american national security [3:06] rather it is an arena of growing strategic consequence defined by converging threats from adversarial [3:13] nation states like china and russia radical islamist terrorism and instability driven by weak governance [3:23] china and russia recognize the strategic importance of africa china is leveraging economic coercion [3:30] debt diplomacy and military basing to support president xi's global ambition through its mercenaries [3:39] and other proxies russia's destabilizing fragile states and extracting resources in order to bankroll [3:45] its malign activities in ukraine and elsewhere around the world i look to general anderson to provide his [3:53] assessment of chinese and russian objectives in africa and to update the committee on how africa command [4:00] is addressing the threat posed by these nefarious actors the terrorist threats across africa remain [4:07] persistent adaptive and dangerous increasingly africa is becoming the epicenter of global terrorism al-qaeda [4:16] and isis senior leadership now reside in africa and their terrorist affiliates are expanding in size [4:23] capability and geographic reach from the sahel to the horn of africa their murderous ambitions are not [4:31] confined to that continent these groups remain intent on killing americans around the world yet [4:37] significant shortfalls in key military capabilities including intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance [4:45] complicate our ability to track these groups and the threat they pose so we look to general [4:52] anderson to let the committee know how these resource shortfalls are impacting his ability to combat [4:59] the terrorist threat and where this committee can be helpful i have noted in my remarks africa is of [5:05] increasing strategic importance to american national security interest this is precisely why dedicated [5:12] combatant command for africa is indispensable africa command was established in 2007 because the united [5:21] states recognized that these challenges require sustained and dedicated focus this committee remains committed to [5:28] ensuring africa command has the authority's resources and strategic support necessary to protect american [5:37] interest across the continent with that i turn to my partner and colleague ranking member reid well thank you [5:45] very much mr chairman and admiral cooper general anderson thank you for your dedication and service with great [5:53] distinction over many years thank you and also uh i think i expressed the concerns of all of us or the hopefuls that you convey our [6:02] congratulations and appreciation to the men and women that you lead in your areas uh i want to [6:10] also begin by expressing my deepest condolences the families of the service members who we recently lost in the [6:17] middle east and africa and we owe them our greatest respect and gratitude amber cooper we are 75 days into [6:25] this war with iran and i am concerned the president does not have a credible strategy to win every member of [6:33] this committee shares the goal of preventing iran from having a nuclear weapon but there is no purely military [6:40] solution to this problem instead every president over the past 50 years has used diplomacy sanctions and [6:47] international cooperation to this point successfully prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon [6:54] president trump tore up the iran nuclear deal and instead of negotiating a new deal [7:00] unilaterally took our nation to war more than a dozen service members have lost their lives and [7:05] hundreds more have been wounded we have suffered a significant damages to our bases [7:11] dramatically expanded our munitions stockpiles and sustained billions of dollars of damaged equipment [7:18] the strait of hormuz is still closed despite attempts to escort commercial ships while secretaries [7:26] hexath and rubio have said operation epic fury is concluded it is unclear what objectives have been [7:33] accomplished iran's regime is intact its nuclear material remains in place the majority of its missiles and [7:42] launches have reportedly been recovered iran has demonstrated its ability to shut down the strait [7:48] and most importantly or certainly of equal weight american families are bearing real costs at the gas [7:55] and the grocery store for a war they did not want and congress has not authorized admiral cooper the military [8:03] forces under your command have performed with exceptional skill and bravery and that is attributable to your [8:10] leadership ship and your chain of command the firepower that we have brought to bear in iran has been formidable [8:18] but we have not yet i think articulated a clear strategy going forward and this is continuing to hamper our objectives [8:32] i don't i think everyone on this committee would love to see these peace negotiations succeed [8:39] and i'd be the first one to applaud significant results achieved through diplomacy [8:45] uh but one of the issues we're facing and we've talked about it in the closed session is at every term [8:54] we are not receiving the information that we are legally entitled to um we've not seen the legal [9:01] justification for this operation nor the execute orders and the administration's explanation for course and [9:09] the path forward have shifted constantly uh this week the president said that the ceasefire is on life [9:17] support and it leaves us a fundamental question where are we and where are we going and i hope you can [9:25] touch on that admiral cooper there's two other concerns in centcom i'd like to address first uh we withdrew [9:33] all of our troops from syria and this has created some uh adverse consequences in my view our modest [9:42] military footprint there produced significant returns including a very reliable partner in [9:48] the syrian democratic forces a sustained counter-isis mission which we conducted and a degree of leverage in [9:55] strategically important area of the world and we gave that up very quickly when we withdrew and if you [10:02] could provide some understanding of the current situation i'd appreciate it second the ceasefire in lebanon [10:09] is fragile and and israel's continued airstrikes and demolition operations of the south are eroding it [10:17] the lebanese armed forces are one of the few genuine stabilizing instruments we have left in the region [10:23] and we should be seriously investing in it and again admiral i'd like to know what resources you need to [10:29] make this partnership successful our partnership with the lebanese military in displacing hezbollah and [10:36] establishing a reliable uh government general anderson i'm concerned by discussions about whether africom [10:44] should be maintained as an independent combatant command the same uh concerns i believe the chairman [10:51] has that fight should be not necessary and it really i think reveals a misunderstanding of the continuing [10:59] importance of africa in so many different ways uh if we were to merge africom with ucom i think that [11:06] would be a mistake it would signal to our allies and adversaries that africa is not a priority for [11:12] the united states uh russia and china are not making that mistake russia's africa core has expanded [11:19] steadily across numerous countries and china continues to build ports infrastructure and relationships [11:25] across the continent both nations are filling a space that america has created for them by our [11:32] disengagement in general i would ask you to share your views on the current security situation and how [11:37] you are working with allies and partners to address the political and economic instability in africa [11:44] finally i would note that the dismantling of usaid has made this situation worse more than 12 billion [11:50] dollars in annual assistance to sub-sahara africa is largely gone this has translated directly into [11:58] instability radicalization and openings for our adversaries the administration's from aid to trade slogan [12:05] in africa may be a reasonable long-term aspiration but it's not a near-term substitute for what has [12:11] been lost and our partners on the ground know it i'd like to know what authorities and support you need [12:17] from this committee to effectively partner with vulnerable nations in africa keep us from losing [12:23] more ground to china and russia amber cooper general anson thank you for your leadership your outstanding [12:29] service and i look forward to your testimony thank you emerald cooper you are now recognized for your [12:34] opening statement sir well thank you very much chairman wicker ranking member reid members of [12:40] this committee thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today and thank you all in this [12:46] committee for your very steadfast support to united states military and to our men and women deployed [12:52] today i'm pleased to be sitting here today with my good friend the commander of u.s africa command [12:57] general dog anderson and i'm joined by fleet command master chief latef compton our senior enlisted leader [13:02] at central command events in the central region have shown how quickly the course of history can [13:08] change in just the last few years decades-old features of the strategic landscape once thought [13:14] immutable have been upended bringing both challenges and opportunities i strongly believe that every [13:21] success that we have starts and ends with our people in just the last seven months america's sons and [13:27] daughters serving in centcom have played key roles in world events implementing the president's 20-point [13:33] peace plan in gaza degrading the isis threat in syria preventing what i would characterize as an isis crisis [13:42] by conducting a historic prisoner transfer to iraq creating the most integrated and effective air [13:47] defense architecture ever seen which was decades in the making and most recently addressing the iranian [13:54] threat the performance of our war fighters and combined joint task force operation inherent resolve [14:00] often referred to as cjtfoir is particularly noteworthy in january responding to a rapidly [14:07] deteriorating security situation they executed an extraordinary transfer of more than 5 700 isis [14:14] prisoners all terrorists from syria to iraqi custody their effort prevented a mass prison break [14:21] that risked large-scale isis reconstitution and acute risk to the american homeland in parallel oir has [14:28] maintained relentless pressure on isis remnants in syria most recently operation hawkeye strike removed [14:34] over 50 isis terrorists and 100 terror infrastructure targets from the battlefield u.s central command was [14:41] created in direct response to the threats posed by the islamic republic of iran and i am the 16th centcom [14:47] commander to deal with the iranian problem set for 47 years the iranian regime has terrorized the region [14:54] and made hostility to the united states a core tenant of its rule their hostile lethal track record [15:01] against the united states is well documented but i don't know that it is always well understood [15:06] here's a data point in just the last 30 months prior to the commencement of epic fury iranian supported [15:13] terror groups have attacked u.s troops and diplomats more than 350 times the equivalent of [15:19] attack more than every third day killing four u.s service members and wounding nearly 200 more [15:25] after more than two years of iranian attempts to leverage october 7th of 2023 to tear the region apart [15:32] at the direction of the president united states central command initiated operation epic fury [15:37] in less than 40 days centcom forces achieved our military objectives most notably we degraded iran's [15:43] ability to project power outside its borders and threaten the region and threaten our interests [15:49] as an example we can all remember april and october of 2024 hundreds of iranian ballistic missiles and [15:56] drones raining down in the middle east today iran can no longer attack with that mass and scale [16:03] and further with 90 percent of its defense industrial base destroyed iran won't be able to reconstitute [16:09] those weapons for years we also all watched iran spend decades and billions and billions of dollars [16:17] arming proxies today hamas hezbollah and the houthis are all cut off from iran's weapons supply and support [16:26] this resort this result was not foreordained nor was it brought by chance it's the culmination of months [16:32] of careful planning built upon decades of experience these results also do not come without cost we honor [16:40] the memories of the 14 service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice during operation epic fury and the [16:46] two soldiers and the one civilian killed in palmyra syria they represent truly the very best of all of us [16:54] as i sit here we are clear-eyed the situation in front of us in front of us is very complex high stakes [17:01] negotiations continue our job is to be ready and we are i testify today on behalf of the 50 000 [17:08] plus servicemen and women deployed to the central region it's a great honor and privilege of a lifetime to [17:14] serve as their commander and thank you very much and i look forward to your questions thank you very [17:20] much general anderson chairman wicker ranking member reid and distinguished members of the committee [17:27] thank you for the opportunity to provide you an update on u.s africa command i'm joined today by [17:32] command sergeant major garrick banfield our senior enlisted leader and i'm proud to sit beside my friend [17:36] from u.s central command admiral brad cooper we both appreciate your unwavering support to our nation's [17:42] war fighters before i start i'd like to recognize the service of first lieutenant kendrick lamont key jr [17:48] and specialist mariah collington who lost their lives in a tragic accident during [17:53] african lion in our returning home today i would also like to express my appreciation to our allies [17:58] and partners particularly morocco who stepped forward when it mattered most africa sits at the [18:06] crossroads of global commerce and security bridging the strategic terrain between the atlantic and the [18:10] indo-pacific it's the world's supplier of critical minerals for advanced defense system [18:15] and home to 12 of the world's 20 fastest growing economies by 2050 it will account for a third of [18:21] the global working age population today the epicenter of global terrorism is in africa isis [18:29] leadership is african al-qaeda's economic engine is in africa both of these groups share the will [18:37] and intent to strike our homeland their affiliates once isolated nodes now show increased connectivity [18:45] just as concerning as the nexus between al-qaeda's al-shabaab and the iranian-sponsored houthis [18:52] african is prioritizing willing and capable partners we support partners with capabilities [18:58] that only the u.s can bring isr targeting precision strike these efforts have driven isis leaders in [19:05] somalia underground disrupting their command and control of the global isis network in west africa [19:12] al-qaeda affiliate jnm has demonstrated increased capacity to control key terrain in the sahel [19:17] most notably by strangling fuel supplies around population centers the capture of a capital city [19:22] would provide al-qaeda with all the trappings of a nation state to sponsor global terrorism [19:27] with a 75 reduction in our regional posture over the past decade compounded by the drawdown of our [19:34] allies we struggle with an intelligence black hole and without sufficient indicators and warnings [19:39] we risk being blind to the gathering dangers and threats in the region african's lack of [19:44] expeditionary capabilities and diminished force posture compromise our comp our crisis response [19:50] in a crisis we can always surge assets but you cannot surge trust our reduced presence on the [19:56] continent also allows disruptive actors to drive the agenda undercutting american interests china views [20:03] africa as its second continent securing control over critical minerals and infrastructure potentially [20:07] boxing us out of resources that energize our industrial base africa also serves as putin's purse [20:14] where russia exploits instability to extract resources to include human lives to fuel its war machine [20:20] to contend with these threats africom must think and operate differently with less than one tenth of [20:27] one percent of the department's budget we must maximize every taxpayer dollar to deliver an outsized [20:32] return on investment africom continues to leverage low cost high yield activities to amplify our impact [20:38] on the continent programs like the international military education and training and the state [20:43] partnership program are reliable force multipliers that forge enduring relationships with african militaries [20:49] and our proven models for cost-effective burden sharing the africom exercise program is emerging as [20:55] a battle lab to test and validate new technologies on behalf of both the joint force and our african [21:01] partners and finally africom is focused on the critical convergence of security and economics [21:07] our efforts span all elements of national power as we coordinate closely with state commerce energy and [21:12] treasury the department's new economic defense unit has been an invaluable partner to defend the homeland [21:19] to promote u.s interests and ensure effective crisis response africom needs targeted investments in [21:25] layered non-traditional isr innovative force protection programs that are able to innate that [21:31] enable willing and capable partners the opportunity to conduct experimentation of emerging technologies [21:38] and the ability to respond to crisis at the time and point of need africa is a continent of opportunities [21:44] not only crises with the continued support of this committee i can assure you that every dollar you [21:49] authorized for africom will contribute directly to the security safety and prosperity of the united states [21:56] thank you i look forward to your questions well thank you very much um let's get right into um iran [22:03] admiral cooper um and i think one of the basic questions is was uh this exercise of hours was this operation [22:14] of hours of war of choice or war of necessity um let me get your military perspective um did [22:21] iran have enriched uranium up to six percent prior to operation midnight hammer yes sir they did and uh is [22:32] there a civilian use at all for uranium that is enriched to 60 percent there's not senator um is it fair [22:44] to say that iran's nuclear breakout time has been set back then thanks to operation midnight hammer and [22:53] operation epic fury without talking specifics uh that's accurate senator all right and has iran ever [23:00] been willing to curtail its ballistic missile program ballistic missile program through negotiations [23:07] they have not sir um and then perhaps you can explain in some detail to what extent [23:16] operation epic fury has set back iran's ballistic missile program to what extent you can tell us in this [23:24] open setting yes sir senator thank you thank you very much for that question uh our military mission [23:30] in operation epic fury was crystal clear from the very outset and remained steady throughout the mission [23:36] it was to degrade iran's ability to project power on its neighbors and u.s interests it had three key [23:43] components degrade iran's ballistic missiles and the defense industrial base that supports it degrade iran's [23:49] drones and the divest and the defense industrial base that supports that and degrade their navy and [23:55] the defense industrial base that supports that in each of those categories we met all of the achievements [24:01] each of those systems were significantly degraded if i give you just a couple of examples the defense [24:08] industrial debates where their drones and their missiles in their navy were degraded by 90 percent they [24:13] have about 10 percent left for the navy my military assessment uh would be that the navy will not begin [24:20] to rebuild for five to ten years many of you are served in states that build ships it's complex it's [24:26] particularly complex when you don't have an industrial base to build it my professional uh uh perspective on [24:32] this also is that iran would not return to the same level of navy that it had for a generation now this 10 of [24:40] drones left are they exquisite or uh the sort of relatively inexpensive drones we've been hearing [24:47] about senator thank you for this question i think i'd like to use the opportunity to to myth bust on [24:53] drones okay the days of 35 000 drones that we saw in the last couple couple of years particularly in the [24:59] fight against the houthis in yemen those days are behind us today we face an increased threat from drones [25:05] that are highly sophisticated they're jet powered they have high-end uh sensors they have electronic [25:11] warfare they have signals intelligence so those days of using high value defenses to shoot down cheap [25:18] targets are behind us quite the contrary what we have been doing lately is using our own uh low-cost [25:25] one-way attack drones uh talking attacking iran making them use higher and more expensive weapons so i can [25:32] confidently tell you we have flipped the cost curve in many ways always work to be done uh but i like [25:37] where we are in this regard okay and you know there's been a lot of talk about a part of the negotiations [25:42] being giving up the um nuclear ambitions um but almost as important to me is is um the support of terrorist [25:54] proxies so uh has iran ever been willing into support for the terrorist proxies hamas houthis [26:02] uh hezbollah they have not senator so to what extent has this exercise uh this operation denied iran [26:11] resources for funding terrorism senator this is a has been a significant priority uh from the outset [26:18] and as we sit here today uh there are no resources and equipment uh that are flowing from iran to hamas [26:25] hezbollah or the houthis that those uh transfer paths and methods methods have been cut off to the extent [26:32] that that that source of support has been cut off what are the other sources of support that [26:40] these terrorist groups can look to i think some some of those pieces are best discussed in a more [26:46] classified environment but i think the key element of this is uh the the main supplier of resources [26:53] and training for decades and billions of dollars and we've seen all this before our very eyes those [26:59] pieces have been completely cut off today thank you very much we'll take another round but at this [27:03] point i recognize the ranking member thank you very much mr chairman uh admiral cooper is around [27:11] militaries militarily still able to inflict significant damage on infrastructure of the surrounding [27:20] countries in the persian gulf senator in this environment what i would tell you is their capabilities [27:26] have been dramatically degraded that certainly doesn't mean that they don't have anything left [27:30] but the large-scale volleys that we've seen over the last couple years uh or no iran is no longer [27:36] capable of executing those uh this would be less large-scale volleys and directed attacks on critical [27:43] infrastructure which would set back petroleum production even if the straight of or petroleum [27:50] distribution i would say even if the straight of moose is open does that capability still exist [27:55] capabilities uh across the board inside iran still exist at a degraded scale we've also uh planned [28:02] accordingly uh for each of these scenarios uh if necessary to deal with them from a defensive [28:06] perspective so uh would you characterize iran is no longer a threat iran has a significantly degraded [28:15] threat and they no longer threaten regional uh regional partners or the united states in ways that [28:22] they were able to do before across every domain they've been significantly degraded but they can [28:28] still threaten their partners it's a very large country they have they have they retain some uh [28:34] mineral capability that that's correct and that's accurate thank you of course we've accounted for [28:38] that from a defensive perspective uh general anderson um what's happened is that the administration [28:46] recalled over 30 career ambassadors in africa uh including excuse me over 30 career ambassadors overall [28:53] 12 in africa the united states there's only 14 confirmed ambassadors in other words 40 ambassadorial posts [29:02] in africa are vacant or filled by charge affairs uh is it essential to your work uh to have fully [29:10] functioning embassies with ambassadors senator we work very closely with all the embassies across the [29:17] continent to pursue and uh further american interests and so that that relationship with these embassies is [29:23] critical for africoms effective engagements but what about the ambassadors uh yes sir so the uh [29:30] ambassadors do enjoy access i think that that's important to have ambassadors in place because uh the [29:36] hierarchical uh nature of many of the african countries is that if you're not an ambassador you don't [29:41] always get access and so there is obviously benefit to that uh and we we uh coordinate with them quite [29:48] quite closely when we engage uh thank you very much sir uh you are combating one of the most [29:56] sophisticated uh information warfare operations uh we've seen in a long time from russia uh what can we do [30:06] to improve your ability to withstand this information operation and also to engage in something on the same [30:15] level by the united states yes sir i appreciate the uh recognition of this concern because the our [30:22] adversaries are very active in the information domain as you highlighted russia i'd also say china [30:26] is also very active in these domains they use this to undercut not only our interest but undercut [30:33] and disrupt the democracies that are in in africa and this is one an area that i've talked to several [30:39] of the leaders across especially coastal west africa that are very concerned about the russian propaganda [30:44] that is destabilizing their their uh democracies for me we have a limited budget that we are mostly [30:52] in a reactive mode to respond to issues what would be beneficial as one of the few entities that looks [30:57] across the entirety of the account of the continent is a consistent budget that would allow us to [31:03] campaign in the information space we coordinate very closely with state department and others on this [31:09] and work with the embassies but our ability to look across the continent and highlight these things i [31:13] think is an area where we could be of benefit to the american interest thank you sir uh admiral cooper [31:18] one more question uh do we still maintain a relationship with the syrian democratic forces [31:28] senator we do have a nascent relationship with them uh in the context of evacuating the more than 5700 [31:34] isis prisoners from uh predominantly northeast syria to iraq a small number of prisoners mostly uh chronically [31:41] ill and with multiple amputees stayed in the in the primary prison known as hasaka and sdf is uh today [31:47] serving as the guards uh just our follow-on question uh do you detect any sort of kind of uh resentment or [31:58] to our rapid departure from sdf i think uh senator we've had a long uh standing relationship with the [32:05] sdf uh the ceasefire that they have in place uh today with the syrian government uh remains in effect and we [32:11] remain engaged thank you very much thank you thank you senator fisher thank you mr chairman um welcome [32:19] admiral general thank you for your service admiral uh what did the iranians um attempted [32:28] missile attack on the island of diego garcia tell us about the ballistic missile program [32:35] um and um in their intent to use it did it come as a surprise senator uh uh appropriate to talk in [32:45] this forum there's clearly because there's clearly a classified component of this i think we've all [32:50] heard publicly what uh iran described is their self-imposed limitations on their missile force uh the [32:56] execution of that particular attempted strike uh which failed was twice the distance of what they [33:02] previously advertised that they said that they would self-constrained themselves to thank you and um [33:09] as you look at the total operation the conflict there what lessons have you learned from that [33:15] and how have you used those lessons thus far to ensure that your command is prepared for the fight [33:23] that we have today yes senator thank you very much for this uh it's fair to say that we have captured [33:29] thousands of lessons mostly tactical i think there's no military in the world that makes [33:34] adjustments as well as the united states military does and whether they were in stride tactically with [33:40] a lot of support from organizations back in the united states or they're more at the operational level [33:45] we took a very hard look inward to see where can we improve our defenses force protection and [33:51] protecting our people is my number one priority we focused on that first uh made a significant number [33:57] of adjustments to enhance what was already a very effective uh air defense umbrella and that's where [34:03] we are predominantly focused as well as putting ourselves in a position to meet a wide range of [34:08] contingencies going forward thank you sir uh general and anderson isis is on the rise in africa and [34:16] you've been very very clear about that how is your command working with our partners in order to address that [34:23] uh senator you are are correct isis is uh putting a concerted effort in this establishment on the [34:32] continent uh we have been working very closely with willing partners who have been uh willing to address [34:37] this threat so two examples of that in northern somalia working with the somali and the putland forces [34:43] there to go up into those mountains uh what has been key there to putting pressure and isolating the [34:50] isis leadership there is the partner's ability to stay in those mountains and so our partnership to provide [34:55] them in the intelligence some training and some limited logistics that allow them to stay is [34:59] isolate helping isolate that leadership node in somalia we've also been working very closely with [35:05] nigeria who is in the last few months opened up uh with a very positive uh engagement with intel [35:12] sharing and ability to go after and target some of these terrorist threats that are in northern nigeria [35:18] and so that has been a positive area that we've seen as well we would like to re-establish some [35:23] pragmatic relationships in the sahel where isis also has a stronghold where they are currently holding [35:28] an american hostage uh in order to gain better access and that's an area we need to continue to [35:34] improve to work with those partners for a intel sharing and understanding of what that threat is [35:39] there but we are working very deliberately with our partners to address these common threats do you feel [35:44] that you are appropriately resourced to address these threats we have the minimum necessary resources in [35:53] order to address the threats uh in order to do this because of the size of the continent and the [35:58] complexity of those attacks or of those threats uh in order to thwart these we have to shift resources [36:04] and that entails uh taking some risk in those other areas in order to address the the primary efforts [36:12] i'd like to i'd like to have you address some of the uh connections that we see with the drug cartels [36:19] uh with the terror groups can you elaborate on those uh especially with regards to the central and south [36:27] american cartels yes senator that's an area that is emerging that is uh causing us great concern [36:34] so two points to that uh recently there was a interdiction based on uh some intelligence that we [36:40] were able to provide that the spanish interdicted a shipment of cocaine that was 35 tons of cocaine we [36:48] believe that's about a billion dollars of street value we believe that's the largest interdiction [36:52] in history that came out of south america it was transiting along the west coast of africa [36:58] towards another location that i could talk about in a classified environment the and so we're seeing [37:04] more of that drug trafficking coming in and the the terrorist organizations are helping transit that [37:09] they're getting payments through that and there's a symbiotic relationship that that money then comes back [37:14] to our hemisphere to those drug cartels but also helps provide fuel for those terrorists another [37:21] area that i think is important to highlight is that uh in the last 18 to 24 months we have assisted in [37:28] or at least tipped off many partner nations to drug activities and labs in their country in this in this [37:35] time 11 of the 12 drug labs that have been interdicted have had uh mexican cartel members on site [37:42] to include the largest drug lab that had ever been disrupted in south africa that there were sinaloa [37:48] cartel members on site and so they are actually doing production now in africa as well as the [37:53] transit of that across the continent so we're watching this uh develop and it's of concern as [37:59] this fuels both the terrorists and the cartels what's the destination of those drugs those drugs are [38:05] destined for uh the middle east for europe but we're also seeing them then come in through the northern [38:10] route back into america as we have applied pressure on the southern border they're finding other [38:15] means to bring those drugs into our nation thank you uh thank you senator fisher uh center blimenthal [38:22] thanks mr chairman thank you both for being here thank you for your extraordinary service [38:29] in a difficult time uh general anderson i want to express my condolences to you and your team and [38:36] the families of lieutenant general lieutenant uh kendrick lamont and specialist maria collington uh the [38:44] army's lost two young patriots and dedicated man and woman and i'm certain that the recovery mission was [38:55] difficult and i want to commend your team for bringing closure to their families uh admiral uh there's been [39:05] public reporting that iran continues to have uh as much as 70 to 75 percent of its missiles and launchers [39:16] available to threaten shipping in the strait of hormuz uh does that reporting conform roughly with your [39:26] estimate as to iran's continuing strength senator thank you for the question and first thank you for [39:34] your time uh these past few days it's been meaningful and very much appreciated uh i think it's appropriate [39:40] in this forum not to discuss specific intelligence assessments what i would say from my perspective is [39:45] the numbers that i've seen in open source are not accurate i think what also uh is not taken into [39:50] consideration it's more than just the numbers it's the command and control that's been shattered it's [39:56] a significant degradation uh and capability and it's the lack of any ability to then produce uh any [40:03] missiles or drones on the back end i think we have to take a holistic look at that and that's what we've done [40:08] but regardless of what the numbers are iran continues to pose a significant threat to shipping because [40:17] it has missiles and fast boats and other assets that are available to attack shipping in the area correct [40:25] senator all in each of those cases their capability have been significantly degraded if i just use my own [40:32] professional experience uh in a hundred transits through the strait of hormuz you would typically see [40:36] 20 to 40 uh fast boats and and lately we've seen two or three so the degradation means uh it's been [40:45] super it's been significant but some residual capability does exist with respect to the threat [40:53] that remains your forces were successful in project freedom in enabling ships to go through the strait [41:03] correct oh that's correct sir and project freedom was stopped for what reason sir i think i'll look [41:13] back a couple of days ago on uh the chairman of the joint chief's testimony before the senate [41:17] appropriations committee i think he characterized it well the situation in the strait of hormuz is is [41:22] rather complex these days and i would offer just just these uh quick points uh first and foremost uh [41:30] the united states controls uh via our blockade which i'd be happy to talk about [41:34] the overall flow of commerce going into and out of iran the iranian capability to stop commerce has [41:41] been dramatically degraded through the straits but their voice is very loud and those threats are [41:47] clearly heard uh by the merchant industry and the insurance industry those are factors there's [41:52] certainly factors in energy but project project i and i apologize for interrupting but i'm going to [41:57] run out of time as you understand um i i think the point that i want to make here is that project [42:06] freedom could be started again and the voices of the iranians large as they are could be contradicted or [42:17] reduced in the impact if project freedom were ongoing and the world could see that shipping was going [42:26] through the straits am i off base in that view senator there's a wide range of contingencies that [42:33] we are prepared to execute and i would defer to the policy makers on anything having to do specifically [42:38] with the strait of hormuz particularly during this time of sensitive negotiations where it's what's front [42:42] and center in the negotiations and have you seen any progress in those negotiations uh senator i'd refer to [42:52] the diplomats uh and the team uh engaged in the negotiations let me ask you uh in the time that [42:59] i have left uh one of the objectives that president trump articulated at the beginning of this war which [43:07] in my view could not be accomplished with bombing was to secure the enriched uranium would you agree that [43:16] taking possession of that uranium would require boots on the ground and significant casualties for united [43:27] states forces senator in this particular forum i think it's it would be highly inappropriate given [43:33] the classified nature of of any contingencies to talk about the nuclear program well let me just finish [43:38] by making the observation that you have i think sought to be forthcoming to the committee in the classified [43:49] setting where we had an earlier conversation with questions and answers my view is that the vast majority of [43:59] what you told us should also be told to the american people they deserve to know and our adversaries know [44:08] a lot of what we know the ones who really don't know are the american people and they deserve more [44:17] information which is not a criticism of you it is of the system which causes the withholding of this [44:27] information and the administration which has refused to provide figures as to the costs of the war [44:36] and other details that are relevant important for the american people to know so i'm hopeful that [44:44] we can have a way to make more information available to the american people thank you mr chairman admiral cooper [44:54] during the brief time of project freedom before it was closed off again did did we can you say [45:06] say in this setting whether or not um our service um our services were able to open the strait senator uh [45:18] thank you for this uh very much appreciated uh as uh has been publicly highlighted uh the first uh two [45:25] ships uh to flow from the arabian gulf uh from from the western part into the east through the strait of [45:31] hormuz uh were u.s flagged vessels uh that was successfully executed uh and u.s navy destroyers [45:38] then came into the arabian gulf operated for a number of days and then as you subsequently saw [45:43] float out of the arabian gulf okay so senator blumenthal's question presumed that that you could give [45:52] in public your judgment as to whether uh whether the united states is capable of doing that again [46:00] senator there's there's a military component of this and then there's also a policy component that [46:04] i believe to the policy makers but from the military standpoint we could we could do that again could [46:11] we not we just did it last week thank you um senator ernst i believe thank you mr chair and gentlemen [46:19] thank you for being here today and to your teams as well we truly appreciate your service and dedication to [46:26] our nation and i also want to acknowledge the loss of uh the two individuals in morocco and thank our [46:34] moroccan partners as well uh for their contribution in the recovery efforts uh i do want to recognize [46:41] emerald cooper those that we have lost uh during this current operation or the former operation epic fury [46:49] as well as the two iowa national guardsmen that we lost in syria this last december [46:54] uh we have also more than 380 who have been wounded in this fight so for all of those service members [47:02] that have given so much and to their families uh they will not be forgotten the operations that have [47:08] been conducted against iran and its proxies across the central command aor wouldn't have been possible [47:15] without some really tremendous partners in that region and we have seen a large burden borne by [47:24] israel and jordan we've seen assistance coming from bahrain and uae who has taken a significant [47:34] amount of incoming fire saudi arabia cutter they haven't all been passive bystanders they've been [47:42] actively engaged so they have contributed to every line of effort and we appreciate them contributing to [47:49] our successes we can't overstate what they're basing access logistics their networks and intelligence [47:56] cooperations have meant operationally to us so admiral cooper what is the one maybe two things [48:04] that you want all of us to understand as we walk out of this hearing uh knowing about what our allies [48:11] have assisted with in this fight senator first thank you for the question and thank you for your [48:18] leadership and and thank you for uh all that has been done by the great men and women from uh from [48:23] your state uh they played an outsized role so thank you for that thank you in terms of our partners [48:28] uh i think the key a key feature is we have enhanced middle-to-mill relationships across the board in [48:34] the middle east as we sit here right now we have five specific partner nations who are not just [48:41] conceptually side by side but literally side by side with the united states and in defense [48:47] the united arab emirates bahrain kuwait qatar and saudi arabia over the course of epic fury [48:54] uh they fed they defended themselves and they defended americans in addition to those key allies [48:59] uh everything that we've accomplished would have been uh impossible without the kingdom of jordan [49:05] uh and clearly we were operating very closely with the state of israel i think that group in particular [49:10] should be commended they didn't just execute missions they served side by side with americans [49:15] and protected americans thank you and this takes years to develop those friendships those relationships [49:21] uh the mill-to-mill work that you do is that correct it does there's there's the middle-to-mill work [49:27] there's the friendships uh it's all about bringing these together and the air defense umbrella that's [49:31] been created is has been in concept uh for the better part of a decade and a half now fully realized [49:38] and again i just want to reiterate that we have such tremendous partnerships with so many of [49:43] those nations and we we thank them for that um i'll move to africom now general anderson uh over the past [49:50] couple of years the u.s has been withdrawing forces uh from a number of countries including um niger [49:58] molly and chad and russia's african corps has moved in to fill that vacuum where we don't exist others will [50:08] but just a few weeks ago they retreated from kidal molly under fire they had surrendered to the very [50:16] militants that they were sent to defeat so we have some really interesting dynamics going on in in that [50:24] region and africom is left with the responsibility for a lot more high risk high threat posts than any [50:31] other combatant command in the world um so walk us through just very briefly what africom cannot do [50:39] today that it could five years ago well senator i think there's one very poignant example that i can [50:49] use very quickly is that five years ago as a commander of special operations command africa [50:53] philip walton was taken hostage in niger and transported by bandits being prepared to be [50:58] sold to terrorist organization we were able to identify him in 24 hours we were able to pinpoint [51:03] his location within 48 he was rescued in less than 96. that was largely due to the access that we had also the [51:09] partnerships and the relationships that we enjoyed uh today uh kevin rideout is on day 205 of captivity [51:18] largely because we don't have the access that we had before and the relationships that are necessary [51:22] and that posture reduction has been difficult and he was also taken out of niame unfortunately he was [51:28] then sold by the bandits to isis and is being held there today and and thank you for that and mr [51:34] chairman i just want folks to understand um the lack of presence that we have in africom and that exact [51:42] difference so thank you general anderson for a very very specific example of a what a lack of presence [51:50] has meant thank you senator ernst there there's a there's a proposal for substantially more funding [51:58] for your command is that right general anderson uh senator that is correct the uh presidential budget [52:05] significantly increases our budget and addresses some of these key concerns well that [52:09] that one example you just gave would that be addressed by these proposed additional so uh not [52:17] entirely senator because the access and relationships are what were key there but we do because of this [52:23] because of that lack of posture need more investment expeditionary capabilities and that is being [52:28] addressed in the proposed budget but those that those relationships that the center highlight and [52:34] maintaining those relationships are absolutely critical because you cannot surge trust in the time of [52:38] need okay well you and i've gone back and forth about unfunded requirements and so i guess your [52:45] testimony is is is that that's not a matter of funding it's just a matter of relationships uh senator that [52:55] is uh a matter of relationships the funding that we would ask for that would incur that would help [53:00] us is the contingency of response uh ability expeditionary but also uh some targeted programs [53:06] to work with key partners who are willing and able to address the threat to increase their capability [53:11] and capacity to do that so those are the investments those are all included in the proposed budget so [53:16] right now i don't have uh many very well very well um senator kane thank you mr chair and and to our [53:24] witnesses president trump's decision to unilaterally take the united states into a war with iran is deeply [53:31] unpopular in virginia we are a very pro-military state a very pro-military state and as i've traveled [53:38] around virginia and talked to virginians the unpopularity sort of gets crystallized into have we [53:44] learned nothing from 25 years of war in the region 14 000 american troops and contractors died in the war on [53:52] terror in iraq and afghanistan more than 65 000 injured eight trillion dollars spent and virginians [53:58] who've watched their friends and family repeatedly deployed over the last quarter century have grave [54:04] concerns about what was accomplished and was the sacrifice worth it our troops sacrificed so bravely [54:12] chief warrant officer robert marzon one of the 14 who have died in epic fury spotsylvania county virginia [54:18] our ford carrier strike group just returned longest post-vietnam deployment of any any carrier [54:26] our folks sacrifice they want civilian leaders to make the right decisions about whether and when and [54:32] how they should sacrifice and there's deep concern that in this instance the decision is wrong one [54:38] um part of it is is a failure to really grapple with history in in the hearings in this committee i've [54:45] heard over and over again and i've heard the president secretary of defense talk about iran's bad [54:50] action since 1979 and everything that's been said about iran's bad actions are true but there's a lot of [54:57] the story that folks don't talk about history didn't begin in 1979 iran and the united states were allies [55:03] in world war ii one of the pivotal events in world war ii was the tehran conference where president [55:08] roosevelt winston churchill joseph stalin met in tehran to guarantee iran independence stable borders [55:16] and sovereignty iran loved the united states the united states led a coup to topple the democratically [55:24] elected government of iran in 1953 during the eisenhower administration the united states propped up a [55:31] dictatorship the shah of iran trained the secret police the savak that tortured exiled imprisoned killed [55:40] iranians by the thousands and 26 years after that there was a revolution 1979 and yet yes then it [55:48] was death to america the u.s funding a dictatorship and toppling a democratic elected government led to [55:55] an iran that has been very hostile and all the events my colleagues have talked about since then [55:59] are accurate but just as iran seized our embassy in violation of international law then the united [56:07] states funded saddam hussein for iraq to wage war against iran in the 1980s killing hundreds of [56:13] thousands of iranians and just as iran funded proxies that bombed a marine barracks on our embassy [56:20] in beirut the uss navy shot down an iranian civilian aircraft in 1989 killing 290 civilians [56:28] and the u.s invaded iran's next-door neighbors to topple their government and then yes iranians [56:33] attacked u.s troops arrayed near their border and we've attacked and killed their leadership [56:39] i'm not saying that iran is good iran is horrible horrible to its neighbors horrible to people outside [56:47] its borders and even worse to its own people but if you ignore the history of the back and forth [56:52] between the u.s and iran you will not get this right if more war between the u.s and iran were [56:58] the answer we would have found the answer sometime between 1953 and now here's something i think it's [57:05] important for my colleagues to know we did look for a path a diplomatic path to end this hostility [57:14] that's been going on since 1953 and president trump tore up a diplomatic deal over the advice of his [57:20] secretary of defense and secretary of state and many of us said at the time if you do this it is likely [57:28] to lead to americans dying if you make diplomacy impossible you will make war inevitable and i believe [57:34] the troops who have been killed in epic fury would be alive today if the united states had not decided [57:39] to abandon the diplomatic deal admiral cooper and to my colleagues on the committee here's something [57:44] that's pretty amazing that we shouldn't settle for the administration is refusing to allow members [57:51] of this committee to see the olc opinion stating the legal case for war we've always had the ability [57:59] we're armed services members we're being asked to fund a 1.5 trillion dollar budget but our request [58:05] to the doj to see the olc opinion justifying this war they have refused to allow members of the [58:12] armed services committee to see it u.s senators appropriators we're not allowed to see it what [58:19] are they hiding if they're if they will not allow us to see the legal rationale for the war [58:27] what are they hiding and mr charles just concluded say i hope we might as a committee whatever our [58:33] agreements about the wisdom or the legality of the war i hope we might as a committee agree that we [58:38] should at least in a classified setting be able to read the legal opinion upon which this entire 76 day [58:46] war is based thank you mr chair yes thank you senator you have made a statement that raises questions that [58:59] these two witnesses are um unable to answer because you've asked you've raised policy questions and [59:07] so i'm just for the benefit of those listening in um we have had the civilian leadership before this [59:14] committee um to answer questions like like that and uh these two gentlemen would have to decline [59:22] if if you had formed that and stated that in the form of a question they would have to decline to [59:27] answer because that is a matter of policy um who is uh next uh senator moody you're recognized thank you [59:38] mr chairman uh and and thank you for being here today um admiral cooper general anderson thank you for [59:46] your leadership to the men and women of centcom and africom thank you for everything that you have [59:51] have done over the course of your careers and are continuing to do to serve our country and i see [59:55] there are so many men and women with you behind you to support these efforts today um to speak with [1:00:01] us to meet with us to answer our questions i know a lot of preparation goes into that and so i thank you [1:00:06] as well admiral cooper the fight you're leading certainly um with centcom under your command i'm always [1:00:15] proud to say that that is from my home based in my home county in florida hillsborough county florida [1:00:21] that's where i was born and raised it's been there since 1983 43 years of um commanding operations [1:00:29] like we're involved in today so proud to have you here sir florida is so involved from socom space [1:00:37] forces central patrick space force base cape canaveral we're both the command hub and launch pad for [1:00:44] most all conflict so we are proud to be that proud to be a stakeholder and everything that's done [1:00:51] within the military and so on behalf of all the service members in florida civilian and their [1:00:56] families we we want to say thank you to them you know it's i am the newest member of this committee [1:01:02] it's it's always interesting to me to hear the different perspectives from other members on this [1:01:06] committee committee you would think from some of the questioning previously that the united states [1:01:12] willy-nilly abandoned all diplomatic efforts uh didn't think through that there was no justification and [1:01:18] uh i'm wondering i know if you could tell me um admiral cooper what is your background working [1:01:26] with centcom and all of the leadership positions you've held senator first uh thank you for the [1:01:32] question and thanks for your time yesterday and and thanks for your leadership uh thousands of floridians [1:01:37] are serving in the middle east today and they're serving uh what specifically have been your roles [1:01:43] with centcom i've been focused on the middle east for the last five years three years of which we're [1:01:48] serving uh in bahrain as the fleet commander and then about uh 16 months as the deputy commander prior [1:01:54] to my current position and how long have you been familiar with um iran and its leadership and its [1:02:02] attacks against the united states i've studied or been a part of it for the better part of three decades [1:02:08] particularly acutely in the last five years and leading up to february 28th months prior to that [1:02:16] what what was jarring to you that you saw uh different than what had been for those many decades [1:02:22] that you've been involved i think it's important to note just in the 30 months before epic fury [1:02:28] commenced iran and its proxies had been attacking u.s service members and diplomats about 350 times can [1:02:35] you repeat that every about every third day iran and its proxies attacked american service members [1:02:40] 350 times in the middle east i don't think that that americans were aware of that that in the 30 [1:02:46] months that they had attacked americans or their service members 350 times does that surprise you [1:02:52] that i would say that that i don't believe that everyday american going to work knew that uh it's [1:02:58] it's disappointing but between the actions of uh proxies in iraq and syria as well as the houthis [1:03:05] that's that's simply the fact of what happened and the and the months leading up to that decision [1:03:09] that very serious decision on february the 28th what were your concerns regarding the proliferation [1:03:16] of missiles or the ability of the united states to do anything if that nuclear threat escalated [1:03:22] senator in this venue what i would say is uh since our number one priority is to prevent a nuclear [1:03:28] capable iran uh i always every day focused on that problem but what we saw in the weeks and months [1:03:34] leading up uh to the epic fury was an increase in the production capability of ballistic missiles [1:03:40] which presented a very significant risk both to the partners and ourselves and this is why it was part [1:03:46] of our military objectives to eliminate those missiles and equally if not more importantly [1:03:51] eliminate the ability for iran and those couple of months leading right up until that you saw a [1:03:55] dramatic escalation in that ability on iran's part that's correct between uh starting in about [1:04:00] november and december you started you started to see an increase in iran's capability and intent to [1:04:06] produce more ballistic and if we couldn't have um neutralized that threat diplomatically does there [1:04:13] come a point where that that's not an option anymore where there may be a slippery slope where [1:04:17] we can't get back to our ability to be effective to um quell that threat without crossing into classified [1:04:23] lanes uh the short answer is yes iran has a large had a large scale capability to produce ballistic [1:04:30] missiles beyond uh which could potentially be defended i think that's a very important point the second [1:04:36] point is that capability has been virtually eliminated and i believe i heard you say at this point you believe [1:04:41] epic fury has satisfied its mission senator we met every military objective for epic fury and what is [1:04:48] the difference between where we were on the 28th of february and right now if i used a couple of examples [1:04:54] uh the iranian navy went from uh harassing uh throughout the region and being a regional power to having no [1:05:01] navy thank you thank you senator moody uh senator king thank you thank you mr chairman uh admiral you [1:05:09] mentioned you used the word myth busting a few minutes ago and i have i have to do a little myth [1:05:14] busting uh it's sort of a common rhetoric today that no administration prior to this one has confronted [1:05:20] the threats of iran in fact the most effective confrontation with the threat from iran the nuclear threat [1:05:27] was during president obama's administration with the jcpoa i would point out that at the time that [1:05:35] president trump tore up unilaterally tore up the nuclear agreement with iran iran had zero highly [1:05:43] enriched uranium as you know today one of the focuses of this whole enterprise is 400 kilograms of highly [1:05:51] enriched uranium that's in place in iran that was produced since the unilateral dissolution of the jcpoa [1:05:59] the idea that nobody ever confronted this this problem is just not true and we're now confronting [1:06:08] a problem that was created by the abandonment of the jcpoa which is the most comprehensive nuclear [1:06:14] control agreement ever and the most highly inspected by the international atomic energy agency in world [1:06:23] history so we're confronted with a problem now that in many ways this administration created [1:06:30] in 2018 by abandoning this uh this agreement uh let me move on uh do we do we have any clarity [1:06:40] now as to who's in charge in iran do we know who who is has the power to negotiate and make agreements [1:06:49] senator the the negotiations themselves are held via diplomatic channels and i would really refer to the [1:06:55] diplomats to address that but clearly from a military perspective their command control was [1:06:59] significantly fractured as a result of our strikes and operation epic fury and command and control is [1:07:05] another way of saying their leadership they there's a communications difficulty is the irgc in charge at [1:07:12] this point they are the irgc is exercising uh significant authority uh general anderson uh talk to me about [1:07:23] the loss of soft power in africa our abandonment of of usaid and what what's happened with the chinese [1:07:31] and the russians that my understanding is are now filling that that gap uh in addition to the other [1:07:38] aggressive actions that they're taking senator i would say that uh we look at all facets of national [1:07:46] power and how to bring those to bear on the continent in order to provide uh security outcomes [1:07:50] oftentimes uh taking one facet of our national power off the table unilaterally for no for no apparent [1:07:57] reason the the whim of elon musk senator we uh work very closely with state with commerce and energy [1:08:07] in order to look at the security requirements on the continent i have a foreign service commercial [1:08:11] officer joining my staff this summer along with a liaison from department of energy in order to look at [1:08:16] economic opportunities we have essentially left all of the the role that usaid played [1:08:23] on the continent that's gone isn't that that's a yes or no question senator there are still [1:08:30] aid programs that are active on the continent they are much reduced from what they were before [1:08:34] much much reduced that's a fair way of stating it you mentioned earlier that the uh al-qaeda and and [1:08:42] isis have a have resurged in in africa the term epicenter has been used several times of world [1:08:48] terrorism you you use the term they said you said they have the will and intent to attack the homeland [1:08:55] my question is do they have the capacity do they are they developing weapons strategies uh other ways to [1:09:04] to take that will and intent and turn it into something of imminent danger to the american people [1:09:11] center that is the uh exact issue that is my top concern is for being able to provide they have [1:09:17] the assets necessary to provide the indication warnings to know and be able to identify when [1:09:22] they shift that will intent to have to have the capacity and capability that is something that is [1:09:27] very difficult for us to ascertain in the sahel right now given our limited posture that was that [1:09:32] was going to be my follow-up question is do we have the capacity to determine their capacity it sounds [1:09:37] like you just said uh we have we don't have the capacity that we should have or need senator we [1:09:44] are uh that's why in the president's bucket we have asked for additional intelligent surveillance and [1:09:49] reconnaissance capabilities and why we're also looking at a layered approach to look at everything [1:09:54] from surface to space to look at commercial assets to look at emerging technologies open source as [1:09:59] well and use these technologies especially artificial intelligence in order to fuse these multiple [1:10:04] different types of layered isr in order to gain that understanding and illuminate this black hole [1:10:09] of intelligence in the sahel we cannot sustainably afford to do that solely with airborne isr so [1:10:16] we have to look at a multi-faceted approach there are some very promising emerging technologies [1:10:21] that we are looking into and that are affordable and sustainable and that also can work with our [1:10:26] partners because one of the key points to this is this is not necessarily ours to action so having [1:10:32] that tech the intelligence that we can share with partners so they can then action those uh on a [1:10:37] mutual threat is going to be key to our future uh but being able to understand that is the number [1:10:42] one priority of the command and where we are looking at investing with emerging technology and i think as [1:10:47] you testified if they take over the capital of bali that's a that's a that's a very dangerous moment [1:10:53] that would be a game changer i believe in how they would have be viewed internationally and what [1:10:58] attraction they would be then i think to other adherents thank you thank you how would that affect [1:11:03] americans general well i think that would then give momentum to these terrorist organizations that [1:11:09] have the will and intent and it would allow them to then start moving towards the capability and [1:11:13] capacities that senator king just mentioned and so that then i think poses a threat in the long term [1:11:18] to the united states as they continue to develop this we know that they have not given up this intent [1:11:23] and it's just a matter of having the time and space to develop them and it would be vladimir putin that [1:11:29] would be happiest about this is that correct the prudent that what sir that it would be president [1:11:36] vladimir putin who would rejoice at such a contingency or would it be xi jinping i can't speak for what [1:11:47] either one of those leaders would believe but i think that that we they would be able to parlay that [1:11:51] to their interest well who's financing this contingency if it were to happen uh of the terrorists yes [1:12:00] they're gaining uh they're through lots of illicit materials so it's not necessarily directly from a [1:12:05] state actor they're working with as i mentioned earlier the narco terrorist uh trafficking they're [1:12:10] doing this through uh kidnap for ransom they're doing this for other legal smuggling they even do [1:12:15] have their own taxation networks in the territories that they control where they generate millions of [1:12:20] dollars and before i turn to senator scott with regard to the the funds that we're not spending anymore [1:12:28] on usa id but have been supplemented elsewhere in in terms of dollars let's let's talk in in terms of [1:12:39] u.s dollar uh equivalence how does the food aid health aid and um and development aid that we're [1:12:50] currently delivering in your jurisdiction compare to to um to what china and russia are doing senator i don't [1:13:03] have those exact numbers uh i'd have to get back to you on those as those are often in other departments [1:13:09] other agencies within the government but we can look into that for you and look at what that [1:13:12] comparison is between okay well if you would then supplement that on the record for us because i don't [1:13:18] know the answer either uh senator scott thank you chairman thank uh thank both of you for um for [1:13:26] your service and all the men and women that work for you hammer cooper can you i know this is not a [1:13:31] classified study but can you talk a little bit about uh what other countries have done uh to help [1:13:36] us either with intelligence or with cape military capabilities and and i don't know whether you want [1:13:42] to do this or not some that you would like to have done more senator i think the most prominent seven [1:13:49] countries uh that have been most helpful and serve side by side are five of the six gcc countries uh uae [1:13:56] bahrain qatar kuwait and saudi arabia also indispensable in our effort has been the kingdom of jordan and [1:14:02] clearly israel uh with whom we conducted the strikes we're always eager to expand partnerships [1:14:09] uh there's a couple that i think i could address in a classified setting uh that were less than [1:14:13] stellar and do you feel like we've been a great partner to them and helping them build up their uh [1:14:18] their capabilities over the last over the last 20 years or so senator i think it's been an excellent [1:14:24] two-way street and if i look at mill-to-mill relationships it's been very strong i'd simply highlight [1:14:29] uh the result of years of effort and collaboration and partnership uh put our partners literally side [1:14:35] by side with patriot defenses with our partners defending americans i think that sends a lot i [1:14:40] think that sends a good signal and says a lot so uh i think uh senator wicker asked you some questions [1:14:46] about drones we had a we had a meeting the other day and um the individual came in and said that [1:14:51] ukraine is building five million drones a year um and so they probably are ahead of most people because [1:14:58] they've had to because of war they're in so can you talk about um are we where we need to be with [1:15:05] drone technology are we using it everywhere we can are we using are we where we need to be with regard [1:15:11] with regard to drone um defense capabilities can you just talk a little bit more about that yes senator [1:15:18] first i i i would say that the the secretary and the department's uh focus on drone domination drone [1:15:24] dominance has really kick-started uh our our capabilities and flowed more capabilities into [1:15:30] the region much faster than we had seen before and many of those capabilities have now been proven in [1:15:35] combat i think in a classified setting i'd like to tell you what that looked like but as we sit here [1:15:39] today we have drone capabilities in the air on the sea and under the sea as a result of this initiative [1:15:45] do you have any feel for whether the impact you've had on uh iran has impacted uh their ability to help [1:15:52] russia in their war against ukraine so i think best to discuss that in a classified setting [1:15:59] clearly uh iran and russia have had a years-long relationship particularly when it comes to drones [1:16:05] so what are you most proud of what do you what do you what are you most proud of that you've [1:16:08] accomplished since you've had this role absolutely number one two and three i'm most proud of the men [1:16:15] and women who executed an extraordinarily complex mission the first major combat operations the united [1:16:21] states has seen in a generation establishing in my mind the latest greatest generation of american [1:16:26] warriors same question general anderson what are you most proud of that you've accomplished so far [1:16:34] senator i think the uh i would agree with uh admiral cooper that's the men and women of the very [1:16:39] small footprint and very small amount of resources uh punch way above their weight class and have [1:16:45] outsized impacts on the continent what we just did in african line in morocco was significant in our [1:16:51] largest exercise on the continent of bringing over 40 nations together to include over three dozen [1:16:56] african countries and nations as far away as brazil and japan that ability to convene is one of the [1:17:02] great powers of the united states and it differentiates us from many others so i am proud of the fact that [1:17:07] we can do that and that we cannot just pursue our own readiness but actually bring multiple nations [1:17:13] together to address common threats thanks both of you and thanks all the men and women that work for you [1:17:20] thank you very much senator with we have uh shaheen and then hirono thank you mr chairman and again [1:17:26] thank you to both of you for being here and for your service um i wanted to pick up on senator king's [1:17:34] questions about the closing of so much of our foreign assistance in africa general anderson and um [1:17:42] senator wicker asked what we're seeing in terms of china i have a couple of examples that i think [1:17:48] are worth pointing out how much um that has meant in terms of china's ability to make inroads because [1:17:56] china has actually eclipsed russia as the largest weapons exporter to sub-saharan africa which i'm sure [1:18:02] you're aware of and 70 percent of all african armies now operate vehicles from the prc as opposed to the [1:18:11] united states beijing's looking to expand military grants training and joint exercises between the prc and [1:18:18] african countries and we don't have the kind of foreign assistance um soft power that we did before [1:18:28] the elimination of usa id um but you mentioned general anderson that you've taken on a foreign [1:18:36] commercial service officer which i think is a really interesting idea and as you're aware i'm sure [1:18:41] at indopacom april paparo has really used this to good advantage coordinating with the state department [1:18:49] with the development finance corporation with the u.s trade development agency and the millennium [1:18:53] challenge corporation to identify potential projects um to work on in that aor so can you talk a little [1:19:01] bit more about how you're identifying development projects and whether you need any other authorizations [1:19:07] from congress or support for this effort from us so that you can help implement the kind of coordination [1:19:15] that's going on in indopacom senator yes i very much appreciate your interest here because this is an [1:19:22] area i think is emerging on the continent with the just the demographics of the continent and the growing [1:19:27] economies being able to identify these in the intersection of security and economics is absolutely [1:19:33] vital all of the agencies you mentioned are ones that we are coordinating with to make sure that [1:19:37] those investments go into the continent and have the greatest effect but they're also informed by [1:19:42] what are the security implications so sometimes it may not have the same economic return but that [1:19:46] return may come in security and that's where we come in is being able to convene some of these [1:19:51] different agencies as well as private industry to be able to articulate what those security concerns [1:19:55] are what those implications are and then also the fact that we are able to execute exercises and other [1:20:01] things around the continent helps go into the calculus of those investments and buy down some of that risk [1:20:06] so that is what we are looking to uh to develop so do those agencies routinely check with you if [1:20:12] there's a major project that they're looking to fund in africa so historically no and that's why we're [1:20:18] standing up a very small unit within the headquarters in order to have that uh point where they can help [1:20:23] facilitate these discussions because often they didn't know where to have them and is that something [1:20:28] that congress can be helpful with in terms of trying to encourage that sort of coordination i i think there [1:20:34] is there are ways that encouraging that coordination would be very helpful and being able to articulate [1:20:39] this across the committees that oversee these various agencies and understanding how that interrelation [1:20:45] of national power can come together that it's not always the military lever that produces a security [1:20:50] outcome but being able to have that dialogue i think would be critical the other area that i think would [1:20:54] be very helpful also is incentive structures that help energize our industrial base to help produce the [1:21:00] equipment that our partners want they would much prefer to buy u.s equipment but often our systems take [1:21:07] so long and are so long to deliver because often the incentive structure is not there that they go to [1:21:14] they turn to china out of necessity not because of desire they often see that as inferior equipment [1:21:19] and they would much prefer to buy american we need to incentivize our industrial base to meet that demand [1:21:25] 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 other [1:21:32] areas in terms of the challenges with the industrial base admiral cooper um one of the things that's gotten a [1:21:40] fair amount of tension um in recent weeks has been president zielinski's working with some of our allies and [1:21:48] partners in the middle east and response to the war in iran on their the expertise that the ukrainians have [1:21:55] developed to address um counter drone responses can you talk a little bit about what you're seeing with [1:22:03] respect to that and um whether our allies and partners find that kind of um support helpful from [1:22:10] the ukrainians senator i think most significantly we adopted a large number of tactics techniques and [1:22:16] procedures that the ukrainians have passed us that have helped us uh defend americans and all of our [1:22:22] our partners are working uh with ukraine in some way shape or form i'd really defer to them but and [1:22:26] talk about it but are they more effective as a result yes thank you thank you mr chairman thank you mr [1:22:34] chairman before um i give my questions i want to again take a moment to highlight the true costs both [1:22:42] for the military and everyday americans of the president's illegal war with iran and summarize uh how we got [1:22:48] here 13 brave u.s soldiers have been killed and more than 400 have been wounded the dod is now [1:22:57] estimating that this war has cost over 29 billion dollars and costing more every single day the [1:23:04] continued closure of the strait of hormuz which somehow caught the president by surprise is directly [1:23:08] contributing to the growing affordability crisis that americans are facing and negotiations are at a [1:23:15] stalemate but stalemate but it's becoming clear now this president's plan is to attempt to secure an [1:23:22] agreement that looks very similar to the 2015 jcpoa which my colleague senator king referred to which [1:23:30] this president recklessly tore up in 2018 as you recall the jcpoa which was an agreement that also [1:23:38] included countries not just us it included france the uk germany china and russia and the jcpoa put [1:23:48] limits on iran's nuclear program with a rigorous inspection and monetary program run by the iaea all [1:23:57] of which was tossed out by president trump and while that agreement did have a sunset clause what we should [1:24:04] have done was work diplomatically with our allies to extend it instead here we are engaged in another [1:24:12] endless war in the middle east no end in sight that is driving up costs undermining military readiness [1:24:19] and alienating our allies with neither a clear rationale for starting the conflict which the [1:24:25] president originally said oh well then maybe there'll be reduced regime change and now he seems to have [1:24:29] landed on uh preventing a nuclear nuclear capable uh iran which is was exactly what the jcpoa was [1:24:37] intended to do edmund cooper did the president ever explain to you why he tore up the jcpoa uh senator [1:24:47] that's a a policy matter that i would have expected anyone to he never explained to you why he tore up the jcpoa [1:24:56] he either explained it to you or i'm not asking you for the converse actual conversation but [1:25:02] did he happen to explain to you why he did something which led to the very uh uh nuclear [1:25:08] crisis that we're now confronting regarding iran and their enriched uranium uh senator i was in a [1:25:15] completely different assignment when when this occurred eight years ago so apparently the president [1:25:20] didn't have a discussion with anybody in fact it was a unilateral decision that he made now you have [1:25:29] vast experience emerald and the navy etc and uh before we went into uh before we attacked iran [1:25:38] did it cross your mind that iran may close the strait of humus senator as you know one of my [1:25:45] responsibilities as a combatant commander is to generate a wide range of options with associated risks [1:25:50] and opportunities present those to the secretary and the president i think it'd be inappropriate to [1:25:55] talk about what those specifically i'm just asking whether we always make them very comprehensively [1:26:00] excuse me uh i'm asking whether with your experience the thought that should we attack iran that they [1:26:07] would close the strait of humus did that cross your mind senator i've transited through the strait [1:26:14] about 100 times i think of the strait of humus virtually every day so is that a yes that you are very [1:26:22] aware that the strait of humus the very thing that happened that that is something that you contemplated [1:26:27] happening i hope that is the case because with your experience i i i have to conclude that you [1:26:35] contemplated that possibility so you did mention that our diplomats are engaged in the negotiations [1:26:44] well who are those diplomats uh senator i really would refer to the white house who specifically is [1:26:50] engaged uh well apparently the diplomats are jerry kushner kushner who i don't think even works for [1:26:56] our country and mr whitlock see whitlock who happens to be a um i don't know a i don't think he has a [1:27:05] lot of uh experience engaging in these kinds of negotiations so here we are the jcpoa which was a [1:27:12] a very intense uh the results of very intense negotiations among many countries and for us to [1:27:19] act as though uh the the idea of a nuclear iran is just something that occurred to president trump and [1:27:25] not to uh his predecessors is pretty ridiculous and in fact we had in place a regime that was intended [1:27:33] to do that uh that very thing which was to prevent a nuclear iran mr chairman thank you thank you senator [1:27:41] senator cotton gentlemen thank you for your appearance and your service to our nation and many thanks to all [1:27:47] the troops that you represent um admiral cooper um some critics of operation epic fury have referred [1:27:55] to it as another forever war and your opening statement in the third sentence in fact you say [1:28:03] since 1979 the iranian regime has terrorized the region is it fair to say the only forever war here is [1:28:10] the war of terror that iran has waged against the united states and the civilized world for 47 years [1:28:16] uh i i would agree that that that was a sustained effort by the by iran okay um let's uh take a look [1:28:25] in contact since my democratic friends have wanted to talk so much about the jcpoa about not just epic [1:28:30] fury but about midnight hammer as well so where we stand today in mid-may versus where we were not even a [1:28:38] year ago 12 11 months ago um based on your extensive military experience do you believe that iran posed a [1:28:47] significant threat to the united states 11 months ago before operation midnight hammer and epic fury [1:28:53] senator they attacked u.s forces 350 times in the 30 months preceding epic fury do you believe that [1:28:59] it absent midnight hammer and epic fury do you believe that threat was likely to continue to grow [1:29:06] yes microphone please so we yes for the record i do um is iran now less of a threat than it was [1:29:14] 11 months ago they are significantly less of a threat um is it fair to say that the iranian regime [1:29:21] is still a revolutionary terrorist regime even after all the deaths of their senior leaders they are [1:29:27] yeah um is it fair to say the revolutionary terrorist regime no longer has nearly as much military [1:29:34] capability to act on its revolutionary terrorist intentions that is fair and i think it's also fair [1:29:41] to say across uh every element of national power they've been significantly degraded you stayed in [1:29:47] your opening statement that centcom forces systematically dismantled what iran spent four [1:29:54] decades and tens of billions of dollars building how long do you assess that it will take them to get [1:30:02] back to where they were in terms of their military and other capabilities just 11 months ago before [1:30:08] centcom dismantled it all senator i would assess that the drone and missile force will take years [1:30:13] to reconstitute the navy likely will not get back to its previous size for a full generation is that [1:30:21] why you say in your opening statement that centcom assesses iran can no longer project power across [1:30:27] the region nor pose a persistent threat to the united states or our partners than it did prior to [1:30:33] operation epic fury they certainly cannot do it at the level of mass that we all saw with hundreds of [1:30:39] missiles and drones raining across the middle east that doesn't mean they don't have any capability [1:30:44] but that broad power projection capability no longer exists and the whole world saw that just in a [1:30:52] number of days after the beginning of your operation correct and the number of i think it was a near 90 [1:30:58] percent decline um in iran's attacks on the united states and its neighbors in the region that's correct [1:31:05] early on the the attacks were in the hundreds and they went to uh to the teens okay um i know that [1:31:12] there's been a lot of questions about the strait of hormuz to be clear the strait of hormuz was never [1:31:18] part of our objectives but we knew as anyone who looks at a map would know that iran has the power [1:31:26] to temporarily close the straight up for moves is that correct that's accurate senator is it fair to [1:31:31] say that the united states and our partners have the power to permanently open the strait without [1:31:37] getting into specifics we have the military power yes um could you talk to us a little bit about what [1:31:43] the blockade in the meantime has done to iran yes sir the blockade was implemented uh within 24 hours of [1:31:51] presidential direction based on a plan that we had on the shelf uh the blockade itself is designed to [1:31:56] prevent any commerce from leaving iranian ports uh going to global distribution and any commerce from [1:32:03] coming around the world going back to global uh going back into iran uh there's been zero trade going [1:32:09] into or out of iran in the last month and just finally what what is iran's current ability since it [1:32:15] retains its revolutionary terrorist ambitions to support its terror proxy network in the region versus [1:32:22] where uh it was just 11 months ago as we sit here today they are unable to resource and supply uh hezbollah [1:32:30] hamas uh or the houthis uh chapter to be seen of what that looks like in iraq new uh prime minister [1:32:36] wants to distance himself uh from iran but we'll see that's what it's committed to we'll see what [1:32:41] that looks like so they they can't support their terrorist proxies they're years and years away [1:32:46] from reconstituting if at all their missile and drone forces and their nuclear program and they're a [1:32:51] generation away from rebuilding their navy seems to me like a little bit better position than we were [1:32:58] relative to iran under barack obama and joe biden's disastrous nuclear deal thank you [1:33:04] thank you senator cotton senator slotkin um thank you uh gentlemen for being here and thank you for [1:33:10] what you're doing um i'm going to direct my questions to uh general um uh cooper i'm sorry admiral [1:33:17] cooper excuse me and i'm going to give a good pass to my fellow michigander um from ipsy michigan [1:33:22] um we're we're happy to see you in service thank you for what you're doing and you're always welcome [1:33:27] back home when you retire um i think the you know i feel um like whatever whatever feelings i have [1:33:37] about the imminence of the threat from iran um or not um we want our military to come through this war [1:33:47] as successfully and safely as possible i am interested um in making sure we get out of this [1:33:54] um quickly and safely um and i have actually no doubt that with all the firepower we've used in [1:34:04] this war that we've degraded their nuclear capability their ballistic missile capability their terrorism [1:34:09] capability and as someone who served um three tours in iraq i saw that terrorism up close and personal [1:34:15] um but it is hard to say sitting here um with the strait of hormuz closed and every american feeling [1:34:25] um a deep deep spike in the price of gas and that we're only in the beginning of that that we can't [1:34:32] say we we are overall better off until that strait is opened and while um i believe we could militarily [1:34:42] um open the straits um it seems to me that the iranians have strategic geography they have the [1:34:50] ability even though though it's degraded to project power onto things like the oil infrastructure in [1:34:56] places like saudi arabia or kuwait or anywhere they want further hurting the world economy you know the [1:35:03] united states um do you believe is that correct that um while militarily we may be able to physically [1:35:11] open the straits that they still retain the ability to affect infrastructure in the region [1:35:19] and therefore kind of have a veto power over the world economy right now sir i would from a military [1:35:26] perspective i would i would characterize iran as having a remnant uh capability uh across multiple domains [1:35:33] uh in terms of veto power i'd really uh would defer to policy makers for that characterization but [1:35:40] sorry can they strike oil infrastructure across the persian gulf they have a very moderate uh if not [1:35:50] small capability to continue strikes and we of course have uh uh accordingly uh prepared for such a [1:35:56] contingency okay but but if we could if we have the power to militarily open the straits and their threat [1:36:03] is quote moderate or small why wouldn't we just do it so i really would defer to policy makers on [1:36:10] in this particular matter uh and the strait clearly is in the middle of the negotiation being undertaken [1:36:15] now yeah i mean it just seems to me that they still certainly have it may be diminished power [1:36:21] but if the united states military is not physically opening the straits right now it's because the [1:36:26] iranians do have the real capability to affect um uh strikes in or drone strikes into the gulf countries [1:36:35] affecting their oil infrastructure and sending the price of oil worldwide even higher so you know it [1:36:41] may be diminished but it's real capability unless i'm missing something um you know can you describe [1:36:48] for me i'm very sensitive about the the um way that place countries like russia or china may be [1:36:56] enabling the iranians to target and kill american forces or to provide um intelligence on their [1:37:03] locations in real or near real time um uh is it fair to say that the that the chinese are providing [1:37:12] intelligence to the iranians to help them target u.s forces so i think best to talk about anything [1:37:18] regarding intelligence in a classified manner what i can say is uh the iranian uh military is largely made [1:37:25] up of russian and chinese equipment okay i i think you know um it it feels like either chinese [1:37:34] government and or chinese companies are helping and aiding and abetting um the iranians in in providing [1:37:43] that information i understand we don't want to go into the details but some of this is like out in [1:37:47] open press i would just say i personally feel like that crosses a rubicon um anytime we have another [1:37:55] country providing that kind of intelligence to an adversary i think that should play very heavily [1:38:00] in our calculus in our conversations i know the president is with the chinese government right now [1:38:06] but i hope that no matter what party we're from that's just a rubicon we all believe once you cross [1:38:12] it we're in a very different conversation and i hope that's playing out in beijing i yield back [1:38:17] chairman thank you senator banks thank you mr chairman admiral cooper any any update at all on [1:38:23] activities in afghanistan increased uh activity from isis or any other groups that concern you [1:38:30] anything at all that you can tell us uh senator just uh thank you for the question uh afghanistan [1:38:36] remains uh on the forefront of of what we're watching in terms of terrorist activity i think best to [1:38:41] address that in a classified forum uh for right now our partnerships in the region are suppressing that [1:38:45] threat can you give any update at all uh for the record uh no no remains an area of concern for [1:38:53] centcom you're you're you're tracking paying attention to it we're not we're not completely [1:38:59] ignoring afghanistan remains area of concern we're paying close attention through a variety of [1:39:03] partnerships uh we're suppressing any threat thanks um thank you for your leadership i mean i think this [1:39:09] is uh an incredible moment you're doing an incredible job when it comes to iran and degrading [1:39:15] their military their defense industrial base you cite in your testimony that the u.s has quote [1:39:21] delivered a long-term rollback of iran's ability to project power in the region and beyond [1:39:26] end quote damaging or destroying over 85 percent of its ballistic missile drone and naval defense [1:39:33] industrial base and 82 percent of its air defense missile systems that that's that's pretty damn good [1:39:39] that that's a strong um statement and i'm i'm proud of your efforts the nds talks about the concept of [1:39:47] simultaneity in which our adversaries could undertake simultaneous aggression across multiple theaters [1:39:55] does operation epic fury's degradation of the iranian military and defense industrial base reduce [1:40:01] the problem of simultaneity senator i think there's uh it remains to be seen what happens uh uh going [1:40:10] forward with iran but what i think we've seen is a combination of ability for the united states to [1:40:15] project power and influence and defeat an adversary very quickly 38 days uh the effects uh on other [1:40:22] theaters i think i would really refer to u.s european commander in the pacific camp command commander [1:40:28] but clearly the united states is agile and we can move from theater to theater very quickly can you [1:40:33] unpack this concept of simultaneity well the united states have to us the united states has significant [1:40:39] capacity we have forces uh deployed around the world addressing a variety of issues we're focused [1:40:45] today largely on iran but uh clearly uh general anderson is actioning uh key and critical uh [1:40:52] matters in africa we're doing it in europe we're doing it in asia and we're doing it in south america [1:40:58] we're able to do that at the same time that's how the united states military rolls you also write [1:41:02] in your testimony that iran's ability to reconstitute its military capability will quote depend in large [1:41:08] part on decisions we and our partners make what should we be doing to press our advantage i think [1:41:16] there's a policy component uh to this senator and potentially a legislative component uh then there [1:41:23] are a restricted number of countries there's a finite number of countries that have historically uh had [1:41:28] trade with iran uh addressing those countries and what they are trading how they're doing and what [1:41:34] that looks like i think is something we should take a look at yeah uh because if they don't have the [1:41:38] parts they're not going to build the weapons well put i i was very proud to see the lucas drones [1:41:44] deployed and used in sitcom uh the indiana national guard played a really important role in testing the [1:41:50] lucas drone at camp atterbury in my state what if anything can we extrapolate from the performance of [1:41:56] our lucas drones and other conflicts yes senator so the lucas drones were the united states first [1:42:02] opportunity to use our own one-way attack drones against an adversary i remember well the training [1:42:07] that happened to camp atterbury i was watching it like a hawk that training has produced uh additional [1:42:13] capability that we've now employed against an adversary very effectively what else can we learn [1:42:17] from it well there's a lot more to be learned from it i'd love to take it in a classified setting [1:42:22] and particularly given where we are right now vis-a-vis iran i think i would just like to keep that in [1:42:26] the classified setting for more than a month our war fighters in the middle east were hammered by small drones [1:42:32] how can we ensure that doesn't happen again if combat operations resume yes senator a little bit [1:42:37] of a myth buster on this uh iranian drones uh are uh significantly capable on the days of 35 000 [1:42:46] walmart light drones those those things are behind us iran has a very capable drone force we have [1:42:51] very capably defeated it good uh well put thank you very much uh that's all i have i yield back mr [1:42:57] uh thank you senator kelly and then senator gillibrand thank you mr chairman admiral cooper [1:43:04] general anderson thank you both for being here today admiral cooper i want to start with you i've got [1:43:09] questions for both of you but um i want to talk a little bit about the civilian harm mitigation team [1:43:17] at cencom my understanding is that you've gone from 10 down to one as part of a department-wide [1:43:24] reduction in shimmer that their role is to try to minimize harm to civilians when we're conducting [1:43:35] combat combat operations is that correct you've gone from 10 to one yes sir that's the bill it's [1:43:42] there's a larger component to this over over a course of years we've gone from a compliance to [1:43:47] civilian casualties and risk mitigation being just part of the culture there are dozens if not hundreds [1:43:53] of people who are involved in this process what did those nine individuals do who were removed from [1:44:00] their from their jobs they're now uh integrated in other capacities they retain other capacities in [1:44:05] the joint what we would call joint but what were they doing when they were part of the civilian harm [1:44:11] mitigation team they're paying playing a key role in uh helping us move from compliance to culture [1:44:18] uh on on cifcas focusing on it every day which they continue to do so by your estimates how many [1:44:24] civilians have been killed or injured over the course of this war the investigation on on the one [1:44:31] incident that we've had after more than 13 000 strikes is still underway uh will certainly be [1:44:37] transparent release that when we can this is a matter that i'm i'm passionate about i'd like to use the [1:44:42] occasion uh to invite you other members of the committee and your staffs to tampa to take a look at what our [1:44:48] targeting process looks like if you were to find out that there was an error in the targeting process [1:44:53] would you reinstate some of those people that were removed from that team sir it's a hypothetical i [1:44:59] think we we i'm i'm always looking to organize to purpose uh and we'll just see it with the investigation [1:45:04] are you taking any additional steps now because of the civilian civilian casualties to date we have [1:45:10] taken additional steps our additional steps have been very proactive throughout epic fury our staff [1:45:15] specifically warned the iranian people more than 100 times about the threat of them being used as [1:45:20] human shields i personally warned the iranian people on march 8th 11th and the 23rd that they [1:45:25] were had the potential to be human shields and that that communication was very effective so again [1:45:30] we're moving not just targeting but a proactive measures to minimize all right well thank you for doing [1:45:35] that uh general anderson so china and russia continue to expand their influence across africa we discussed [1:45:42] this with misinformation uh disinformation across many african countries you requested 94 million dollars [1:45:52] for information operation activities you were promised and this is in fiscal year 26 you were promised 25 [1:45:59] million from the department you ultimately received only 19 million could you talk about the difference [1:46:04] between having 19 million to do that job and 94 million like what are you able to do if you were fully funded [1:46:12] general anderson i i get it i mean we see this stuff all the time the amount of misinformation that [1:46:17] comes from the chinese and the russians it is a huge problem but if you could just explain to us [1:46:23] a little bit about what you could do if you had the full request senator i think the the key point there [1:46:29] is right now we are in a reactionary mode to propaganda and to other information operations to [1:46:36] what we can do at the moment what the fuller funding would do especially if it's consistent over time [1:46:41] would allow us to build an information campaign and address these issues across the continent we're [1:46:46] one of the few organizations that looks across the entirety of the continent and can understand how [1:46:51] these uh propaganda and misinformation play across borders we work very closely with the state [1:46:56] department u.s embassies on this to make sure our messaging is key but this would allow us to do is [1:47:01] help coordinate that messaging across regions and across the continent to highlight the the issues that [1:47:07] come with this misinformation especially as much of it is destabilizing the democracies across the [1:47:12] region do you ever feel like we should be countering some of their disinformation with disinformation [1:47:18] of our own sir i think the most powerful tool we have is the truth what america brings is very unique [1:47:23] we're still a beacon of hope and light in the world and i think we should be willing to talk about [1:47:28] who we are this is america's 250th anniversary there's a long history uh on the continent that is i mean [1:47:34] it's good and bad but there's a lot of good that we can talk about of what america brings the fact [1:47:39] that john c robinson founded the tuskegee airmen two years later founded the ethiopian air force and [1:47:45] then went on to found ethiopian airlines which is now the pride not only of ethiopia but africa [1:47:49] it's not a story that's well known but that is a tie that we have had between the aviation communities [1:47:54] for years there are multiple stories like that across the continent that we need to propagate and talk [1:47:58] about so i would say we should focus on the goodness and the positivity of engaging with america [1:48:03] and worry less about the disinformation that our partners put out but we have to engage in this [1:48:07] environment we have to be active in the information space so you got about 25 percent of the request so [1:48:12] if you got the full amount you could put more out there positive stuff that the united states is doing [1:48:19] and i know these are you know challenging times with resources even beyond what dod has usa id and others [1:48:27] but do you think the um that that would be sufficient to counter chinese and russian misinformation [1:48:38] senator i think uh information operations is one of the lower cost investments that we can make that [1:48:44] have outsized return and help amplify the limited resources we have in the military side and highlight [1:48:51] the benefits that those provide and being able to talk about that broadly i do think has outside [1:48:55] proportion so small investments can have a large impact and this is an area of information where [1:49:00] i think we can make a lot of gains even despite our smaller physical presence that can highlight the uh [1:49:07] totality of what the united states brings i 100 agree with you general and we should really look into [1:49:12] getting you the resources you need to do this job thank you general anderson i 100 agree with you um [1:49:22] senator jillibrand admiral cooper uh we had secretary hagseth here a week or so ago and we did not get [1:49:30] satisfactory satisfactory answers about iran so what is your mission in iran right now senator with epic [1:49:40] fury now uh formally ended uh per the president's notification uh we shifted uh our mission to a blockade [1:49:47] mission in in the following day and we're implementing that mission uh in accordance with the international [1:49:52] armed conflict that's our main mission today as well as to be ready for a broad range of contingencies [1:49:58] and do you feel that uh president trump's declaration that we have obliterated uh all of iran's [1:50:06] capabilities uh and their nuclear program is that accurate senator i speak from a military perspective [1:50:13] we have significantly degraded their drone missile uh and naval capabilities we fractured their command and [1:50:19] control uh we've eliminated the large preponderance of their space program uh they uh by every measure [1:50:27] are degraded significantly across all measures of national power so what's your exit strategy to end the [1:50:32] conflict with iran uh senator that's that's a policy decision and don't you have to offer the president [1:50:39] various exit strategies so he knows how to get from a to b uh senator uh consistent with my statutory [1:50:45] obligations i've provided a broad range of options along with the risks and mitigations through the [1:50:50] secretary so given your current mission how many more days weeks months years are we going to be at [1:50:56] war with iran well as as we sit here today we are in a ceasefire uh and the way ahead will be determined [1:51:03] by our policy makers well currently we are still spending a billion dollars a day on this war with iran [1:51:09] and i can tell you from my new york constituents they're furious about it because a billion dollars a day [1:51:15] could be lowering their housing costs lowering their food costs lowering their health care costs [1:51:19] lowering the cost of everyday expenses that continue to go up because of the war in iran [1:51:24] with the price of gas as high as it is the price of diesel as high as it is it means everything that [1:51:29] they have to buy for their families is more expensive so we expect from our middle military leaders [1:51:36] a plan about why and how long we are going to be spending a billion dollars a day and i have not seen [1:51:42] that plan or the why from president trump or secretary hegseth so i'm hoping as the military [1:51:48] person in charge of operations that you have a plan to end this war and to stop spending a billion [1:51:55] dollars a day senator we have a broad range of plans and contingencies consistent with my obligation [1:52:04] to provide that advice both the secretary and the president we've done so decisions will [1:52:08] may be made by our civilian leadership and my job will be to execute them the second concern i have [1:52:13] admiral cooper is how we've prosecuted this war to date we have data and information publicly available [1:52:20] in publications like the new york times that 22 schools have been hit hospitals dozens of hospitals [1:52:27] have been hit we have regulations we have the law of war we have human rights obligations we have our own [1:52:36] um targeting requirements to avoid civilian harm and death have you been implementing all the laws [1:52:42] that are required under current law to minimize civilian death senator we have executed uh every [1:52:50] operation consistent with the law of armed conflict the subject of civilian casualties is a particular [1:52:55] passion of mine we pay attention to it we follow all the procedures and have gone above and beyond [1:53:01] to in my case personally warn the iranian people of several instances uh during conflict where they [1:53:06] were being if they've been warned how did we then bomb 22 schools there's no indication that we [1:53:12] have that that has been corroborated how many schools have we bombed there is one active civilian [1:53:18] casualty investigation from the 13 629 munitions so how do you explain the publicly available information [1:53:25] that 22 schools have been hit and multiple hospitals there's no way that we can corroborate that [1:53:30] no indication of that whatsoever senator there's no way you can corroborate or no indication of it [1:53:35] which one no indication well the indication is what's publicly available there is indication [1:53:41] have you investigated those claims we have not why have you not if this is a passion of yours if you [1:53:48] believe that the civilian casualties are not consistent with the law of war and not consistent [1:53:53] with human rights obligations that our military regularly follows with great pride and great diligence [1:53:59] why have you not investigated those allegations when they're publicly being made on the cover of [1:54:03] the new york times i'll be happy to take a look at the in each instance i would like a report to do that [1:54:09] i would like a report from you from your team about whether there have been attacks that have [1:54:18] resulted in the destruction of schools and hospitals and if so why and how then last have you managed the [1:54:26] 90 cut to the personnel who are supposed to avoid civilian targets happy to provide uh any any report [1:54:33] and i would invite you and every staff member here to come to tampa to look at the process [1:54:37] to see exactly how how it works thank you thank you admiral senator duckworth thank you mr chairman [1:54:49] and thank you gentlemen for being here admiral cooper the senate received a letter from president [1:54:53] trump on friday may 1st stating that hostilities with iran have ended and you just stated here that [1:54:59] we are no longer uh operating under operation uh urgent fury um would you say that we are still [1:55:06] engaged in hostilities with iran or have they ended consistent with the president's letter uh those epic [1:55:14] fury is uh complete we are operating under international armed conflict uh rules in the implementation of [1:55:20] the blockade so so are we engaged in hostilities with iran yes or no we're not we're in a ceasefire [1:55:25] the strait of hummus remains blocked right you're you're you're engaged in a blockade are you not [1:55:31] the blockade is against iranian ports commerce going in and coming out uh it is the last thing [1:55:36] we would want to do is blockade the strait of hormuz and as we've seen in the last week there have been [1:55:41] instances of ships coming in and out including our own but under international law a blockade is an act [1:55:46] of war so are we if you're blockading actively block blockading iran then you are engaged in an act [1:55:54] we are currently in an act of war with iran under international law that a blockade is one of the [1:55:58] definitions of an act of war under international law consistent with the uh the direction we've [1:56:03] been given those characterizations are best done through uh the department's legal counsel it's [1:56:07] not it's not characterization it's international law it's listed a blockade is an act of war [1:56:13] um so let's we've now engaged in the united states and and the united states and iranian forces are [1:56:21] trading fire as they continue to launch missiles drones from our boat stacks president trump himself says [1:56:26] the ceasefire is on life support and he repeatedly threatens to renew u.s military strikes and to be [1:56:31] clear no one is disputing the valor and professionalism of our military but the civilian [1:56:37] leaders are advocating uh their responsibility to craft a clear strategy and service members and [1:56:42] american people are the ones who will suffer under this leadership vacuum admiral cooper before operation [1:56:47] epic fury began what desired end state for the operation were you given by your civilian leadership [1:56:54] senator i was given crystal clear guidance our military mission was to degrade iran's ability [1:56:59] to project power on its neighbors and u.s interests it included three specific objectives degrade iranian [1:57:05] ballistic missiles and their defense and uh defense industrial base degrade their drones and the defense [1:57:11] industrial base degrade their navy and the defense uh industrial base all of those were achieved uh as [1:57:18] as i've discussed and because they were achieved that's why the operation ended or did the operation end because [1:57:23] the president said let's end operation operations commencing and ending are made by our civilian [1:57:30] leadership uh and not a military decision okay well that's civilian leadership president trump has [1:57:35] provided many possible end states in only two months including in just two months he said [1:57:40] unconditional surrender and regime change in iran which have not happened um he's talked about [1:57:46] okay operations will end when there's destruction of iranian nuclear sites allegedly already accomplished last [1:57:51] summer under operation midnight hammer um he has also said that iran will never have nuclear weapons which [1:57:58] cannot be accomplished with only a bombing campaign he said that his goal is to destroy the iranian [1:58:03] military forces and infrastructure completely which the intel intelligence community assesses has not [1:58:08] happened and now uh he said that it's a reopening of the strait of hormuz which as a reminder was open [1:58:14] before the war began so if we don't know what we're fighting for we certainly don't know how long we'll be [1:58:19] fighting admiral cooper what have you been given have you been given any timeline for how long our [1:58:25] forces will be in the strait of hormuz or near iran or blockading iran um whether by a timeline or a [1:58:31] condition and end state for how long you'll be blockading iran senator i think it's important from [1:58:37] a military perspective that uh my advice uh related to options uh be provided to both the secretary and [1:58:42] the president we've done that the decisions on timeline and execution are up to our civilian leadership okay [1:58:48] um so you mentioned the secretary of defense who only talks tactics and a president who changes [1:58:53] his strategy on social media multiple times a day this is who's giving you the orders secretary [1:58:58] hexath has touted the destruction of tens of thousands of targets across iran he said that iran's air [1:59:03] defenses are flattened his words and its industrial base overwhelmingly destroyed and claims that iran's [1:59:09] navy is at the bottom of the sea every metric that the secretary offers is one of destruction and [1:59:14] destruction alone is not an end state especially not with new public reporting that u.s intelligence [1:59:19] officials believe iran has operational access to most of its missile capacity and that iran is [1:59:25] clearly still capable of controlling the strait of hormuz americans are not safer our service members [1:59:30] are at risk prices at home are higher and iran has more control over the strait and global economy [1:59:34] than it did before this this whole thing started american people our service members deserve clear answers [1:59:39] what does done with the war look like and how do we get there we have no strategy as we saw in [1:59:43] afghanistan if you don't have a sound strategy you keep doing tactics forever this is not your fault but [1:59:49] this is where we are and admiral cooper have you been asked for your advice and under what conditions [1:59:53] would you advise deploying ground troops for any purpose in iran senator i think it would uh it would [2:00:00] be inappropriate to talk about any contingency planning in this particular forum it's my obligation [2:00:04] as a combatant commander to provide a broad range of options through the secretary and to the [2:00:09] president can you answer that question for me in the skiff at a later time i'd be more than happy to [2:00:13] talk about anything classified all right thank you thank you mr chairman senator kelly no further [2:00:23] questions mr chairman sorry i didn't didn't mark off senator peters thank you uh thank you mr chairman [2:00:33] gentlemen thank you uh both for being here and uh i speak uh for myself and i think everybody on this [2:00:38] panel we appreciate the incredible professionalism of men and women in uniform and the job that they [2:00:45] do every day with professionalism and heroism and uh thank you for doing that but we do have a number [2:00:50] of questions about how we win this war and end it uh going forward and and those are usually political [2:00:58] questions related to political leadership the men and women in uniform execute those orders and they order [2:01:04] and that they have demonstrated that they're certainly the best in the world but emerald cooper you [2:01:09] mentioned that the current mission right now is basically the block uh the u.s blockade of uh iranian [2:01:16] ships uh or ships that are transiting the straits of her who's to iranian ports uh that's in response to [2:01:22] iran basically effectively shutting down the strait of her moves before that as you know experts across the [2:01:30] political spectrum and and multiple administrations political administrations have all agreed uh that [2:01:36] a war uh against iran iran's first moves would be to mine the straits of hormuz to prevent tanker [2:01:43] traffic but despite these known risks and repeated claims that the dod has planned i'm sure you have [2:01:50] plans i under the war college i've served in the navy there are no shortage of plans that we have that [2:01:55] you have plans uh to deal with this the closing of the strait we had four mine sweepers that were [2:02:01] stationed in the middle east were just retired last year and our remaining mine sweepers were either [2:02:07] stationed in japan or not pre-positioned in the region this is despite public reporting that we [2:02:13] currently already have limited uh unmanned mine clearance capacity and reports from the new york times and [2:02:21] reuters has also indicated that iran still has hundreds uh if not thousands of small boats that [2:02:28] can lay mines or perform hit and run attacks on top of their existing land missiles uh and drones which [2:02:35] i'm sure they're building at a furious pace right now to restock what they have uh and this is on top of [2:02:41] existing land land missiles and drones the american people as uh we all know are already paying higher [2:02:48] prices in the united states inflation is up as a result of chaotic tariffs that president trump has [2:02:55] put into place and now thanks to this war and the straits closure they're paying uh high gas prices that [2:03:00] continue to to rise as well putting a strain on family budgets so my question for you is if there was [2:03:06] advanced planning and i'm sure there was advanced planning about the straits closure why were the [2:03:12] minesweepers not pre-positioned in the region when it had been publicly reported that we publicly [2:03:17] reported that we already have limited unmanned mine clearance capacities when you have a plan [2:03:22] usually before you execute the plan you make sure that all your assets are in place to actually [2:03:27] execute that plan so it's curious that those assets were not there why senator i think best to talk [2:03:33] specific tactics and operations in a classified environment what i can say here is we did have [2:03:38] sufficient and continue to have sufficient mine clearance capability in the theater because it [2:03:43] happened to not be in those four vessels that were decommissioned after decades of service [2:03:47] uh i think is an interesting point the support uh and the ability to conduct counter mining comes [2:03:52] in a lot of different flavors best to discuss in a classified environment and i don't mean to get [2:03:56] into to that i understand that totally you don't want to do it but it's clear that there is a concern [2:04:01] about mines we aren't seeing ships go through there commercial companies do not want to go through [2:04:05] the straits they're not going to put their ships at risk so they don't feel safe to me that speaks volumes [2:04:10] as to whether or not it's safe that there is a real concern there and we know that the iranians have [2:04:15] significant capabilities to deal with that you know i asked a previous question uh related to [2:04:21] strategy and and really talked about von clauswitz uh on war which is as you know the seminal text [2:04:27] on on strategy that is taught in all the war colleges uh and you know it better than i will ever know [2:04:32] it uh the uh uh concept of that is that in order to win a war you've got to know the center of gravity of [2:04:39] your enemy and you have to be focused on able to neutralize that uh what is the center of gravity [2:04:45] in iran what's what do you how are you planning and that's a military decision as to what is the [2:04:51] center of gravity that's the kind of advice you would give a president what is the center of gravity [2:04:56] so i really would defer to our policy makers to determine what they view from a policy perspective [2:05:01] as a center of gravity from a military perspective we're focused on achieving military objectives which is [2:05:06] exactly what our men and women have done and they've done it extremely well well you do as [2:05:11] you know and every every war plan has a center of gravity that you identify and then you work around [2:05:16] that so so there is the war plan that we have for iran would have the center of gravity well why can't [2:05:22] you share what that is that's in the past it's been before we knew the center of gravity in the persian [2:05:27] gulf war uh for iraq uh colin powell said it was the republican guard troops the iraq's elite unit there [2:05:35] uh obama administration in afghanistan admiral mike mullen defined the center of gravity uh as [2:05:41] building afghan government support these they made this public they weren't hiding the center of gravity [2:05:46] and our enemy knows what our center of gravity is and we know what theirs is there's no reason to keep [2:05:52] that secret because the american people have a right to know what what what is it that we're trying to [2:05:56] accomplish and that's outlined very clearly in that term a part of every military plan that is put forward [2:06:03] yes sir i i agree every war plan has a center of gravity and those war pans are classified i'd be [2:06:08] more than happy to talk about in a classified environment fair enough um senator rosen thank you [2:06:16] chairman wicker and thank you admiral cooper general general anderson for your service and uh your [2:06:21] willingness to continue to serve our nation um admiral cooper i want to talk about the international [2:06:28] stabilization force um it's been publicly reported that centcom is going to play a role in the in the [2:06:33] proposed international stabilization force in gaza uh we'll just call it isf going forward through many [2:06:40] questions remain though many questions remain on what the isf is when it will be deployed and how it [2:06:46] will operate so can you clarify the roles of the u.s and centcom in the isf specifically is the vision for [2:06:53] centcom to retain command and control or is there a timeline of mechanism mechanism for transitioning [2:06:59] oversight to a multinational or civilian led and uh structure senator uh first great to see you again [2:07:07] and thank you for the question uh our role uh can be simply defined as one of support right now the [2:07:13] international stabilization force commander who's been designated is also dual hatted as the commander [2:07:19] of special operations command central he has about 45 uh members of the joint force presently working [2:07:25] for him we're really at the infancy of forming that international stabilization force [2:07:29] thus far there have been four countries who've uh committed to provide forces and so i think as [2:07:35] we look to the future i'd be happy to come back on what that looks like later on uh we're heading in [2:07:39] the right direction but we're just at the infancy of the process thank you and speaking of uh hitting [2:07:44] in a direction we need to talk about munitions uh sustainment because admiral cooper according to [2:07:49] publicly available resources the u.s has fired at least 45 percent of its patriot missile interceptors and more [2:07:56] than half of its that interceptors so far in operation epic fury and it's had to move air defense [2:08:02] from other theaters so can you talk to me about how this constrains our air and missile defense and [2:08:08] those of our regional partners and allies like the israel uae and others who are also um under attack [2:08:15] senator i have all the munitions necessary uh uh to both defend our forces as well as conduct a broad [2:08:21] range of contingencies our partners also uh have uh the sufficient munitions uh necessary for defensive [2:08:28] operations do you have estimates about how long it would take us to replenish or rebuild or stockpile [2:08:32] i would i would really defer to the folks who do this on an everyday basis both in the department and [2:08:37] the services thank you i'm going to continue on you and then we'll move over to general anderson in [2:08:41] a minute because i want to just take a moment to talk about lebanon because i do appreciate that [2:08:47] you've applauded the lebanese armed forces for their efforts to disarm hezbollah while the current [2:08:52] effort uh in conflict has demonstrated the extent to which hezbollah is rearmed a strong lebanese [2:08:58] armed forces remains the best pathway for lebanon through which hezbollah can be disarmed once and [2:09:04] for all and we know that needs to happen so what can the u.s do to support the lebanese armed forces [2:09:09] to ensure that they have the necessary capacity to disarm hezbollah while also holding them accountable [2:09:16] senator taking on the disarmament of hezbollah is a tall order they've been funded by iran for [2:09:22] decades with billions of dollars and hezbollah is is inculcated into every fabric of the lebanese [2:09:27] society i think right now our continued commitment with modest dollars to the lebanese armed forces is [2:09:34] helpful they have in particular several units who can do more we have to be i believe our commitment [2:09:41] could be uh to provide the funding necessary so that they can do more thank you i'm going to move [2:09:47] over to uh africom now general anderson because isis and al-qaeda affiliates uh well we know they've [2:09:55] spanned the african continent and so understanding of course this is an open setting can you talk about [2:10:00] the extent to which these franchises that they work cross borders within local settings to coordinate with [2:10:07] one another and the threat that this poses to our priorities in the regions and do you think there's [2:10:12] a need for a comprehensive ct strategy on the continent and if so could you outline again [2:10:18] considering it's a open setting broadly what that strategy might include please senator i appreciate [2:10:25] the uh highlighting of the the transnational uh threat that both al-qaeda and isis pose [2:10:31] i can say in this setting that uh isis has several affiliates across the continent that are coordinating [2:10:38] more and more whether that's in the goless mountains of somalia or the lake shad basin of [2:10:42] nigeria or in the sahel as well as mozambique and others so the this terrorist network has to be [2:10:49] addressed holistically they have to look at the entirety of the network it's not any single node [2:10:54] anymore and so as we look at this i work coordinate very closely with admiral cooper because [2:10:58] isis still has a strong presence in centcoms aor as well as al-qaeda as we look at this the strategy to [2:11:05] go after this is to work with our partners those willing and capable partners enable them first and [2:11:10] foremost to take on this threat when they are unable to do that then bringing in only the unique [2:11:16] capabilities that the u.s can bring in order to address those threats we've seen that in the goless [2:11:20] mountains where we've been able to bring intelligence limit isr some limited strike [2:11:25] capabilities that has been able to disrupt their leadership network this needs to be applied across [2:11:31] all of these areas so investments in additional isr investments in expeditionary capabilities such [2:11:37] as in a float forward staging base like the herschel woody williams that allow us to move to the point [2:11:43] of need at the time of need and then the force protection requirements that are necessary to [2:11:47] protect that force in the expeditionary area and i would add not just the force protection as in the [2:11:51] counter uas and the integrated air missile defense which are critical but also investments in [2:11:56] emerging technologies that allow austere medicine forward medicine remote medicine automated cazovac [2:12:02] these types of things allow us to become more expeditionary in order to get after these critical [2:12:07] threats and only the critical threats that pose threat to us and then enable partners as able to [2:12:13] address these common threats so it is a multi-faceted strategy i could even go into more i won't in this [2:12:18] detail but really maintaining the relationships and the engagements are equally important and having that [2:12:23] pragmatic approach opening dialogue with the aes states and the sahel again addressing this with [2:12:29] places like algeria and morocco and libya even who share these concerns building those relationships [2:12:35] are absolutely vital because you cannot surge trust if the chairman would indulge me can i have a follow-up [2:12:39] question on the sahel since he brought it up uh yes why don't you do that thank you um we know since you [2:12:46] brought up the sahel but last month the jnim and local uh militias in molly executed coordinated [2:12:51] nationwide offensive attacks attacking molly's capital seizing the key towns killing the malayan [2:12:58] defense minister though these attacks were greater in scale intensity than any other since 2012 and [2:13:03] to clearly demonstrate the attackers ability to strike against an expansive geographical area so you're [2:13:10] talking a little bit about this uh sahel but the permissive environment in the sahel that's making these [2:13:15] attacks possible and uh what what more can you do would you like to add if you want to speak a little bit [2:13:21] more about instability there i would uh there are a few things i'd like to add in this setting i can [2:13:26] talk to you more in a classified setting that would be uh highly appropriate to this but to your point [2:13:31] there is no effective uh external counterterrorism effect or effort in the sahel right now the russians [2:13:36] have claimed to do that but we saw that they had to withdraw from cadal were unable to defend against [2:13:41] that threat there they are providing some limited support but we do not see the same western presence because of [2:13:47] that then how do we enable the partners uh the other nations that are there how do we look at [2:13:52] expeditionary capabilities again that we can result in this one of the key areas that we would need [2:13:57] some assistance with is the authorities and ability to bring in an experiment with emerging technologies [2:14:02] whether that's in the surveillance and isr type of technologies or in other over the horizon type [2:14:08] capabilities like i mentioned with the uh medicine and others in order to reach uh when there is a [2:14:14] threat that threatens the homeland to be able to reach it and and take care of it but more importantly [2:14:18] continue to enable the partners to address the threats in their uh local areas and a lot of that's [2:14:23] through intelligent sharing i i would be happy in a classified environment to talk in more depth [2:14:27] thank you i appreciate that thank you uh admiral general thank you chairman wicker uh thank you very [2:14:33] much senator rosen and i'm glad you brought up um lebanon and and hezbollah um so i'm going to take [2:14:41] another round um admiral cooper and stop me when i'm wrong um on march 2nd of this year hezbollah [2:14:53] attacked israel in response to operation epic fury is that correct uh that's correct sir um according [2:15:05] to israel's foreign minister hezbollah has fired 10 000 missiles rockets and drones at israel during the [2:15:13] past two months is that correct i believe that's correct sir and in response to these attacks [2:15:19] israel initiated a ground offensive in southern lebanon aiming to create an uninhabited buffer zone [2:15:27] along its northern border and border and to push hezbollah north to the latini river is that correct [2:15:37] that's correct senator um to enable this operation the israeli military ordered the evacuation of southern [2:15:48] lebanon um displacing over 1 million people nearly 20 percent of lebanon's population that is also [2:15:56] correct i don't know that that number specifically is correct but the concept of of uh of the evacuation [2:16:03] is correct while governments of israel and lebanon declared a ceasefire in april of this year hezbollah [2:16:15] secretary general naim qasim announced that his organization would not recognize the ceasefire [2:16:21] and would never agree to disarm is that correct uh his statement that statement is correct yeah he made [2:16:28] that statement hezbollah then continued to fire projectiles into israel and israel has continued to [2:16:33] strike hezbollah positions in southern lebanon that's also correct isn't it that's correct sir um [2:16:44] and i think central rosen would wholeheartedly agree with me that peace between israel and i i can't ask [2:16:54] questions to my my friend and colleague but i think we would both agree that peace between israel and [2:17:01] lebanon would be a wonderful development and a wonderful development for america and for israel [2:17:12] but peace between israel and lebanon depends on the lebanese government having both the capability and [2:17:18] the will to disarm hezbollah has the united states provided the lebanese armed forces with [2:17:26] approximately three billion dollars since 2006. so i'd have to take that specific volume that that's [2:17:33] a lot of money number of uh for the record and follow up but we have been providing aid for two [2:17:39] decades is it fair to say that the primary goal of u.s support for the laf the lebanese armed forces [2:17:47] was to counter hezbollah yes sir and from 2006 until 2023 is it accurate to say that hezbollah's rocket and [2:17:57] missile arsenal grew from 2006 to 2023 from approximately 9 000 rockets and missiles to 150 000. [2:18:11] as a result of decades and billions of dollars in iranian support that's correct um israel's foreign [2:18:20] foreign minister um alleges that hezbollah fired more than 10 000 projectiles at israel since the beginning of [2:18:31] march of this year in light of um the lebanese armed forces in action was israel um was israel's [2:18:41] offensive into southern lebanon military militarily necessary if hezbollah's attacks were going to be [2:18:50] countered was there another way to do that senator i would really defer to israel on intent and effectiveness [2:18:57] but just as a general statement militarily necessary though there are uh it is an option [2:19:03] among options uh of which there are a few to deal with the hezbollah problem i just i appreciate uh [2:19:10] senator rosen bringing this up um and and uh it just would go back to the central point it would it would [2:19:19] be a tremendous achievement uh for israel lebanon um the united states and the middle east if uh if hezbollah [2:19:32] could be eliminated and allow the lebanese people and the lebanese government to resume the happy relations [2:19:43] that that we once had and and um um strive for um between the united states 11. would um senator rosen [2:19:55] have any further questions uh that then this concludes today's hearing i want to thank our witnesses for [2:20:04] uh their testimony and and i would acknowledge that many um many of the arrows um aimed at these two [2:20:14] witnesses um were were better aimed at people in the civilian leadership who according to our great [2:20:26] constitution and our principles dating back to george washington uh um are in control of policy [2:20:34] and i would um commend these two military um veterans for adhering to that constitution