Transcript
Press
Gaggle at the Pentagon by Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis
Secretary
of Defense James N. Mattis
Aug. 7, 2018
Transcript
Q: ... spiking in the North
Atlantic?
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JAMES
N. MATTIS: Russian submarines what?
Q: Their activity spiking in the
Atlantic Ocean.
SEC. MATTIS: We -- we watch all
submarine activity, not concerned about it.
Q: Mr. Secretary, I'd like -- hi.
SEC. MATTIS: Hello.
Q: Hi. How are you? The
-- in Afghanistan, the talks, are you -- are you pleased with the progress of
the South Asia strategy? And do you see it as having led the Taliban to
be open to talking to the U.S.? And can you comment on reports that
the U.S. is now actively discussing, with Taliban officials, a
potential peace process?
SEC. MATTIS: As you all know, a
year ago when we signed out the South Asia Strategy -- about a year ago, about
11-1/2 months ago, it was based on four pillars; one, to regionalize the
effort, look at it across the region not just in Afghanistan since so many of
the problems there are transnational. Second was, we were going to
realign our forces. We would then reinforce those realigned forces to
support the train, advise, assist, and in many cases accompany effort.
But the most important R in the four Rs
was to reconcile. You had to reintegrate this. We've watched how
these kinds of situation have been resolved throughout history, whether it be
South Africa, Northern Ireland. And so, the reconciliation effort
Afghan-owned, Afghan-led and we are working very closely with them in
everything we're doing, alongside our NATO allies, as we engage to
try to end this war.
No doubt, the strategy has confronted the
Taliban with a reason to go to ceasefires that President Ghani has led and
offered and to go into discussions. But it is still early in that
reconciliation process. We'll -- I'll have to give you updates of it as
it matures.
Q: Could you -- could you talk about
the reports that the U.S. is now directly engaging with Taliban
officials?
SEC. MATTIS: Yes, I think it
would probably be best if we -- if we left that to State Department that leads
any kind of reconciliation efforts on our part. Again, it is Afghan-led
and an Afghan-owned process as we work with them to bring peace to that -- that
country that's been through enough war.
Q: Mr. Secretary, how close are….
Q: Mr. Secretary, you stated you're
watching submarines in the North Atlantic and elsewhere. But are Russia
and China putting more submarines out to look at the United
States than they have since the Cold War?
SEC. MATTIS: Yes, we always
keep an eye on the -- on the submarines at sea. And I'd prefer not to say
anymore than that. Thanks.
Q: Mr. Secretary ...
SEC. MATTIS: Yes.
Q: ... How close are you to
declaring victory over ISIS?
SEC. MATTIS: I don't
declare victory until it's in the rear-view mirror. When there is hard fighting
ahead, as I've said, as we close in what happens with ISIS is they
become more concentrated, so there is -- there is hard fighting ahead, that's
all there is to it.
Q: Mr. Secretary ...
SEC. MATTIS: Yes.
Q: On the election security, you
have spoken recently about the efforts of the Pentagon to provide support for
election security for the midterms and beyond. As you have looked at this
issue, can you offer any more specifics about what you think the Defense
Department could do to help states and governments...
SEC. MATTIS: Yes.
Q: ... Assist in election security
with active measures that you've spoken about?
SEC. MATTIS: So the -- the
question...
Q: (Inaudible).
SEC. MATTIS: I was going to turn
my back on you, Barbara. (Laughter.)
SEC. MATTIS: But...
Q: No problem.
SEC. MATTIS: The -- the
question has to do with, you know, we all saw what happened in 2016 when the
Russians and possibly others, but the Russians for certain, tried to do both
influence operations and actually -- and actually get in and actually corrupt
some of the election process. And so, what we've done is taken a look at
all of those things so that we know what to look for.
We are engaged in support of the
Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement in order to maintain the
integrity of the election. I prefer not to say what those specifics are
because in that case, our adversary would know.
And the adversaries may be more than just
Russia. We are not focused solely on one country. We are focused on
protecting the elections themselves.
So we're looking at both this influence
peddling and the corrupting -- the violating the integrity of the
elections. And those activities are in direct support of law enforcement
and Department of Homeland Security.
Q: When you say the Russians, are
you in fact talking about the Kremlin? Are you talking about Russian
government ordered and support interference in 2016 and possibly beyond?
And is there any credible evidence in your mind of anybody other than the
Russians? So it is official Russian support?
SEC. MATTIS: I believe it is
official Russian support; however, that is not exclusive. There is also
other activities that went on that perhaps are not directly ascribed to the
official Russians. But we watch for all of it and we can trace at least
parts of it back to -- to the Russian government.
Q: Mr. Secretary, are you worried
about any of those influence peddling campaigns targeting U.S. troops
in particular? And how are you trying to keep officials for falling for
any of that?
SEC. MATTIS: You know, I -- the
-- the U.S. troops, of course, U.S. -- theUnited
States troops, they're troops, like all Americans we have to be
alert to the people who would try to manipulate an election in the Information
Age when there's so many feeds coming into everybody, and everybody has access
to those.
So U.S. troops are part of
protecting the Constitution, protecting the integrity of the elections and
protecting what we stand for. And certainly, we pay attention to that as
well but it's part of the larger -- the larger domain of
protecting America.
Q: Mr. Secretary, why is the Defense
Department limiting troops' access to transfer their unused education benefits?
SEC. MATTIS: I'll have to get
back to you. I -- I don't have a -- I mean, I know what you're talking
about, it's -- it's only during certain years and all. But I don't want
to answer a vague question on it.
Q: Mr. Secretary...
SEC. MATTIS: Yes.
Q: Do you have more details
on, your Chinese counterpart's visit to Washington later this year?
SEC. MATTIS: We look forward to
hosting him. I personally look forward to hosting my counterpart from
Beijing. I just got back from a visit there, as you know. And we
had very good discussions and I look forward to continuing those.
Q: Mr. Secretary, do you -- do you
support establishing a new combatant command for space?
SEC. MATTIS: Yes,
absolutely. We need to address space as a developing warfighting domain
and a combatant command is certainly one thing that we can -- we can
establish. This is a process we're in.
We are in complete alignment with the
president's concern about protecting our assets in space that contribute to our
security, to our economy. And we're going to have to address it as other
countries show a capability to attack those assets.
Q: But is that going to be the same
as establishing a separate service, as the president has...
SEC. MATTIS: We -- we are
working our way through all this. We are in complete agreement. The
vice president is the -- the -- kind of the point man for the president on
this. We are working closely daily with his office and with supporters on
Capitol Hill and the relevant committees.
So we're working up what that actual
organization will look like, it'll be fit for purpose is what I can assure
you. But I don't -- I don't have all the final answers yet, we're still
putting that together.
Q: And you have a timeline for when
this...
SEC. MATTIS: No.
Q: ...Combatant command may...
SEC. MATTIS: We'll -- we'll get
it right. We'll work it through the Congress. We have the direction
from the president and we're underway.
Q: Mr. Secretary...
SEC. MATTIS: I better go -- I
better go here in a minute.
Q: Mr. Secretary, is
the U.S. military prepared...
SEC. MATTIS: We're, OK.
Q: ... To enforce these new
sanctions against Iran?
SEC. MATTIS: There're economic
sanctions that are diplomatically led and there's no military role that -- that
is -- that is needed...
Q: Could we just...
SEC. MATTIS: ... For these
sanctions.
Q: But could -- could there be?
Q: ... come back on one matter?
SEC. MATTIS: I'm not going to
speculate on that.
Q: Can we quickly come back on one
matter? You said...
SEC. MATTIS: Yes.
Q: ... The Russians and possibly
others. What can you tell us? Is there somebody other -- is there a
government other than the Russian government? Can you...
SEC. MATTIS: Yeah.
Q: ... Give us your sense of
what you really mean when you say "and possibly others"?
SEC. MATTIS: Our -- our mission
is to protect the Constitution, protect our way of life, protect our elections,
maintain the integrity of the election process, that is what we do in support
of Department of Homeland Security and we protect against anyone who would try
to muck around from outside the country.
Inside the country is a law enforcement
issue. And they handle any kind of -- any kind of corruption allegations
on an election. But as far as overseas, we have much of the capability in
the Department of Defense, specifically in U.S. Cyber Command and
NSA. And we work together to watch for any kind of threats from wherever,
from criminals, from countries, from...
Q: But who did you see?
SEC. MATTIS: ... From lone
actors, from whomever. And it takes -- as you know, it's very hard to
identify in each case, but in some cases we have. I'd prefer not to go
into more details on that.
Q: And in the -- in the coming
elections, are you certain you can see and hear the Russians if they come
again?
SEC. MATTIS: Yes, I'm not going
to get into that. I'd prefer to leave quiet how we conduct those
operations. You understand?
Q: Mr. Secretary...
SEC. MATTIS: Yes.
Q: ... Do you have the authority to
conduct retaliatory cyber attacks if -- if they're interfering with the elections
-- if someone was...
SEC. MATTIS: I have -- I have
all the authority I need. I'm not going to get into the specific
authority. I'd prefer not to let any adversary know what we have up our
sleeve.
Q: What does "fire in the
hole" look like for cyber, Mr. Secretary? (Laughter.)
SEC. MATTIS: This guy
(inaudible). (Laughter.)
SEC. MATTIS: That, I'm not
going to tell you. What else is on your minds? All right, so why
don't you guys get out and get some water in you, OK?
Q: What should we be asking you?
Q: Do you have any comment about the
Russian Ministry of Defence?
SEC. MATTIS: Look at that guy
in that bearskin hat. Now is that not a great job? You walk in the
room wearing that hat...
Q: The Russian...
SEC. MATTIS: ... And you get
attention. Look at it.
Q: Mr. Secretary, the...
SEC. MATTIS: All right.
Q: Russian Ministry of Defence said
they sent a letter from General Dunford's counterpart to him talking about
humanitarian efforts insideSyria. Is there a broadening of the -- of
the conversations that the U.S.military and the Russian military is going to
be having in terms of ...
SEC. MATTIS: Yes.
Q: ... Not just the deconfliction
line but greater efforts in Syria?
SEC. MATTIS: Yes. We
maintain the open communications military-to-military. It's designed for
deconfliction only in regard to Syria.
Q: So, humanitarian efforts would
not be considered something that you would discuss at this time?
SEC. MATTIS: Yes, we maintain
the deconfliction line for Syria. But that's all we're
maintaining at this time.
Q: Just quickly on -- on the -- on,
given that you've got Gavin Williamson coming, there was -- there was the
letter that you wrote to the -- to -- to him -- to the Brits, encouraging them
to spend more. Britain's already, like as Williamson says a top-tier
military. Can you...
SEC. MATTIS: No doubt.
Q: ... Can you tell us like what was
the genesis of that letter? Why did you feel it was important to write
one of your most stalwart allies, kind of, finagling them to do more when
they're all doing -- when they're doing all they can already?
SEC. MATTIS: Yes. I think
it's very important we maintain a close collaboration with all allies. I
have letters frequently going between myself and trusted ministers of defense,
which is throughout NATO.
And this was a letter to the U.K.
None of them are form letters. They're all very specific about what we as
democracies are doing, united to protect ourselves. You saw what happened
in Salisbury; and, Salisbury again.
You've seen what's been going on in
influence activities. You've watched the European Reassurance Initiative
and this sort of thing. This is all part of the coordination and
collaboration. It was meant as an additive effort in support of our ally
as we coordinate where we're building up, where they're building up and back
and forth.
It's not one letter alone. It's a
back and forth dialogue. And as you know, he'll be showing up within
minutes as we continue the dialogue here...
Q: Did he ask you to write it?
SEC. MATTIS: ... So it's the
same thing.
Q: Did he ask you to write it?
SEC. MATTIS: No, I -- I don't
get into -- this is the normal collaboration, the normal consultation between
allies, is what this is.
Q: Do you have any assessment of
what happened in Venezuela? Whether that was an assassination attempt and
the use of drones?
SEC. MATTIS: Yes, I -- I don't
-- that's what I read, that it -- that it was that. But we had nothing to
with it. We have no background knowledge. We saw nothing until the
press brought it out, so.
STAFF: The delegation's arriving.
SEC. MATTIS: OK. I've got
to go to work. You all get some water in you now.
Q: (Inaudible)
Q: Thank you.
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